Indirock's Youth Zone
Indirock loves sharing the love of bouldering with all ages. So here’s our Youth Zone, aimed at empowering our under 18 climbers on their own climbing journeys.
Have a browse and let us know if you’d like to see anything else added to this page! We always love hearing ways that we can improve.
How to get climbing...
In general, under 18s need to be supervised to climb at Indirock. This is for your own safety and other people’s. The good thing is, if you come with a supervisor, there’s no need to book!
If you don’t have an adult who can stay with you, however, we do host various instructed sessions where an adult doesn’t need to stay.
Weekly instructor-led sessions:
Holiday drop-off sessions:
If you’re aged 6-13 you can also join our holiday drop-off sessions, which run for two hours every weekday morning throughout the school holidays.
Unsupervised climbing for ages 14-17
If you’re aged 14-17, you’ve been climbing with us for a while and you believe you’re mature and safe enough to climb without an adult supervisor, you can apply to get signed off for independent climbing.
It’s down to our experienced team to decide whether you are safe enough to climb unsupervised, and permission will also need to be agreed with your parent or guardian.
Keeping bouldering fun
Bouldering is supposed to be about fun, an amazing community and setting your own goals. If it ever stops feeling fun, something needs to change!
We think the below video is really eye-opening about how sports can sometimes become something it’s not supposed to be. This video is aimed at adults more than it is young people, so feel free to show this to a parent, guardian or sports coach!
Staying safe
We take safeguarding very seriously at Indirock and want to make sure we’re doing everything we can to support young people to stay safe.
If you have any concerns at all, you can send a confidential WhatsApp message to Indirock’s experienced safeguarding volunteers on 07519 298899. They will do their best to help you as soon as possible.
Here’s some more information from our friends at the British Mountaineering Council:
Is someone bullying you, hurting you, or doing something to you that you want to stop. You don’t have to put up with it. You have a right to be safe from abuse. There are ways of getting support.
Keeping safe
- Listen to your instincts about the people you meet
- Avoid being out of sight of other people when with a grown up or someone you don’t trust
- Avoid traveling in someone else’s car by yourself
- Avoid going to the home of a grown up by yourself
- Tell someone you trust where you’re going
- Carry a mobile phone, phone card or enough money in change to be able to make a phone call from a public telephone
Is something wrong?
Something is wrong if someone:
- Constantly teases you, puts you down, belittles you, shouts at you or calls you names
- Threatens, hits, kicks or punches you
- Touches you inappropriately or does anything that makes you feel uncomfortable
- Makes suggestive remarks or tries to pressurize you into sexual activity, taking drugs or consuming alcohol
- Sends you texts or emails that are inappropriate
- Damages or steals your belongings
- Tells you to train when you have a serious injury
- Does anything that makes you feel lonely, upset, embarrassed, worried, unsafe, hurt, dependent, manipulated or controlled
If any of the above happens to you, you can take action to stop it. You have rights – don’t be bullied or abused.
What to do
If you are being bullied or abused, it is not your fault. Try to:
- Be firm and tell the person to stop. Say “No!” firmly
- If that doesn’t work, try making a lot of noise to attract attention.
- Get away from the situation quickly, go to a public place to find help.
- Tell your parents/carers or an adult you can trust as soon as possible, so they can help you.
- If you’re at a climbing wall, tell their staff OR send a confidential WhatsApp message to Indirock’s Safeguarding volunteers on 07519 298899
- If you don’t feel you can tell any of these people call Childline 0800 1111 (this is entirely confidential), or NSPCC 0800 800500. You can also call the police (999). The police and social services have trained staff to support people who are being, or have been, bullied or abused. Keep trying if you can’t get through straight away.
- If possible, keep a note of the date, time and place, what happened, how you felt and the name of anyone who may have seen what happened
Don’t give up until someone helps you.
There is more information about safeguarding on the BMC website here
Indirock’s full Safeguarding policy can be found here:
Mental wellbeing
There are loads of ways we can keep ourselves happy and healthy, and the world of technology can really help. Have you heard of the following apps? Many more recommendations can be found on the CAMHS website here.
Gender & identity
Indirock prides itself on being a welcoming and inclusive space for all. We want everyone to feel welcome, so if you ever have feedback for us on how we can improve our inclusivity, please let us know.
Here are some friendly groups you could look at if you’re on a journey exploring your gender and identity.
We hope you’ve found the resources on this page useful. If you’d like to discuss anything with our team, drop us an email anytime on [email protected]