About us Why we exist Our Social Impact We help transform disadvantaged young peoples' lives! Find our more about our social impact and the positive outcomes we've planned by delivering our life-changing talks and experiental outdoor learning activities. Planned Outcomes What happens as a direct result of our activities… The longer-term benefits we aim to achieve… The ‘big-picture’ changes we hope will happen… 1. INSPIRATIONAL TALKS Young people enjoy the talk and are inspired. Their mind-set is changed, and their aspirations are raised They set new achievement goals for themselves They improve their attitude and motivation They apply themselves more to their studies in school, there is an improvement in their attendance records and in their timekeeping 2. PURPOSEFUL OUTDOOR ADVENTURES Young people feel supported to step outside their comfort zone to share new experiences, learn new skills and work together as teams in a natural setting, and they become more confident & resilient They are more confident, emotionally balanced and are resilient in the face of difficulties Resilience - they demonstrate: improved resilience, grit and determination (including the persistence to succeed) more capacity to cope with difficulties and stress reduced stress They have a sense of purpose & engage in meaningful and fulfilling activity Drive & Enthusiasm - they demonstrate: they become more proactive and determined to succeed increased positive energy and decreased feelings of being tired / worn-out They have increased aspirations for the future Increased aspirations and feelings about the future and demonstrate: life goals more positive feelings about the future greater ambition They become better at working with others and learn to take personal responsibility for their role in team tasks. They become better at planning and setting goals helping them to: solve their own problems work methodically towards their goals and aspirations step up and take a lead role put forward their own ideas in a team setting They develop strong relationships with their peers and adult supervisors. They develop their social and communication skills helping them to: improve their relationships and social engagement feel more connected to their peers and to adults feel more connected to the natural environment & more committed to acting responsibly in natural settings 3. WORK EXPERIENCE PROGRAMME Young people have a unique opportunity to spend time gaining hands-on work experience in a dynamic social business They learn about work within the outdoor sector and gain new skills They gain confidence and improve their communication skills. The experience helps them to build their C.V. Measuring our impact We're building a sustainable social impact measurement framework. We've collected an abundance of anecdotal evidence of positive outcomes through feedback received: Emails received from school pupils, teachers and parents immediately following a talk Reviews & comments made on our Facebook & Twitter pages Recommendations from talks given to corporate clients on LinkedIn. Reviews on Trustpilot In compiling a series of Case Studies, we've also undertaken to directly engage with the parents of young people that have attended an event by asking the parent to complete a short questionnaire aimed at documenting how (from a parent’s perspective) the intervention had influenced the child and their behaviour as a result. Facebook LinkedIn Trustpilot How we will measure our impact in the future We'll seek to continuously improve our approach to measuring our social impact. The following methodologies are currently being developed for use in our Year 2 programme of work: Inspirational talks A real-time touch-button feedback terminal will be used to capture young people’s perceptions at the exact time and point of their experience at our talks, as they enter and then leave the hall/theatre. The question on entry might be ‘How inspired are you feeling today?’ and on exit ‘How inspired are you feeling following Ricky’s talk?’. Sampling will be undertaken in the form of a before and after online questionnaire survey issued to 5-10% of pupils attending each talk. Structured feedback will be sought from teachers and parents 6 weeks and then 6 months following a pupil’s attendance at a talk. The continued identification of ‘Inspirational Case Studies’ that serve to highlight the experiences of pupils for whom our interventions have proved to be truly impactful. Purposeful Outdoor Experiences Each young person will be required to complete a Mental Toughness Scale for Adolescents (MTS-A) pre- and post-activity. The MTSA is an 18-item scale developed to measure the attributes of commitment, challenge, control (life), control (emotions), confidence (abilities) and confidence (interpersonal). The scale consists of positively and negatively worded statements and takes approximately 10 minutes to complete. Each young person will be required to complete a Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) survey pre- and post-activity. The SWLS is a short 5-item instrument designed to measure global cognitive judgments of satisfaction with one's life. The scale usually takes only a minute to complete. Taken together, these will allow us to measure changes in young people against key outcomes identified in our Outcomes Pathway: Confidence and self-belief Perseverance and resilience Personal development and teamwork Planning and goal setting Social and communication skills Connectedness with others and with the natural environment The survey work undertaken with the course participants will be supplemented with sampling undertaken with parents and teachers both 6 months and a year following the course. We will constantly refine our services based on feedback received, and we will continually improve our ability to measuring the social impact of our programme.