Click on a volunteer to learn more
Volunteer Training
Our team members are not trained mental health professionals and run the sessions as volunteers. However, they are equipped with basic training help them facilitate a session. This includes 10 hours of facilitation training including a safeguarding training course and suicide first aid lite course. All these trainings are provided by our partner charity, The New Normal, with the first aid courses being internationally recognised.
Meet the Volunteers
Beckie Spencer
Session Facilitator
I’ve always tried to be a big advocate for better mental health care, as I often struggle with anxiety and depression myself. Climbing lets me focus on one thing at a time and gives me a sense of achievement, as well as getting me out and about in the summer. It’s a unique opportunity to spend time with friends and move your body at the same time.
I joined CCC as an attendee in 2023 during a particularly dark time and it’s been great for me to have a scheduled time and place to turn up to and talk about what’s going on. Becoming a facilitator has been a lovely progression of my involvement and I can’t wait to spread the positive impact of peer to peer support within the climbing community.
Bede Geoghegan Hart
Co-Founder and Session Facilitator
My mental health has always been a struggle throughout my life. I have found climbing has offered me many positives, from refreshing physical and mental exercise, the communities of caring people and new experiences it has introduced me to. I love its draw to the outside and exploring nature through this strange form of movement. Some days the climbing is almost irrelevant to the feeling of being lost in a natural surrounding.
The challenges of climbing often be escapes from the challenges in life or a place to facilitate conversations between falling off tiny and large rocks. Our aim at CCC is to create inclusive spaces where we can all share without fear of judgement or expectation.
Robin Battison
Co-Founder and Session Facilitator
Moving cities has always been a daunting process for me. Arriving in Bristol was no different – I felt isolated and lonely. As I picked up climbing, things began to change for me. The space it provided did not aggravate past injuries and reframed sport in a social context.
I have found a supportive community within climbing and through CCC I want to extend this by creating a group that facilitates an inclusive environment.
Scott Clarence
Session Facilitator
Climbing has always been more than just a sport to me—it’s a space of challenge, growth, and connection.
It teaches us resilience, trust, and the importance of both individual effort and collective support.
These same principles apply to mental health, where journey is not always meant to be taken alone
Circular Climbing Collective 