TurnAround Essex


TURNAROUND empowers young people to build a brighter future

Why we do it

TurnAround uses wilderness therapy, challenging outdoor experiences, one-to-one mentoring, and educational activities to enable vulnerable young people to overcome their challenges and take control of their lives. Through our 9-month programme we support the most vulnerable young people, aged 15-21yrs. We give them a second chance and help them to feel confident making their own decisions and their own life choices. We take them out into nature and help them heal.

The project predominantly works with young people living in areas of high deprivation, poverty and ‘general concern’. They are drawn from across Essex where participants have typically fallen between the cracks in the system, where education or normal support services are unable to meet their needs.

In the UK, 34% of young people aged between 16-24 are feeling medium to high levels of anxiety throughout the day.


With our TurnAround programme we support vulnerable young people, whose family life may have included domestic violence, drug and alcohol abuse and those who might have experienced physical or sexual abuse among other life limiting issues. These young people, who are facing many challenges everyday join the Turnaround programme to look for a positive future
with our support.

 MARCH 2024
TURNAROUND 16
GRADUATION

WELL DONE TO OUR AMAZING YOUNG PEOPLE!

Watch us in action

Our TA16 graduates and their Mentors celebrating with the High Sheriff of Essex and Mayor of Chelmsford who presented them with certificates on successfully graduating the nine-month programme.

We want to increase self-esteem; support better mental wellbeing and help prevent young people from ending up in the criminal justice system.

The issues that these young people face every day, are not easy fixes. We use the power of nature and intensive specialist one to one support to help promote:

  • Empowerment

  • Responsibility

  • Confidence

  • Teamwork

Our groups are small so that we can provide, and the young people can build, nurturing support networks with each other, on this journey of self-discovery through nature and weekly mentoring.

We like to keep in contact with as many of our graduates as possible and always look forward to them visiting us with news of their adventures moving forward. We are also there to help any graduates in times of difficulty with support, advice and potential further therapy where needed.

The TurnAround Circle of Courage

The TurnAround project is based upon the philosophy of ‘The Circle of Courage’. Our philosophy is embedded into each part of the programme and reflects four key values which support equal dignity, authenticity, integrity and personal responsibility.

MASTERY

New skills including communication, resilience building, wild cooking and bushcraft

BELONGING

Building relationships and reconnecting with family, peers and the environment

INDEPENDENCE

Improving self confidence, employability skills and ability to make positive life choices

GENEROSITY

Showing empathy and compassion for others and the environment.

The Programme

TurnAround begins with a week-long journey in places including Scotland, Wales or Dartmoor. Adventure Guides and Professional Wilderness Therapists and Facilitators lead the young people out of their urban environment and into the wild.

Participants start to:

  • Break down the physical and emotional barriers that inhibit social competence
  • Educate young people to make positive life choices;
  • Build trust and team-working skills
  • Instil a sense of accountability to themselves and others
  • Improve self-esteem, self-confidence, emotional regulation, resilience and communication
  • Learn problem-solving, teamwork, and perseverance through camping, cooking, and living together
  • Calm their bodies and minds through immersion in a peaceful and beautiful natural setting
  • Work on emotional and interpersonal issues with intensive adult support
  • Digital detox
  • Build aspiration and hope for the future

The wilderness journey is only the beginning…

After their return, participants will:

  • Join monthly daylong workshops with volunteer mentors, specialist providers and Wilderness Foundation staff to focus on a range of behaviour change outcomes
  • Meet at least once a week with a volunteer mentor, who is also available by phone or email between weekly sessions
  • Get involved in community volunteering and work experience placements where possible
  • Join monthly social evenings with volunteer mentors, specialist providers and Wilderness Foundation staff with a focus on social skills

A second wilderness experience towards the end of the programme enables participants to see how much they have learnt and grown. Often you would not recognise the negative, disengaged young people of the first trail in the disciplined and supportive team of the second.

At the end of the programme participants, families, mentors, supporters, and youth workers come together to celebrate the young people’s TurnAround achievements. Graduation awards and certificates not only recognise the work participants have done but also reinforce their self-confidence.

The importance of mentoring

Mentoring enables participants to seek support on a variety of issues. Our volunteer mentors, drawn from the local community, participate in a three-day training programme focused on working with challenging youth. Mentors receive regular supervision and continue to have one-to-one support throughout the programme. TurnAround also operates a Peer Mentor system where past graduates can come back and after training support the current cohort of young people as they progress through the project. Peer Mentors are an effective part of the programme as participants can directly relate to them.

Our Impact

Without help, most of these young people will face an uncertain future, lacking the skills and confidence to escape their life situation. Ultimately this can lead to criminality and detention, with a high risk of recidivism, mental health deterioration and poor coping skills. TurnAround provides isolated and disadvantaged young people with a brighter future by significantly increasing young people’s self-esteem, communication skills, emotional management, and ability to focus on goals and achievements. They gain an understanding of nature and the positive effect it can have on their mood and general wellbeing. They are taught how to care for and respect the natural world, others, and themselves.

We are incredibly proud of what our young people achieve. Over the last 10 years, the University of Essex has evaluated our project from the very beginning and followed up with each participant for three years afterwards. The independent evaluations show that TurnAround has positive effects on participants’ self-esteem, mood, hope, self-efficacy and connection to nature. These findings add to the growing body of research documenting “the wilderness effect”: that young people who have authentic experiences in the outdoors develop better self-esteem.

 

90%

of our young people reported increased mental wellbeing

82%

reported an increase in hope after they finished the project

83%

of our graduates enter further education or employment

Case Study – Josh

We’d like to tell you the story of every young person who has transformed his or her life through TurnAround but we’d run out of space! All of them are as inspiring as this one:

Josh was just 15 when he was referred to TurnAround. He was struggling with school attendance and as a result was unable to access or maintain any form of educational development. He was isolated, had little interaction with his peers, and his family relationships were under strain.

Josh had an interest in outdoor activities and felt that the chance to be part of the TurnAround programme would help to enhance his self-confidence and self-worth. He wanted to start to enjoy life again and have a sense of achievement.

Through participation in TurnAround, Josh achieved his goals and more. He re-entered education and not only completed his studies, but was awarded the Student of the Year prize. His confidence has grown and his life is now moving forward, with a bright and positive outlook.

Monitoring & Evaluation

Executive summaries of three TurnAround evaluation reports are available for download:

“It’s (TurnAround) made me the person that I am now… like I set myself bigger goals now than what I would have done, because I know that I’m more than capable, and this has helped me realise that I’m more than capable of pushing myself outside that comfort zone.”

TurnAround Graduate

Refer a young person

For further information on our TurnAround programme, please email us or call 0300 123 3073. We are currently able to accommodate up to 10 students per cohort, with 2 cohorts taking place each year.

To refer a young person to the TurnAround programme, please fill out our referral form and return it by email to info@wildernessfoundation.org.uk Alternatively send the completed hard copy form to our postal address:

TurnAround Referrals:

Wilderness Foundation UK
Trinity House
2 Whitbreads Business Centre
Whitbreads Farm Lane
Chatham Green
Essex
CM3 3FE

Refer a young person >
100%

100% of referral agencies responded that thy would refer again (2016)

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