Help TO Raise a Smile

At Tyneside Outdoors (TO) we know the outdoors is good for you and we're really pleased to see that so many people are discovering this too, especially in these difficult times.   The outdoors is a great place to raise a smile.  Whether you're passing a fellow walker on the fells or moors or passing a regular dog walker or cyclist in the park, a smile and a nice hello quickly follows suit.  The situation is well known to TO's Youth and Community Worker, Gerard New,

'As most people know, if you pass people in the park or out in the countryside, you almost always get a hello and a smile. Over the years, when we've taken groups walking in Northumberland, it's great to have young people ask, as we pass by another walker and say hello, "Do you know them?”  The effect after this is that they tend to say hello to everyone they walk past and love the fact that these strangers are saying hello!

In these strange times TO are keen to shout about the positive effects a smile and hello can bring, on top of the physical and mental health benefits of being outdoors, it is why we’ve been so keen to ensure our Youth Work in Newcastle and South Shields has continued within the new Covid-19 guidelines.

As a charity TO’s work is dependent on charitable funds raised to cover the cost of the activities provided for young people, whether this is bike related activities for TO’s Temple Raiders bike group in South Shields or the regular park games, walks and bike rides for TO’s West End Outdoors Youth Group in Newcastle.  Helping young people enjoy a ‘great growing up’ through a range of out-of-doors activities is a key aim of the charity’s work.  We’re asking people to help TO Raise a smile with young people on Tyneside by sponsoring a smile outdoors.  The challenge is simple, just count the amount of smiles you receive from others while you’re enjoying a bit of outdoors and make a donation, telling us how many smiles you counted.

Our aim is not simply to raise money for TO, although the funds will help to bring a smile to young people in TO’s groups, by counting the smiles, you’re also counting the amount of smiles you’ve had during the day and the amount of people that share a smile and the outdoors with you!  We’re also not simply asking this for just one day, we’d like people to continue this throughout December, despite the cold weather and despite the current restraints on people’s lives, remembering of course that being outdoors is not restricted!