Four Years of Impact: Opening Doors for Young People
In part 3 of our series celebrating Indirock’s impact as a social enterprise, we’re looking at our programme of support for vulnerable young people in Southend.
This one’s especially close to our hearts.
We believe that young people deserve real opportunities, not just good intentions. Our founder Emily’s background is working in prisons, so she is passionate about sharing opportunities with people who don’t have as much support in life.
From the outset, we created paid traineeships for two vulnerable young people through the Kickstart Scheme, with one of those first young trainees now having progressed to Duty Manager at Indirock four years later. We have been chuffed to see their journey!
In addition, we run a thriving work experience programme supporting young people with SEND or other barriers to the workplace. So far we have:
- Supported over 80 vulnerable young people
- Delivered 350+ work experience shifts
- Created paid traineeships in areas such as administration, routesetting, climbing instruction and customer service
From working in the café to helping on the wall, these placements build confidence, transferable skills, and a stronger CV for life. Seeing the young people we’ve supported go onto get jobs with us or elsewhere is rewarding beyond words!
💚 Powered by Purpose (and a lot of Passion)
Everything we do ties back to our three core aims:
- Inclusivity
- City centre revival
- Opportunities for young people
But the real magic? That comes from you.
Every climb, every vegan samosa, every positive Google review – it all feeds back into our work making bouldering more inclusive, more impactful, and more community-driven.
🙌 What’s Next?
We’re proud of how far we’ve come… but we’re nowhere near done.
This year we have big plans, and we’d love you to be a part of them. We’re launching:
- A new partnership with Mind, where we’re hosting monthly mental health climbing meet-ups, PLUS training to help spot the signs that people need mental health support
- A new ambitious climbing competition – Coast to City – in partnership with City Bouldering Stratford. Bringing more new footfall into Southend.
- Continuing to deliver one £1 climbing session every week, in partnership with Trust Links.
- Continuing our free weekly bouldering club for SEND children, in partnership with charity SEND the Right Message.
- Continuing to offer 1/2 price climbing and shoe hire to anyone on Universal Credit.
- Continuing to offer discounted climbing entry for Southend’s state schools.
And that wraps up our three part series delving into Indirock’s impact over the past four years in Southend. So much to celebrate, and every step of the way, you’re part of this story. Thank you!
