Urban Uprising aims to elevate and inspire young people through climbing. We think that the physical and mental challenges that climbing offers provide a great way to develop personal and social skills. Rock climbing can be daunting, and breaking through that barrier to try it for the first time, or to try new and harder climbs, is a real confidence builder.
The nature of climbing is that you are failing much more than you are succeeding, and the experience of not being able to get past a certain point - or falling off the wall entirely - is an important part of it. Building resilience to deal with this failure and understanding that failing is both a learning opportunity and nothing to be afraid of is an empowering experience. The young people we work with have different needs and aspirations, and our programs can be tailored to meet these, and ensure that each young person is supported to build their skills.
We have been partnering with Granton Youth, an Edinburgh-based youth work organisation, for a number of years. They kindly shared these stories, which we think illustrate the impact of our programmes really well.
‘Becca started the programme saying that she was scared of heights. The first couple of sessions were very anxiety producing, with Becca wanting to climb to the top but finding it too challenging.
The staff at both Alien Rock and Urban Uprising were incredibly supportive, giving Becca the patience, understanding and encouraging support that she needed. They always offered her praise for wherever she chose to climb to on that day.
By giving her the control, it empowered her to push a little further every week. By the sixth week of the programme, Becca got to the top of the wall, coming down and celebrating, not only a great victory, but she has done it herself, she was empowered to make that decision and climb to the top. The approach from the staff gave her the confidence to go beyond what she previously thought was possible and help her realise that she had done that herself, giving a new found confidence and something to be proud of.’
‘Gary took to the programme from day one, excelling at climbing and appearing to have no issues with scaling the wall. He quickly became a peer mentor and rose to the chance to support his peers.
The staff at Alien Rock and Urban Uprising noticed this and seized upon the opportunity, creating scenarios where he could support other young people. He took to this extremely well and after one occasion where he climbed to the top of a route so that he could encourage fellow young people who were abseiling, one of the Urban Uprising staff said that he would make an excellent outdoor photographer. He was thrilled by this suggestion and later went on to say that this is one of the options of how he wanted to spend his future.’
‘Damion had previously been not engaging in much and tentatively agreed to come on the climbing programme. To his disbelief he was an absolute natural, by the end of the programme the 13-year-old was climbing 6b!
This experience of excelling was really important. It gave him the realisation that he was capable of more. Later into the programme I was talking to him about how his life has changed. He said "at the start of S2 I had nothing to do, now I have everything to do." Showing how this experience pushed him out of his comfort zone and gave him the confidence to engage in other activities, perpetually developing his confidence and self-efficacy.’
‘Jack has additional support needs and often finds it difficult to engage, frequently being distracted by his peers and getting involved in disruptive behaviours. At the climbing sessions we often didn't know what to expect in terms of engagement, some weeks being really keen on climbing, others just enjoying the safe space and social environment.
Each week he would try at least one climb, get nervous and ask to come down. As the weeks went on, his determination grew and he began to say, this week I will get to the top. However, every time he tried, he would get sore arms, get nervous and ask to come down.
The final week came and he told us, today is the day that I climb to the top. As usual he started climbing with confidence then suddenly got nervous and asked to come down. This time the encouragement from all around inspired him to make one more move, then one more, and one more, and so on, with each scary, apprehensive and tentative move, he was encouraged to keep on trying. He made it to the top and was elated with his progress and ability to surpass his expectations. There was a loud cheer as he was belayed to the floor.’
‘Megan is autistic and can struggle with sensory overload and loud environments. She was anxious about being involved in the group environment but was keen to climb.
Her needs were different to the rest of the group and measures needed to be put in place. The staff responded amazingly to this, offering 1-1 support and adapting whenever necessary. The staff allowed her to go at her own pace, which empowered her to excel.
She loved every session and always left with a smile after jumping off the wall like a fairy. The programme offered an opportunity to push out her comfort zone and engage in the group environment because of her love for climbing. This allowed her to develop her skills and coping strategies, highlighting the benefits that go beyond climbing.’
Our thanks to Granton Youth for providing these case studies, and a huge well done to Megan, Jack, Damion, Gary and Becca for all their success.
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