DD Charity Update - February 2023

It's February, the month of love, kindness and appreciation! And what better way to spread the love than working in tandem with two great local charities to bring the joy of the outdoors to those in need?

This month we have had the pleasure of working with The Ulverston Canoe Club and Good News Brighton; organisations that treasure the value of the healing benefits of nature and social connection, who offer various programmes to those of all ages who are unable to access such materials in day to day life.

Read on to find out more!

Ulverston Canoe Club (UCC) is a small canoe and kayak club and charity, based in the southern Lake District at the National Trust’s Fell Foot Park on the shore of Windermere. With ready access to the lakes, rivers and coast, the UCC offers a wide variety of outdoors watersports activities open to those of all ages and experience levels, and any social background!

We catch up with Barry Curley of the UCC who tells us more about the work they do on the lakes;

"Membership of UCC is open to all and we welcome visitors to join us as guest paddlers on many of our club paddling trips and hope that our Quality Mark and Club Mark accreditation means that anybody paddling with us can be confident of enjoying a safe, fun experience. As a charity we promote the enjoyment of paddlesport within our own community and over the last couple of years our volunteers have engaged in outreach activities, engaging with other local charities and organisations  to create opportunities for young people and those with challenges in their own lives to take part in healthy, social paddling activities.  We are very fortunate to be supported in this by the National Trust, Active Cumbria, Cumbria County Council and, more recently, DD Hammocks who have donated hammocks and tarpaulins and discounted a further purchase of equipment which will enhance our offer as part of the Department of Education funded Holiday Activity and Food (HAF) programme.

This year we are starting our HAF activities during Easter half term when we will welcome over 60 young people to Fell Foot.  They will help  prepare nutritious packed lunches and a huge pan of soup, enjoy a canoe journey taking in the flora and fauna along the shores of Windermere and the river Leven, build a camp (largely using tarps provided by DD Hammock) from where we all get involved in team building activities, ball games and, of course, enjoy our picnic lunches.  On our return to Fell Foot with the canoes and kit neatly stored away everybody will dive into our pan of soup (not literally of course!) and discuss where we have been,  what we have seen, explore environmental issues including any litter collected during our journey and consider healthy eating and life choices we can all make to benefit our own health and that of the outdoor environment that we have enjoyed exploring…

All of this is delivered by our hard-working volunteers and funded by central government through local authorities but the generosity of other volunteer led and commercial organisations such as DD Hammocks add so much to this programme – just like the cherry on top of the (low–sugar) traybakes we’ll be enjoying on the shore of Windermere this Easter!"

Good News Brighton is a social, Christian based community based in Moulsecoomb estate in Brighton - they get folks from deprived areas into wild camping areas to help heal their mental health and wellbeing, as well as providing social projects and gatherings to not only spread the joy of love and development, but also provide ways to lift those up who are in need!

Offering a wide variety of services, Good News Brighton provides programmes such as Chomp (a school holiday programme which offers free play opportunities and a hot meal for families who may struggle out of school term time), wellbeing counselling for those who may need a helping hand with their mental health, as well as The Good News Shed (an all ages place of skill-sharing and informal learning of individual pursuits and community projects, where members work together on projects of their own choosing, at their own pace and in a safe, friendly and inclusive environment).

 And not only do Good News Brighton work hard to provide a wide range of safe social spaces and activities, they also offer a judgement free environment in which to explore the idea of faith in a modern world, as well as how to think about how best to spread love and kindness in a selfless and gentle way!

We are proud to have donated some sets of DD Charity Edition Hammocks and Tarps for a new exciting Wild Camping project that Good News Brighton are launching in the near future, so that even more folks can get outside and enjoy the healing, calming benefits of the great outdoors. Good luck GNB!

To find out more about Good News Brighton, you can visit their Website or Facebook page.

So while February is the month of love, we believe that the other 11 months of the year are just as good to spread the joy!

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.