Climbing for all
We have been working with Sense Scotland, which is a fantastic organisation supporting thousands of disabled people and their families, in projects and services throughout Scotland. We looked at how we could get service users in Glasgow using their local wall, which is The Climbing Academy.
At the start of the year our team got in touch with the staff at the
Sense Scotland TouchBase hub, who happened to be two minutes along the road from
The Climbing Academy in Glasgow. We asked if they had ever looked at taking groups along to TCA but it turned out most were unaware of its existence.
We then proposed an introduction to bouldering day at
TCA for Sense Scotland support workers. The aim of this was to:
- Have a go at bouldering
- Discuss the suitability of the venue and activity for their service users
- Talk to TCA about how Sense Scotland can access the facility on a regular basis (instructor hire or signing people in)
- Explore the next steps for Sense Scotland service users and support staff (para climbing events and training pathways for staff)
The session was well attended by the support workers at Sense Scotland, who were delighted to learn what the wall could offer them and their service users. From our point of view, it provided a great opportunity for us to learn more about the work the Sense Scotland team do and how we could help them get involved in climbing.
Here is what Sense Scotland said to say after their introduction:
"A big thank you to ClimbScotland from all at
Sense Scotland.
This has been a wonderful experience for the people we support. Not only has it built relationships within the community but it has given our guys such confidence. It is something they never thought they could do.
"The session you provided for our staff gave them the experience of a new activity which they can introduce our services users to and also something that they have the bug for themselves.
"These are some of the things our service users had to say:
- Aaron - “It’s fabulous“
- Adele – “I’m excited when I know I am going. Can I go every day?"
- Anam – “I want to climb higher”
- Jack - “Wow! I love it! Can I bring my friend?”
"We have 12 to 14 individuals who attend at present and we hope to introduce some of our other guys shortly, maybe with a rolling rota. We try and have four individuals in the morning and the same in the evening, five days per week."
None of this would have been possible without the support from the Rob Sutton and team at
TCA. Thank you!
This has been a fantastic project to be involved with and we are keen to work with other organisations that want to give the people they work with an opportunity to go climbing.
If you work for or know of any organisation that works with people who might be interested in climbing, then get in touch with us at:
info@climbscotland.net