DD Charity - 2022 Recap

As we make out way through the crisp, frosty days of December and into Christmas, we here at DD Hammocks would like to take a moment to look back at this year in Charity!

This year we are proud to have donated 201 DD Charity Hammocks and 201 DD Charity Tarps. This makes a grand total of 402 pieces of equipment donated - over 1 piece of equipment per day in 2022 going to great causes to help those in need!

Take a look at our special video recap of all the fantastic organisations that we have supported with donations this year. And as always - if you are, or know of, a charitable cause that could benefit from a donation of special Charity Edition hammocks and tarps moving into 2023, please get in touch via the contact form on our charity page!

A quick round-up on who our donations reached in 2022:

January

We kicked off 2022 with donating a grand total of 30 DD Charity Scout Hammocks and 30 DD Charity Scout Tarps to two organisations based within the UK. The Wilderness Foundation, who work to transform vulnerable lives with the power of the outdoors, and Cup O T; a friendly, mobile, non-profit mental health and wellness service.

Catherine Grey of Cup-O-T tells us that the gear is already helping make a difference to young lives; “...the tarps and hammocks donated by DD Hammocks have been incredible. They have given us shelter for sessions and the hammocks are perfect for the young people to have time out and regulate their emotions when they need it."

February

In February we donated a total of 27 DD Charity Scout Hammocks and Tarps to two more organisations based in England, who work within nature for the benefit of those in need; Youth Adventure Trust and WildWise Enterprises CIC.

The Youth Adventure Trust uses outdoor adventure to empower vulnerable young people aged 11-16yrs from Wiltshire and Swindon, to fulfill their potential and lead positive lives in the future. WildWise CIC delivers programmes that are free at the point of delivery, targeting young people who would otherwise have difficulty accessing opportunities to spend time outdoors and engage with others and develop invaluable social and life skills.

March

For the month of March we teamed up with Mayflower Primary Bushcraft School and Kinda Education CIC; two organizations that work with people in need, both young and old, to make the most of the healing qualities of the wilderness.

Mayflower Primary Bushcraft School provides outdoor sessions for young students, focusing on sensory work, outdoor activities and personal development & learning – to help Mayflower in their work, DD has donated 5 pairs of DD Charity Scout Hammocks and Tarps to their outdoors activities.

Kinda Education Forest School aims to bring the joys of nature to those of all ages, offering various programmes in their curriculum for those of all ages, ranging from children aged 5 and over, to their Elders Weaving in the Woods sessions and everyone in between. 10 pairs of DD Charity Hammocks and Tarps were donated to Kinda this month to help add to their outdoors programmes.

April

With April came a new charity partnership, and we donated a total of 10 sets of DD Charity Scout Hammocks and Tarps the The Children’s University in collaboration with Doncaster Forest School.

The Children’s University works to offer children of all backgrounds the opportunity to develop a love of learning outwith the traditional classroom environment via extra curricular activities, even while out and about in nature learning valuable social skills and bushcraft skills.

May

For the merry month of May we teamed up with The Curtis Palmer Program (established in 2007 with the sole aim of using their unique training and experience to help and inspire injured armed forces and blue light personnel to live life to the full) and Dose of Nature (an organisation dedicated to improve mental well being by providing ‘nature prescriptions’ to people referred by their GP with a wide range of mental health issues, including depression, anxiety, stress, bereavement, trauma, and addiction).

8 pairs of DD Charity Scout Hammocks and Tarps have been donated to The Curtis Palmer program in an effort to assist on their upcoming outdoors expeditions, and 6 pairs have been donated to Dose of Nature, so that they can offer their clients another way to connect with nature.

June

As summer set in we had the opportunity to work with The Learning Center - an authentic natural based learning organisation focusing on young children and adolescents from pre-school age to 12-13, located over the pond in Western Pennsylvania, USA!

The Learning Center looks to develop various areas of child development, specifically creative development, curiosity and investigation, individuality, exploration & communication, and this is achieved through various classroom and outdoors activities. So that The Learning Center has even more to offer it’s young students in their time outdoors, we are pleased to have donated 4 sets of DD Charity Scout Hammocks and Tarps.

