"Families Climb,
Rock and Grow
Together

Description

The solidarity project, "FAMILIES CLIMB, ROCK and GROW," offered unique opportunities for families over a specific period. The goal was to use climbing to address several social needs, primarily focusing on families with financial problems and single-parent households who lacked opportunities for shared, high-quality, outdoor experiences.

The project provided families with the chance to discover the sport of rock and wall climbing, develop a love for the mountain environment, and cultivate environmental awareness. Crucially, it strengthened family bonds, improved their mental health and quality of life, and supported joint personal development for parents and children alike.

By leveraging the European Solidarity Corps program, the project successfully overcame the barriers—such as cost, insecurity, and lack of opportunity—that typically prevented these families from accessing the sport, thereby encouraging shared, new learning experiences and fostering stronger relationships in the mountain environment.

Objectives

The Sports for VIP project has set out the following objectives:

To design adaptive sport and outdoor activities based on the needs of people with visual impairment;
To implement a series of sport and outdoor activities (e.g. rock climbing, wall climbing, swimming, goal ball, judo) with the participation of people with and without visual impairment;
To break social stereotypes regarding visual impairment;
To facilitate the acquisition of skills, knowledge and competences from sport professionals in order to be able to successfully design and implement adaptive sport and outdoor activities for visually impaired individuals

Activities

The project team, acting as the main coordinators, collaborated with a variety of external partners, including experts, gyms, and organizations, to deliver a comprehensive program.

They organized a wide range of activities, workshops, games, and practical sessions that took place in various settings: natural rock climbing areas, indoor gyms with climbing walls, parks, and local forests.

Specifically, the team members coordinated workshops to introduce basic climbing equipment and its safe use. They involved parents and children in team-building and trust development games. The team worked with climbing instructors to run practical sessions in rock and wall climbing. To enhance parent-child interaction, they held workshops on rope crafts, slacklining, and acro-yoga. Furthermore, they organized activities focused on fear management and engaged participants in group climbing games that required decision-making. The program concluded with a communal picnic and a final mini-camp for all participating families.

The project has received funding from the European Solidarity Corps Programme of the European Commission and will be implemented between 2024 and 2025.