Like everyone right now – we are trying to focus on the positives. The 2019/20 season may have been cut short but this didn’t stop our Giving Programme and we are proud to have supported both local and international initiatives about some of the things we care about the most: helping others through education and the environment.
Since the 2017/18 season, we have committed to our 1 for 1 Promise. For each and every hour you ski with us, we donate a day’s education to children in Chennai, India through B1G1 and the Hope Foundation.
We may not have enjoyed as many hours on snow with you all as we would have hoped for, but we still managed to donate over 31,000 days of education. Since starting our 1 for 1 Promise we have donated an amazing 140 596 days of education, or approximately 702 years! This is all thanks to the hours spent on snow with you!
Through our Instructor Training programmes we have also managed to donate over 350 days of teaching young orphans independent living skills in Ukraine. We’re really proud that with your help, we have managed to achieve this and hope to see it grow as resorts become operational again!
We’d hoped to support Snow-Camp again this year through our Switch-180 Week. This is a fundraising week across all of our resorts to help inner-city young people in the UK gain qualifications and confidence through Snow-Camp’s award winning programs.
Last year our teams ran drop-in sessions, raffles, freestyle camps and quizzes. Unfortunately, international lockdowns shut down resorts just before our fundraising week was about to kick off.
Despite this, we still managed to raise over £1000 for Snow-Camp thanks to a generous family donation for use of our Sit Ski, a Women’s Freestyle Camp in Tignes and yoga sessions in Val D’Isere courtesy of the lovely Emily.
This will have helped to put 10 young people through their beginner program back in the UK. Despite not managing to match last year’s efforts we look forward to further fundraising opportunities in the future to hopefully help more young people benefit from the love of snowsports.
The impact of Snow-Camp’s work can be seen by this quote below, from one of their young participants, Connor:
“I’m a full-time carer for my mum and I struggle with anxiety. Attending Snow-Camp gives me a much-needed break from my responsibilities at home while improving my fitness and reducing my anxiety.
Day 2 of First Tracks was a massive day in my life. I wasn’t sure I wanted to go back after the first day, but I did and it’s the best decision I’ve made!
First Tracks made me realise the enjoyment that comes from achievement and by sticking with snowboarding and not giving up meant I could snowboard quite well by the end! Going from VERY nearly giving up to snowboarding from the top of the big slope was an AMAZING feeling!”
We are all too aware that we are extremely lucky and privileged to be able to work in the magnificent surroundings that we do. We are also very aware of it’s fragility. We are on a continuous mission to try and reduce the impact of our business on the environment as well as helping others to do so. To offset the production of our brochures for last season we set up a grove in the Scottish highlands, starting with 17 trees. Through Trees for Life we are not only offsetting what we can, but helping to re-wild a beautiful part of the world that some of our instructors call home.
Following our start of season training we sent 2 large boxes of warm clothing, hats and gloves to Care 4 Calais. Each year many of our British instructors drive through Calais on their way to or from the UK, where many refugees still face the elements in the winter. Our French teams donated old uniforms as well as other items to help keep people as warm as possible in the winter rather than letting this kit go to waste.
We also recently donated some unused uniforms to One Tree At A Time who have done an amazing job at covering up our logos to resell our amazing kit at a discounted price and to get it back on the hill. One Tree At A Time are working hard to provide a more circular economy in the heart of the French Alps. You can check out their eco-friendly ski gear here.
We really hope the 2020/21 season will provide everyone a chance to enjoy the snow and the mountains after what has been a tough year for all. We hope to see you on the mountains soon and by doing so helping others along the way!