Chris Wright, our Chief Executive at Catch22 is today being honoured by the British Exploring Society in its first group of fellows.
Chris is being recognised for his “imagination and enterprise” supporting the Dangoor Next Generation Programme, which has been “transformative for the Society”. As a fellow, Chris will continue to be an advocate for the work of the Society.
In 2011 Catch22 partnered with the British Exploring Society to create a unique youth development programme – The Dangoor Next Generation. The programme uses expeditions as a vehicle to advance the education of young people by developing their confidence, teamwork, leadership and spirit of adventure and exploration.The Dangoor Next Generation programme is now celebrating its 8th Expedition.
At Catch22 we believe in giving young people the very best support to enable them to fulfil their potential. Dangoor provides young people with the opportunity to get out of their home towns and experience a learning environment that is uniquely different and takes place alongside reliable, responsible role models.
To date we have supported 770 young people to undertake this outdoor learning opportunity. 96% of our young people have progressed in to education, employment or training and for those who are not ready to progress have returned to their Catch22 service and engaged fully in their learning journey.
In 2011, Project Rough Seas took 32 young people on the journey of a lifetime, hiking the Norwegian mountains and sailing the North Sea. In 2012, Project New Horizons Sinai took 35 explorers trekking across the Sinai Desert, enduring daytime temperatures nearing 50 degrees celsius. In 2013 onwards, the programme supported young people to explore the wild, volcanic moonscape of north-east Iceland for a challenging three weeks of trekking.
The programme incorporates a series of residential training events in the UK followed by a challenging and remote overseas expedition. On their return to the UK, participants are encouraged to reflect on the skills they have developed during the programme and to think about how they might use these skills to pursue their future ambitions.