Building connections and relationships with others is key to high wellbeing. Prolonged periods of lockdown provided extreme challenges for many teens. In this film, we talk to Tori, age 14 from Liverpool to hear her story and find out how she learnt to cope and emerge from the pandemic.
Tori had been anxious about going back to school after lockdown and national restrictions, but, as she tells us here, with the help of Outward Bound, she has rediscovered her confidence and her anxiety has diminished.
“It’s made me see the bigger picture and see that maybe the world isn’t all that bad. Outward Bound taught me to really see the beauty in nature, and there are incredible parts of the world out there; and nice people who will help you to be you.”
The social connections young people have with others are a key driver of wellbeing enabling them to learn important social skills and providing support networks that help them through periods of difficulty. However, for many young people like Tori, prolonged periods of isolation in lockdown, left them feeling disconnected, anxious and struggling with their relationships with other people. Over time, this can put their mental health at risk.
There are three key ways that Outward Bound courses support wellbeing in young people.
In our report on wellbeing, we look more closely at these three factors and how our courses support young people to feel good and function well. Download it here.
Our impact report explains how learning and adventure in the wild can improve young people's personal and social wellbeing.
The pandemic left David feeling more alone than he ever had, he couldn’t see a way to ask for help and by his own admission, gave up with online learning. He told us “I didn’t really see the point, because it was just never ending, I just felt like I couldn’t deal with it.”