Alpkit Foundation Annual Report 2022

ANNUAL REPORT 2022

“Hey! The outdoors is good for the mind, body and soul. There are amazing people doing incredible things to help others benefit from this and we’re super proud to be able to support them”

Meet the Team Our board of trustees have a depth of knowledge and experience that really ensures we can continue to make good judgments on where and how the Alpkit Foundation is focusing its efforts.

With owners/directors outnumbered by a mix of Alpkit staff and independent trustees, the spread has always been really important for us to give a well balanced outlook and approach.

Charitable Yeti

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Alpkit Foundation Annual Report

West African Development Centre, Tameside.

Lindley Educational Trust

This is what we do Alpkit only exists because of our wild places and the people that make them. Alpkit Foundation is our payback, our social dividend to protect the places we love for everyone to enjoy. We make small awards to support direct action, where a positive difference can be made and help people get outdoors and experience the natural world.

Spending time outdoors is good for the mind, body and soul. But generally people are spending less time outdoors, or facing obstacles that restrict their ability to access the outdoors.

That is a problem we’re helping to solve. We support grassroots direct action projects that tackle issues such as diversity & inclusion in the outdoors, participation, education, conservation and protection of our natural environment and health & well-being.

With a specific focus on the benefits shown to come from outdoor acivities our aims constist of the following.

Read more: alpkit.com/blogs/foundation

1 Help young people, especially

but not exclusively through leisure time activities, so as to develop their capabilities that they grow to full maturity as individuals and members of society.

2 To provide or assist in the

provision of facilities in the interests of social welfare for recreation or other leisure time occupation of individuals who have need of such facilities by reason of their youth, age, infirmity or disability, financial hardship or social circumstances with the object of improving their conditions of life.

3 To advance the education of

the public in the conversation, protection and improvement of the physical and natural environment.

4 For the public benefit to

promote the education (including social and physical training) of people in such ways as the charity trustees think fit.

5 To advance sport or games

which promote health by physical or mental skill or exertion and which are undertaken on an amateur basis.

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just A snippet of those amazing people MRT support Supporting mountain rescue teams as they faced increased pressures.

As lockdowns eased, came back, eased again, the beautiful places that proved so important to so many became busier and busier. With this it put extra strain on the teams of volunteers who continuously watch our backs as we enjoy and play in these special places. We thought it only right to give some much needed support.

Anniversary gates Replacing stiles for gates to create more accessible walking routes.

Access improvements in the Peak District National Park as part of their 70th anniversary. This project was aimed at highlighting and supporting a commitment to improving and celebrating access for all. We also supported this through staff volunteer days working alongside the PDNPA.

REconnect Rambles “It took longer to access NHS mental health services than it did to cycle and run 5,000 miles around the highest county tops of the United Kingdom (72 days).”

The lack of support available made Alex Stainforth determined to help others access the outdoors to manage their mental health too. Setting up Mind Over Mountains, Alex looked to provide an immediate form of support with re-connecting rambles throughout the UK. Their bursary programme allows free spaces on their rambles to those in financial hardship or difficult personal circumstances. Using time outdoors as a powerful intervention to build resilience and positive wellbeing, they ran 13 day walks for 104 attendees, of which 22 were provided through Alpkit Foundation support.

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Alpkit Foundation Annual Report

Steppers UK Covering travel costs for AONB challenge to take groups of diverse and under represented people to visit all 46 Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Location, accessibility and lack of representation are just some of the barriers that can limit people accessing the outdoors. Cherelle Harding founded Steppers UK to promote diversity outdoors and support Black, Asian & Ethnic minorities to build positive relationships with the outdoors through participating in outdoor activities.

Support for mini bus hire helped them provide transport to some of their AONB trips, meaning they could offer a great service and open up the opportunity to many super keen individuals who would otherwise have struggled to access the experience.

Bio boosting the park Resourcing a band of eager volunteers to re-wild parts of a local Glasgow park.

Langside Sports Club wanted to start up a BIO (Being Involved Outdoors) Group to take an action based approach to conserve parts of Albert Park. Our support then helped seed-fund further efforts to increase thier bio-diversity work, engagement with local schools and build a strong team of volunteers!

Rowan Humberstone Giving adults with learning disabilities the chance to connect with nature.

Help was needed to set up a new forest school for adults with learning disabilities in Cambridge. The sessions really maximse the wealth of benefits, such as improvements to mental and physical wellbeing, self-awareness, self-confidence, social and communication skills, emotional intelligence, risk awareness, resilience and strength of character.

Read more: alpkit.com/blogs/foundation

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The Financial Bit Annual Return for year ending Oct 2021 > Alpkit Limited donates 1%

of its sales plus proceeds from events such as the Big Shakeout. Alpkit Limited commits to donate at least 10% of its annual profit to the Foundation each year.

> 1,300 applications in the

year to 31 October 2021 . 534 projects supported with almost £140,000.

> The charity has minimal

running costs and individual grants are made on a one-off basis therefore there are few long term commitments.

