“Our aim at Hindleap Warren is to give every child the opportunity to get really muddy!”
Hindleap Warren provides high quality outdoor education and personal development opportunities for children and young people. Hindleap Warren is part of London Youth, a network of diverse community youth organisations supporting young people of all backgrounds right across the capital.
Set in 300 acres of triple SSI private woodland in the Ashdown Forest, Hindleap works with more than 10,500 children and young people every year, aiming to support and challenge them to “be the best they can be”.
The organisation runs residential and day courses opportunities for children and young people from schools, youth groups and organisations that work with young people with additional needs. Through a combination of outdoor activities and the inherent benefits of attending a residential centre, young people are given the opportunity to develop their social and emotional capabilities. A trip to Hindleap offers young people the chance to improve their confidence, develop leadership skills, become more determined, and create positive relationships with their peers.
Those attending Hindleap Warren come from London, the South East and further afield. They can be all ages up to age 25, or older in the case of those with special needs.
Photo credit: London Youth Hindleap Warren
Hindleap Warren and In Kind Direct
Since the beginning of 2016 Hindleap has received around £25,000 in value of a wide variety of products including cleaning & housekeeping supplies, personal care products, batteries, kitchen and catering items and office & stationery items.
“Our aim at Hindleap Warren is to give every child the opportunity to get really muddy!” says Finance Officer Suzanne Baldock. “As you can imagine, we get through an awful lot of detergents and cleaning products and getting these from In Kind Direct saves us a huge amount.”
“Many of the children we work with have never been in the woods or been camping. When the children go out on forest activities they come back head to toe covered in mud. We’re entirely inclusive so children in wheelchairs will be out there getting muddy alongside their friends. There are often big changes in attitudes as children from different backgrounds live together, challenge themselves and help each other as a team. Lots of the kids we work with don’t necessarily do that well in the classroom, but can really thrive here. Many kids really don’t want to go home when it’s over”.
“With products from In Kind Direct we’ve been able to make up boxes of personal items like tampons, shower gel, toothpaste and soap which we can leave with staff in each room. If the kids have forgotten something or need something in the night, they can get it and don’t need to be embarrassed asking if they didn’t bring their own.”
“We had a big group here from the Grenfell Tower and we were able to give them toothpaste and other essentials which many of them didn’t have”.
“The bird feed we’ve received has been great – it’s fantastic for children to be able to get so close to squirrels and birds that they can almost touch them.”
“The batteries have been brilliant. We take groups caving and get through a lot, so we snap these up from In Kind Direct whenever we see them on the catalogue. It has saved us a lot of money.”
“We ordered a mini-iPad which we were able to have available for children with special needs to take photographs and really be involved with their peers, even if they can’t take part in some activities”.
“In the summer, we can make sure there’s plenty of sun cream available. We have also been able to give snacks to children when they go away for forest activities. We’ve also received sleeping bags for the children to have when they are on forest camp.”
“We used to pay £20 for a box of A4 paper so getting the Premier Paper donations from In Kind Direct has been a godsend. We also get through a lot of pens and pencils as we ask all the children to fill in forms at the end of their stay. The Sharpies are great for using to log and check our safety records. The whiteboards from Spicers are in our indoor classrooms and lobby and look really smart.”
“When we found In Kind Direct we thought we’d gone to heaven!” says Housekeeper Sue Hunt.
“Anything we can receive is a saving on our budget. It means our money goes so much further and enables us to subsidise costs for residential visits; we can spend more on extras that really add to what we can do for young people. For us, it’s a no brainer!”