Presents

2021 - 2022

ANNUAL REVIEW

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Presents

2021-
2022
Annual
Review

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WELCOME FROM OUR FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR

It has been another extraordinary year. At the start of this Annual Review period, back in July 2021, we made a big decision for our charity. Many different factors combined to lead us to this key moment.

Firstly, the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic throughout the previous year had meant we could not deliver Snow Camp as normal, forcing us to think innovatively about how we could continue to support young people virtually during this challenging time.
As we reported last year, in response to the struggles we saw our young people facing, our team re-focused and we launched Stop.Breathe.Think - a unique mental health service which offered free online counselling sessions and support to any young person who needed to talk. With no wait times and a team of specialised counsellors ready to go, demand grew rapidly.
Fast forward to July 2021. Restrictions were now lifting, and we were all delighted to be able to run Snow Camp once again; our summer courses were filling up with young people, and the team were fully focused on delivering the programme at snow centres across the country. Snow Camp was back!
But now what for Stop.Breathe.Think? At this point the service was growing by 10-20% each month by word of mouth alone, and clearly providing life-saving support to the hundreds of young people reaching out for help with anxiety, anger, depression, suicidal thoughts or struggling with self-harm, abuse and bereavement issues.
Of course, in reality the decision was easy. We had to try to do both. After all, we are a youth charity at heart, and whilst we could never have foreseen the running of a national mental health programme a few years back, Covid changed everything and created an opportunity for us to help more young people - we reacted in the best way we could and here we are.
Having made the decision, we then needed a structure that would enable both Snow Camp and Stop.Breathe.Think to exist independently. In January 2022, Switch180 was born, a national youth charity with broader goals to support young people's physical and mental health.
This ensured the same passionate and committed team could run Snow Camp; our newer, but equally passionate team could run Stop.Breathe.Think, and a few of us could now support both.

And whilst there are still challenges ahead, not least in the higher fundraising targets we now need to hit to effectively run both programmes, we know that this work is changing lives, we trust that supporters will get behind us and we are excited to see far greater numbers of young people now being supported across the charity as a whole.
In summary, we are grateful to have emerged from the pandemic stronger and more ready to tackle the increasing challenges that so many young people are facing today. We can only say this thanks to the huge effort, dedication and determination of our amazing staff team and our fantastic community of supporters. It has been an unbelievable few years in so many ways, but we are excited to look forward now.
We will always aim to deliver programmes which turn young lives around; we started nearly 20 years ago with Snow Camp and we remain just as passionate and motivated about delivering this goal today.

Thank you.
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Dan Charlish
Founder and Director of Switch180

OUR VALUES

we are

Caring

Collaborative

INCLUSIVE

Optimistic

Ambitious

OUR AIMS

WE PROVIDE

spaces for young people to progress and be heard

WE ENGAGE

young people through youth-friendly accessible programmes

WE CONNECT

young people with our support network to provide emotional and practical help

WE TEACH

young people the skills they need to live happy and healthy lives

WE ACHIEVE

long-lasting positive change

OUR VALUES & AIMS

OUR PROGRAMMES - SNOW CAMP

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young people learnt how to ski or snowboard
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life skills sessions were delivered
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qualifications were achieved
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mental health workshops took place
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young people experienced the mountains for the first time
0
youth volunteer hours completed
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youth organisations referred young people to Snow Camp

Snow Camp is an award-winning programme for young people in London, the North West, the Midlands and Scotland. Our courses are unique and attractive to young people, taking them from complete beginner to qualified snowsports instructors in one year with volunteering and apprenticeship progression routes available at the end. Alongside learning to ski or snowboard, young people also have access to life skills training and mental health support.

Snow Camp returned to the slopes in July 2021 with a new cohort of eager young people alongside those excited to finish their training following a 2 year wait due to Covid. We were delighted to fully get back to doing what we do best: providing life changing support to young people at indoor snow centres across the UK.

First Tracks

40 x 2-day courses running throughout the school summer holidays in London, Midlands, North West and Scotland. 814 young people had their first experience learning how to ski or snowboard taught by qualified instructors and Snow Camp Youth Volunteers, who have completed the courses in previous years. They are the best role models to demonstrate to the new young people what they can achieve with Snow Camp. The groups took part in life skills sessions focusing on independence, responsibility, confidence, and self-esteem. Young people gained a Snowsport England/Scotland Snow Life Award.

First Tracks → Graduate → Excel → Youth Forum
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Graduate

8 courses x 6 weekends of further development and learning for 244 young people throughout October and November, where they took their skiing and snowboarding to the next level. Classroom sessions exposed young people to the wider world of skiing and snowboarding, with talks from those involved across the ski industry and our Snow Camp Ambassadors. Mental health workshops were a significant part of the course, as to complete it young people require commitment, dedication and focus – this was all positively discussed during the sessions. Young people gained an ASDAN Certificate in Sports and Fitness.