> This year the Alpkit Foundation

> £2,481 support to match Alpkit

> The net deficit in the year of

> £2,500 Association of

received donations of over £138,000

staff volunteering and personal fundraising efforts.

Mountaineering Instructors, Charity tender fund for their members to support and look to increase diversity and access in the outdoors.

£1,609 is added to unrestricted reserves. Unrestricted reserves total for future benefit were £40,900.

> Continued support of Alpkit’s

> £2,500 Lindley Educational

Continuum. Helping cover postage costs to get old or unwanted to those who really benefit.

Trust reactive fund to support projects and groups they work with.

> £3,000 Peak District National

Key Partnerships

Park Authority access fund.

Anniversary Gates project replacing stiles during their 70th year.

> £4,300 raised for Mountain

Rescue Teams local to Alpkit stores.

Guides/Scouts & similar

Partnerships

Admin

Staff Charity Match Funding Participation

Education

Over

£500,000 &1800

Diversity

projects!

Continuum partner Nottingham Bike Works

Coronavirus Health & Well-being

DofE/Forest Schools and similar

*Current UPDATE

Environmental Mountain Rescue / SSAR

Early 2022 saw us break through a wonderful milestone of more than £500,000 of awards to over 1800 amazing projects. We are proud to have been accredited as a 1% for the Planet Non-Profit partner.

Alpkit finance team volunteer at Emmanuel House allotment

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Any 1% For the Planet member can now choose to partner with us here at the Alpkit Foundation and work towards supporting environmental and outdoor causes, or projects they feel passionate about.

Alpkit Foundation Annual Report

“Our children, especially those with sen, need and deserve authentic, memorable experiences that evoke awe and wonder”

SeN Little adventurers Access and participation to outdoor wild spaces can often be deemed inaccessible to children with Special Educational Needs, but by increasing opportunities it can really break down barriers and perceptions of what’s possible and the huge benefits it can bring.

Helen is Little Puddle People, and Rachel founded Rock Tots.

Together they wanted to trial outdoor sessions for pre-school SEN children. To show their potential, support families and promote diversity and inclusion in climbing and the outdoors from an early age.

“Being outdoors and connecting with nature and the world around us has an incredible effect on our well being, mood and immune system both for adult and child the benefits are limitless.”

They were after financial support to ensure they were accessible to all, to eliminate any financial barriers. An award from the Alpkit Foundation meant they could run free, inclusive sessions.

Read more: alpkit.com/blogs/foundation

“Children with SEN often struggle with sensory inputs which inhibit their ability to learn and engage as they process what they actually need. Outside those sounds are usually more soothing and calming... often why children with speech and language delays and impairments are more likely to talk outdoors.”

Seeing a child grow and develop is an incredible adventure and wonderful learning curve, but for parents of young children with SEN that curve can be a particularly steep one.

Unfortunately support is not always easy and readily available.

impact that giving time outdoors can have, no matter who you are, what age, what ability. It shone through these little ones.

“Exploring outdoors is open ended, there’s no set way to play and engage, they find their own path, their own route, thinking critically and creatively, problem solving as they go. All of which are vital life long skills, all of which are pretty unique to outdoors learning.”

It was wonderful to follow a session and see the reactions and joy. The positive and long term

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THANK YOU It has been another fantastic year at the Alpkit Foundation and through fluctuating lockdowns being able to access the outdoors has clearly been vital for peoples well-being. This adds strength to how fundamental it is to hold onto the values that make being in the outdoor industry so special and the positive impact our wild places can play in everyones lives. With the large number of applications we receive and diverse mix of projects that we are fortunate to be able to support, it just shows how people are really valuing time spent outside.

In our recent annual return we had awarded nearly £140,000 to 542 projects, over double the awards in the previous year. It really is an honour to be able to do this. We’ve seen walking groups for the visually impaired, adventure days for young carers and DofE groups being set up. River cleaning projects, bio-diversity initiatives and support for transport to get ethnic minority communities outside who would normally lack the knowledge, confidence, or opportunity to do so.

As we write, our overall support since we set up in 2015 has now exceeded more than £550,000, to well over 1800 projects. This is just incredible.

Now as we see many facing ongoing uncertainties, the importance of being able to access the outdoors continues to be as powerful as ever. It reinforces our commitment to give back, particularly with smaller awards where we see a real direct impact it can make for many incredible projects and passionate work of those looking to harness the benefits of the outdoors.

Together we can keep the outdoors a powerful force. #goniceplacesdogoodthings

DONATE

APPLY

We couldn’t have done any of this without you. Every time you treat yourself to some Alpkit gear for your next adventure you’ll know it’s doing something good for others.

If you have a project that you feel we can help with to combat barriers accessing and helping others benefit from time spent outdoors then here we are!

You can also donate through PayPal Giving Fund, or selecting us on Amazon Smile. Maybe even choose us as your next fundraiser through GoFundMe.

We look to keep the application process as simple as possible. We meet every 2 months so if possible please allow plenty of time before the start of your project.

If you are a 1% For the Planet organisation you can choose the Alpkit Foundation as your Non-Profit partner.

Apply online at alpkit.com/foundation and click on the application link.