“Aban is a very small, very new outdoor charity. We've only been going 3 years. From our base in Inverness, we are trying our hardest to create a supportive community of outdoor people. We help young people to discover the joys of a life well lived, with the lessons learned through healthy, outdoor adventures. When we were approached by Pen asking if she could fundraise for us, it was a real encouragement, in two ways. Firstly, of course, the money raised is a massive help as it is a tough fundraising environment out there for small charities. Secondly - and more importantly in many ways - the knowledge that other people far and wide across the UK 'get us' and want to support what we're doing, that's a huge psychological boost.”
Johannes Peterson
Àban started during lockdown when Johannes Petersen, one of the founders, realised that young people were suffering from missing human contact and the outdoors. So he posted a social media post inviting parents and local families to come walking and playing in the local woods a couple of times a week. From that simple post Àban began.
Inverness is well placed for outdoor adventure. Mountains, rivers and the sea are on the doorstep. But that doesn’t mean a young person is going to find their way there. If someone in the family gets out on the hill then that’s a help but if there’s no-one in their world who does then the outdoors can feel very alien. The Duke of Edinburgh awards offer a good, structured route but money can be a barrier. Àban have an answer to this with Scotland’s only independent ‘Open Award’ DofE programme, backed up with half of their places being offered with a full scholarship. They also run a Girl’s Bike Club and a Mountaineering Club which are truly open to all – even a whole day session with qualified leaders only costs just £1.
I was once a single mum with three children. I know that when one of your children wants to start a new activity it can be more than a challenge to the budget. However much you want to say yes you may just not be able to afford it. So many family budgets are squeezed today just trying to cover the essentials. Outdoor kit is out of the question. It’s very hard for parents to say no and it’s hard for the youngsters. It closes doors. But Àban can kit young people out removing this barrier.
They do this in a rather enterprising way: they accept donations of used outdoor kit, they mend it and make it available through their free of charge Gear Library. What they don’t need it they sell on eBay and in their charity shop, the only one of its kind in Scotland. It’s a green, practical approach. It’s a can-do approach: thanks to Àban not having new expensive kit is not a barrier to the outdoors.
As a Grandmother with two daughters and four granddaughters I am well aware of the exasperating fact that many girls drop out of outdoor activity and sport. When Johannes told me about the popularity of the Girl’s weekly bike group I knew that Àban was the charity I wanted to sponsor with 77 Islands. “Who makes the decisions?” I asked him. “The girls do. That’s what we aim for,” he answered. “Some weeks they just want to hang out, some weeks they want to plan for an overnight expedition. They lead.” This is just so much what I believe adventure outdoors does for us. So, although there were an awful lot of great outdoor charities around, I know that Àban is the one for 77 Islands to sponsor.
They have Ten Principles that inform what they do. They say it better than I do. Here’s the link.
https://Àban.scot/about/%C3%A0bans-ten-principles