First Tracks → Graduate → Excel → Youth Forum
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Excel

From February to May, 133 young people trained to become ski or snowboarding instructors in just 10 weeks by participating in the Snowsport England/Scotland training programme. Young people continued to take part in mental health workshops and life skills sessions alongside this training.  Towards the end of the course 105 young people spent a week in the Italian mountains, shadowing instructors and gaining valuable mountain experience. Our largest residential trip in 15 years!

First Tracks → Graduate → Excel → Youth Forum
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Youth Forum

2,223 youth volunteer hours were completed by Snow Camp Youth Forum members from across our 4 regions London, Midlands, North West and Scotland. Any young person completing the Excel programme can join the Youth Forum and volunteer on Snow Camp programmes, supporting and inspiring new young people on their journey with the charity. They also represented Snow Camp at the National Snow Show in Birmingham, attended regular meet ups in their regions and took part in wellbeing workshops along with access to one to one counselling support.

First Tracks → Graduate → Excel → Youth Forum
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New for 2021/22

We were already facing a mental health crisis before Covid struck. Even before the first national lockdown was announced mental health support was something we were already offering our young people. However, the pandemic created a whole new level of anxiety, depression and grief. We knew we had to do even more to support our young people on and off the slope. We made the decision to introduce Wellbeing Managers in each region this year.

Our Wellbeing Managers attended every day of the Snow Camp courses. As qualified counsellors, they are the best people to provide reassurance, support and practical advice to help our young people.

“Having a Wellbeing Manager present on Snow Camp was very comforting. She helped me to talk about what I was feeling and to learn more about myself. I’m so grateful. At the start of the year, she made me a wellbeing booklet, which I still use and love. It contains different exercises that help when I’m feeling anxious or low while giving me tips on how to acknowledge when I’m feeling happy. Just knowing that I have someone to talk to is a big relief and I’m not scared of my emotions anymore.”

– Snow Camp Young Person

We partner with youth organisations across the UK to recruit young people most in need on to our courses. We have a fantastic partnership in place with the OnSide Youth Zones, who run 14 youth zones across the UK. Over the last year 148 young people have joined Snow Camp from the OnSide network.

“The progression seen in young people taking part in Snow Camp in such a short space of time is truly remarkable. Young people transition from complete beginners to having the confidence to teach others in less than a year, and a transformation such as this gives our young people the belief that they can achieve big things if they apply themselves. Throughout the programme young people are supported at every turn by the Snow Camp team, who go beyond to ensure any barriers to participation are removed.”

George Ryder, Outdoors Coordinator at Onside Youth Zones

James joined Snow Camp in 2018. He started his journey with us as a young person before becoming a Snow Camp apprentice in 2019. Since then, he has been an active member of our Youth Forum, volunteering his time on and off the slopes. James’ commitment to the charity highlights not only the opportunities that are available with us but also the wonderful community of young people we have supporting us.
Read More

OUR PROGRAMMES - STOP.BREATHE.THINK

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counselling sessions delivered
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young people supported in total
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organisations referred young people to us
Sam-gomples-duo

“Stop.Breathe.Think tackle some of the biggest issues affecting disadvantaged young people who are often left behind by society. They provide them with the vital mental health support they need, breaking down the barriers which have prohibited them accessing help in the past. The team are superb at delivering value for money and innovation.”

SAM GOMPELS, CEO GOMPELS HEALTHCARE

Stop.Breathe.Think is a free mental health service offering 1-1 counselling and support to young people across the UK. Our service is game changing. There are no wait times and young people are matched with counsellors who specialise in their needs.

Launched in 2020 at the height of the pandemic with seed funding from Gompels Healthcare, the aim of the service was to provide a rapid response to support young people’s mental health during a challenging time.

Although the most acute period of the pandemic has passed, we do not expect the psychological strain on young people’s mental health to ease as the long-term effects now begin to be felt. In fact, we are busier than ever before:

Number of young people referred to the service increased by 78% to 1444 in year 2.

Number of counselling sessions delivered increased by 71% to 8349 in year 2.

“I felt safe and happy talking to my counsellor. It was nice to have someone to talk to every week about my emotions without feeling like a burden. Thank you for everything, I don’t know where I would be without Stop.Breathe.Think.”

STOP.BREATHE.THINK YOUNG PERSON

0 %

of young people referred themselves

0 %

were referred to us by parents or family members

0 %

were referred to us by an organisation

0 %

of young people were female

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Average number of counselling sessions per young person

In January 2022, we launched Stop.Breathe.Think’s brand-new website and referral system. Within just one month we saw the number of young people accessing the service double. Since January, on average we receive 170 new referrals each month from across the UK with a high percentage of young people reaching out to us from the North West, South West, Midlands and London.

