The real impact of the pandemic on young people

by May 21, 2021Awards alumni, Charity partners, Critical transition points, News

This guest post is by Anna Kent, Communications Manager at Snow-Camp.

Snow-Camp are the UK’s only charity using a combination of snowsports, life-skills training and mental wellbeing support to help young people from inner-city communities. Working at the indoor snow centres in London, the North West, the Midlands and Scotland, we also provide qualifications, work experience and volunteering opportunities to those who would never normally get the chance to access the snowsports industry. In 2019, HRH Princess Anne awarded us with a Princess Royal Training Award for our life-changing work and in 2020 we were Highly Commended at the National Apprenticeship Awards.

Pausing programmes

Like most people last year, when Covid hit us in March 2020 we had to pause our programmes and evaluate how we were going to continue supporting our young people. We moved our qualification coursework online and our in-house counsellor developed virtual mental health workshops and offered one-to-one counselling sessions. We also organised fitness classes and our Patrons and Ambassadors ran weekly ‘Be Inspired’ sessions.

However, by September 2020 it was becoming clear that we needed to do more to support our young people’s mental health. We knew that our young people were feeling isolated, lonely and were suffering the effects of no face to face contact. We started working with JHD Counselling Services to provide more one-to-one counselling sessions and worked on a plan to massively scale up our mental health programme to reach many more young people across the country.

Upskilling our teams

With support from the City & Guilds Foundation, we were able to upskill our team. Programme managers enrolled in a Level 2 Counselling Skills course and our youth volunteers and apprentices enrolled in a Level 1 Counselling Skills course and a LEAP Confronting Conflict course. Then, in November 2020, we launched a brand-new mental health service called Stop.Breathe.Think. Now young people across the country can access free virtual one-to-one counselling sessions, a 24/7 text support service and a series of mindfulness tutorials via stopbreathethink.co.uk.

We conducted a nationwide survey which revealed that 4 out of 5 young people are put off seeking mental health support due to wait times, not knowing where to access help or being worried about costs. Stop.Breathe.Think is free and young people can access support in just 24 hours.

Continuing to make a difference

Going forward, the mental health training will play a pivotal role when we return to face-to-face programme delivery. The impact of Covid-19 has serious implications for the mental health of young people. From bereavement to job losses, to loneliness and relationship breakdown, the psychological strains caused by Covid-19 has intensified the need of our work. Over the next 18 months we do not expect the psychological strain on young people’s mental health to ease. The pandemic is not a short-term event, that’s why it’s so important that our programmes team are equipped to provide this support.

‘If I hadn’t got involved with Snow-Camp I would be in a lot of trouble for doing the wrong things with the wrong people. I now have a positive future and a full time job in the snowsports industry.’

Youth Volunteer Laquan, speaking about the impact of Snow-Camp

Our long term plan is to provide employment and volunteering opportunities to our young people through Stop.Breathe.Think. Young people who have gained a Level 2 in Counselling Skills will be able to work with our counsellors. And through our snowsports programmes, we know that the peer-to-peer training model works. It provides opportunities for young people to learn together, teach one another and support each other as they face similar challenges. Thanks to the funding from City & Guilds Foundation, we’ll be able to offer this training pathway through Stop.Breathe.Think too.

To find out more about Snow-Camp click here.

Want to be kept up to date?

Sign up to City & Guilds Foundation email alerts and newsletter

Previous posts

Human-Centered Leadership: Nurturing Creativity, Connection, and Collaboration

We attended Anthropy this month. The second edition of a gathering like no other, set in the beautiful Eden Project in Cornwall to bring together leading voices to imagine a better world. It’s no surprise that leadership was at the centre of conversations as a tool...

Big Idea Fund: Five new projects awarded funding to unlock potential and support rehabilitation

Back in June we announced that we were inviting expressions of interest for the second round of our Big Idea Fund. The £1m Big Idea Fund was established in 2019 as the first major initiative of our Foundation, to support prisoners with upskilling to aid their...

Neurodiversity Index 2024

Did you know that in the workplace, 40% of neurodivergent employees say they are impacted most days in the workplace by their condition and only 32% of employees felt that they can disclose their neurodivergent condition? These are some of the key findings from our...

Empowering women to enter the construction industry

According to the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) (2023), women represent only 15% of the construction workforce. At the same time, the construction industry is facing a skills shortage suggesting that this crucial source of talent is being under-utilised....

Making a real difference, and genuinely changing lives

I have always known that City & Guilds is a force for good – helping millions of people to access skills. And it’s no surprise really that for nearly 150 years our purpose has remained the same – to help people, organisations and economies to develop their skills...

Foundation & Friends Monthly Round-up: September 2023

As the final days of Summer gently give way to the crisp embrace of autumn here in the UK, we find ourselves at the threshold of another monthly roundup. We have loads of exciting events and opportunities lined up, so let’s dive right In.

Celebrating the impact of learning and development

At the heart of City & Guilds is our purpose which has skills development deep rooted in it. And through the Foundation one of our jobs is to celebrate where really great skills development is happening, and an example of how we do that is our Princess Royal...

Introducing the newly formed Young Learner Advisory Team

In a bold step towards ensuring that learners experience and perspectives are at the heart of key decision-making processes here at City & Guilds, we are pleased to introduce the newly formed Young Learner Advisory Team. This team will provide an ‘active voice’...

City & Guilds launches partnership with The Green Edge

We are excited to announce a new collaboration with sustainable business analysts, The Green Edge, to produce a bespoke podcast series, designed to help us respond to the latest developments in green skills markets.

Podcast episodes

Share This