July

Just as enjoying nature is essential to our well-being, taking care of nature is also just as important! In July we teamed up with Kent Wildlife Trust who look after 65 species-rich nature reserves around the county, as well as local wildlife sites and roadside nature reserves. They also run a variety of family friendly educational workshops so that those of all ages can get involved in preserving our natural world and it’s habitats.

We have donated 10 sets of DD Charity Scout hammocks and tarps to Kent Wildlife Trust, to assist them in teaching everyone how to take care of our natural world!

August

For August we partnered with The Boathouse Youth; a charity set up in the hear of Blackpool with the sole goal of providing youth work through various educational and recreational activities to help build confidence, restore self-esteem and bring joy to children and young people – with a focus on assisting those who are from low income backgrounds.

The Boathouse Youth and it’s young clients are now able to explore the outdoors even further, with a donation of 15 pairs of DD Charity Scout Hammocks and Tarps.

September

This September we made a donation of 15 pairs of DD Charity edition hammocks and tarps to the children and teachers at Sir Alexander Fleming Primary School for use in their outdoor learning division, where children from years 2 to 6 learn a variety of bushcrafting skills while honing their social and intellectual development.

With the extra outdoors aides, the children at Sir Alexander Fleming Primary School have a little boost when it comes to learning vital life skills while in the wild!

October

As autumn turned the leaves, we teamed up with mental health charity Blackdog Outdoors and local Scottish based nature charity The Children's Wood and Meadow.

10 pairs of DD Charity Scout Hammocks and Tarps were donated to Blackdog Outdoors; a not-for-profit, award winning mental health charity dedicated to providing free access to outdoor activities and adventures, while aiming to improve mental health and wellbeing by reconnecting people with nature. So far they have delivered around 200 outdoor events and activities each year!

The Children's Wood organisation serves the city of Glasgow in the last wild space of the West-end in North Kelvin Meadow, focusing on preserving and using the natural land as a way of introducing children to the joys of nature within an urban environment. 10 sets of hammocks and tarps also were send Glasgow-bound, and we hope that they will assist The Children's Wood get more kids outdoors!

November

For the month of November we worked with Bushkraft Forest School CIC and The Wellbeing Cafe; two UK based organisations dedicated to helping those in the community improve their mental health, wellbeing and bushcrafting skills through the power of nature and good company.

Bushkraft Forest School work tirelessly for their community, and of their key aims is keeping families together and promoting well being, positive communication and bonding as a unit rather than individuals. Everyone is welcome, particularly young children and families. For their outdoor learning sessions, DD donated 10 sets of DD Charity Scout Hammocks and Tarps.

The mental wellbeing branch of Made-Well CIC, The Wellbeing Cafe, provides a place for people to gather and access services such as anxiety management courses, health screenings, charity fundraising events, social gatherings and more recently, excursions into the wilds of Dartmoor for their weekly Moor Walks and Talks. To help The Wellbeing Cafe get more people out and about, we made a donation of 6 sets of DD Charity Scout Hammocks and Tarps.

December

And last but not least, this December we have had the pleasure of partnering with Isle of Play (a charity founded on the Isle of Man in 2018 who promote, provide and advocate for opportunities for all children on the Island to fulfill their ‘Right to Play’) as well as The Ringsfield Hall Trust (an organisation that exists to allow children and young people the freedom to explore, play and develop within the natural world; escaping the modern trappings of technology and social media).

A donation of 12 sets of DD Charity Scout hammocks and tarps were donated to Isle of Play at the beginning of the month, where we hope that the children of the Isle of Man will enjoy for many years to come! The Ringsfield Trust recieved a donation of 8 sets of hammocks and tarps, with the hope that the young people they support are able to grow and develop out in nature, embracing the outdoors.

So as the New Years bells approach and we prepare to leave 2022 behind, we want to continue the good work into 2023 and beyond!

If you know of a charity, group or cause with a focus on the outdoors and a passion for helping those less fortunate get out into nature that would benefit from some free outdoor equipment, plus a spot on the DD Charity Blog to showcase their work, we would love to hear from you!

Help us support even more people, and get involved by getting in touch with us via our DD Charity contact form.