TurnAround donation from the Jack Petchey Foundation

Published on 31 March 2008 by Richard in Social Programmes

Press Release:

The TurnAround team gathered at Danbury Outdoor Centre, Essex on Friday 28th March 2008 to receive a presentation cheque and donation from the Jack Petchey Foundation, who have awarded TurnAround a grant of £5,000 following a succesful application by the Wilderness Foundation UK, the charity that created and manages the TurnAround Project.

We were delighted that MP for West Chelmsford, Simon Burns, agreed to receive the cheque on our behalf. Representing Jack Petchey was Nikki Bush, Grants Officer for Essex.

Pictured (l-r): Project Manager Edward Charles, Volunteer Coach Harry Clacy, Simon Burns MP and Nikki Bush

Also at the presentation were TurnAround volunteer coaches Harry Clacy and Terry Smit, part of a team of loyal and dedicated volunteers who give time each month to support the programme participants with goal setting. The coaches also help out at our monthly activity workshops. We were pleased to be joined by one of the project participants in person, who answered questions about how he felt the project had helped him since joining it last year.

Representatives of WFUK, Jo Roberts (Director) and Richard Corby (Educational Visit Coordinator) were also in attendance. It was Jo who conceived and created TurnAround, having identified a clear need for a form of extended intervention for vulnerable young people in our communities. Jo is herself a full time volunteer at the Foundation and has many years of working with young people, particularly in the realm of wilderness.

After the cheque had been received, Jo Roberts gave a short presentation on the TurnAround wilderness trail that she led to Mull in November 2007 and some fond remembrances were shared by those who had faced up to the challenge of wild camping in Scotland during the winter!

Thanks to everyone who helped us to achieve this grant, particularly Eddie Charles for his unending hard work and also to Nikki Bush and all at Jack Petchey for making this possible.

Issued by: http://www.wildernessfoundation.org.uk

For additional information on the Jack Petchey Foundation visit:

http://www.jackpetcheyfoundation.org.uk/