Sadly, the three most common issues affecting our young people are anxiety (26% of young people), suicidal thoughts (11.5%) and self-harm (10%).

“Together with my counsellor, we developed coping mechanisms and ways of thinking that have been really helping me. I really appreciate all the wisdom and guidance she provided, and I feel it genuinely can and will help me to make healthier decisions going forward in all my relationships and friendships.”

Stop.Breathe.Think young person.

Growing a passionate team

A big service requires a big team. We worked with JHD Counselling Services to recruit a team of 60 counsellors to Stop.Breathe.Think. JHD manage the recruitment, supervision of counsellors and safeguarding and it is through our wonderful partnership that we have been able to grow the service so quickly.

Stop.Breathe.Think x AJ Bell Partnership

At the start of the year AJ Bell, the Salford-based investment platform, made a £60,000 donation to support Stop.Breathe.Think. The aim of our partnership was to raise awareness of the service amongst young people in the North West.

256 young people from the North West have accessed our service thanks to AJ Bell’s generous support so far.

Through our partnership we hosted an evening of mental wellbeing activities to mark Mental Health Awareness Week at the HideOut Youth Zone, Manchester.

Event Video

HOW WE RAISED FUNDS

Much of the fundraising that would take place in a typical year has been more challenging in the last year due to Covid, but there was no way that was going to stop our incredible supporters. From ski challenges to runners and hikers to orchestra evenings, this is how people across the country helped us to raise an astonishing £1,321,700.68* in the last year. Thank you all so much.

*Number taken from our Management Accounts. Our Annual Audit for 2021/22 will take place in December.

£ -7
was raised last year across the country.
Thank you.
  • Event

AJ Bell Crans Montana Marathon

After a 2-year hiatus, our annual snowsports fundraiser was back in the mountains and better than ever, with a new name and in a new location. And it was 13 adventurous teams that made all the difference at the AJ Bell Crans-Montana Marathon, they raised an incredible £50,000 to support our work with young people! Thank you.
Read More
  • Event

Aravis Golf Day

It was fantastic to be back at Bush Hill Park for our annual charity Aravis Golf Day. 13 great teams enjoyed a wonderful day of golf in the sunshine while raising £14,000 for the charity. Thank you.
Read More
  • Fundraiser

INTER-LIVERY SKI CHALLENGE

We have been a proud charity partner of the ILSC in Morzine over previous years, and we have enjoyed some wonderful times together with many Livery Companies at the annual Championships. Covid restrictions meant the ILSC 2022 was rescheduled until 2023. However, undeterred, this year they ran the ‘NOT the ILSC Fundraising Challenge’ to support Snow Camp. £15,000 was raised without a single piste being skied! Thank you.
Read More
  • Event

National Snow Show

We were honoured to be a charity partner at the first ever National Snow Show in Birmingham. We were delighted to be at the event, promoting our work and providing volunteering experiences for young people alongside raising funds. The National Snow Show raised a fantastic £1000 over the weekend. Thank you. We look forward to returning in 2023!
Read More
  • Event

Orchestra Evening

In February, Switch180 was honoured to be the charity partner for London Phoenix Orchestra’s “A Night At The Movies” concert at London’s Cadogan Hall. This type of event was a first for Switch180 and especially so for our young people who joined us from our programme Snow Camp. The event raised valuable funds and awareness of our work. Thank you to all involved.
Read More
  • Fundraiser

Welsh 3000’s Challenge

At the end of July, Matt Parratt and a group of friends took on the Welsh 3000 Challenge raising a wonderful £2000. This unmarked route covered 15 mountain peaks and the team reached a staggering 3000ft in just 1 day. What an achievement! Thank you.
Read More

HOW WE RAISED FUNDS

Thanks to the generosity of the public, companies, trusts and other funders, we raised £1,321,700.68* in 2021/22, compared to £603,015 in 2020/21 with the impact of the pandemic drastically reducing our fundraising. Our increased fundraising, meant we were able to bounce back and support young people in need, at a time when demand for our programmes was increasing.

  • Trusts & Foundations
  • SLA’s
  • Events
  • Corporates
  • Statutory
  • Individuals
*Number taken from our Management Accounts. Our Annual Audit for 2021/22 will take place in December.

OUR FUNDERS AND PARTNERS

We are grateful to all our funders and partners for enabling us to provide vital support to young people. A full list of all our wonderful funders and partners is available below.

Our funders & partners

Graduate, Excel and Wellbeing Manager image credit: Hannah Bailey from Neon Stash