Gloucestershire Outward Bound Association

About Gloucestershire Outward Bound Association

We are an official voluntary arm of The Outward Bound Trust and we have charity status by virtue of our association with the Trust.

Our volunteers at the moment, who are also all committee members are 6.

Our work involves identifying, by various means, young people between 12 and 18, often from difficult backgrounds, and supporting them both practically and financially so that they can attend one of The OBT’s many courses at one of their three centres in Wales, The Lake District and Scotland. Once we have taken on a young person, we appoint a mentor to support and encourage them. The mentor will help them choose and book an appropriate course, act as liaison with OBT if necessary, and support, encourage, motivate etc. in the lead up to attendance.
It is mentors we are looking for. They are also welcome to be committee members, but this isn’t mandatory. We usually have 5 or 6 meetings per year, plus an AGM. The meetings are in the evening, in Cheltenham, and usually last a couple of hours. The mentoring work is largely carried out via e-mails, texts and phone calls, although some personal contact is sometimes necessary and appropriate.