A unique charity has teamed up with an award winning hotel chain to help inner city kids gain vital life skills – through snowsports.

Snow-Camp is the UK’s only registered charity using a combination of snowsports, life skills sessions, qualifications and vocational opportunities to support inner city young people.

Giving young people positive opportunities can turn their lives around. Snow-Camp’s most recent campaign, #Switch180 highlights that we must do more as a society to provide positive opportunities for our young people.

Zulekha, 18 from Lambeth, joined Snow-Camp through her youth project Streatham Youth and Community Centre when she was 14.

She’s now on track to complete instructor training and has been offered a job at sports chain Ellis Brigham. She told The Rooftop:

I didn’t think there were many sporting opportunities available to girls in London, so I was so pleased to be offered the chance to learn how to ski.

It was completely out of my comfort zone but that’s why I was attracted to it.

Skiing has had a very positive impact on my life and I’m so excited to see what the future holds for me.

Snow-Camp first launched in London in 2003, before expanding nationally over recent years. Over the last 15 years the charity has supported over 10,000 young people across the UK and has been expanded to cover Bristol, Scotland, Cardiff, the Midlands and Manchester.

Last year, following completion of the Snow-Camp programme journey, 91% of participants went onto employment, training or further education and all gained officially recognised qualifications.

For 2018/19, the charity has also partnered with luxury hotel company Les Hôtels d’en Haut. Valéry Grégo, Founder of Les Hôtel’s d’en Haut said:

We are delighted to be partnering with Snow-Camp on such an exciting and worthwhile project. Seeing their amazing work and their dedication to changing lives made us jump at the opportunity to be involved in any way we could.

Image: Snow-Camp