The Outdoor Partnership will work with clubs, schools, individuals, and specialists to increase opportunities for people in Gwent to achieve their potential through outdoor activities, active participation, volunteering, training, and education.
Brett Mahoney is our Gwent Outdoor Activities Development Officer. He is based virtually (but can mainly be found running in the mountains or climbing at a crag!) and he covers Newport, Monmouthshire, Caerphilly, Blaenau Gwent, Torfaen.
You can stay up to date with what is happening in the Gwent area, by following The Outdoor Partnership Gwent and Brett’s social media accounts:
Instagram: @OutdoorPartnershipGwent
Twitter: @BrettMahoney90
Facebook: Brett Mahoney | Facebook
Eventbrite : The Outdoor Partnership Gwent
What have we achieved so far? The Outdoor Partnership has been active in Gwent since July 2021. Here’s what we have been up to:
Expanding on the Health and Active fund, as developed by The Outdoor Partnership in North Wales, we have been supporting young people living with psychosis to help them develop emotional resilience to stressful situations.
This work has been developed in conjunction with the local early intervention for psychosis service within Aneurin Bevan University Health Board and works on the stress resilience model as utilised by these services across the UK.
The Program was developed alongside the service users and has provided people with opportunities to access adventure activities in their local environment with links made to local sports clubs and training provided to both staff and service users to enable them to engage in these activities in their own time.
So far, the programme has given service users the opportunity to experience gorge walking, caving, mountain walking, rock climbing, stand up paddleboarding and canoeing in and around the Bannau Brycheiniog National Park.
Our Inclusive Adventure programme has provided people with mobility limitations and neurodiversity conditions access to a variety of outdoor adventure activities.
We have provided inclusive canoeing, cycling, caving and rock climbing activities in the region, with many more opportunities to come!
The Outdoor Partnership’s ‘This Girls’ Adventure’ programme has been running since 2015 to inspire more women in girls to participate in outdoor activity to improve their health and wellbeing.
Although the name has remained the same, in recent years, the programme has become more inclusive and is also a safe and welcome space for the transgender and non-binary community.
In Gwent we have developed a variety of taster session and development course opportunities to promote participation and independence in outdoor activities. We’ve been able to run these sessions almost exclusively with female instructors and focused primarily on activities that are well suited to the landscape in Gwent, with good exit pathways in terms of local clubs.
We have provided 7x Outdoor Employability Programmes for each area of Gwent, providing opportunities for residents to upskill while improving their mental health and wellbeing.
The programmes give participants the opportunity to access different outdoor adventure activities and complete a work-related qualification.
For referral pathways into our employability programmes, please contact the Outdoor Activity Development Officer.
In addition to our formal programmes, we have provided opportunities for people of all ages and abilities to access adventure activities in the Gwent.
Activities have ranged from caving, mountain biking and rock climbing, through to wild camping, gorge walking and bushcraft.
To find out about upcoming taster activities in the region, follow our Gwent region social media channels.
Our Coach Education Programme has supported some amazing volunteers in outdoor clubs in Gwent.
We have provided funding for volunteers to upskill and achieve NGB qualifications to develop their clubs in the community and improve grass roots participation in outdoor sport.
If you’d like to know more or are an outdoor activity club that would like to get involved, please contact Brett on 07706737013or brett.mahoney@outdoorpartnership.co.uk.
