Redsquid’s CEO is Taking on the Himalayas for YMCA

So far, we’ve mostly focused our efforts upon helping promote employability skills amongst the young people at the charity’s Watford Orbital Community Centre. However, we’ve realised that as an organisation and as individuals, we are capable of doing so much more than this.

Sohin Raithatha, one of Redsquid’s CEOs, is the driving force behind our first big charity project. With his direction, Redsquid hopes to become a more active participant in helping support young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. We share in YMCA’s belief that ‘everyone should be able to fulfill their potential’, and our experiences with the children and young adults from the YMCA Watford Orbital Community Centre, have inspired us to help improve their lives in whatever way we can.

This is why we’ve decided to dedicate our charity efforts to ensure that the kids and young adults of the YMCA Watford Orbital Community Centre, have every opportunity to develop into successful and happy individuals, regardless of their background. Whether these efforts include fundraising, skills workshops, events, open days and more, we’re very excited about getting involved.

Our decision to focus on supporting the YMCA Watford Orbital Community Centre, was inspired by more than just our previous experiences with the charity. With this project, we want to be able to actively check on the development of the children and young people at the centre. Redsquid want to give more than just fundraising money, but actually provide these children and young people with a real avenue of support.

Our very own Sohin Raithatha has already organised a sponsored hike through the Himalayas. The trek route covers 67 KM (or 42 miles) over five days, in which Sohin will camp in the foothills of the world’s highest mountain range, in an effort to raise funds that will be entirely donated to the YMCA Watford Orbital Community Centre. This money will be used to help improve facilities at the centre; giving the kids and young people there a better environment to develop in.

To get a better picture of the motivation behind the project and the goals we’re looking to reach, we spoke to Sohin about why he started this and what he wanted to achieve:

What are your motivations behind this charity project?

The community centre hosts a variety of age groups, but I suppose if you’re aged between 10 and 16, which quite a few of those young people are, it can be a pretty difficult time.

You might not have issues, but if you’re low on confidence, if you have issues at home or at school, and there’s no-one there to support you, then that could play a significant part in where you could be going in the future.

So if you can get that right, if you can make a difference; whether that’d be helping with their careers or just engaging in their lives, that could change the direction of where they’re heading. They might want something small; like they want to become a carer or study further, but at such a critical age, they need support.

What would you like to achieve with this project?

It’d good to make real difference. We’ve done a couple of successful workshops, the feedback’s been really good, but it’d be great to help those kids that specifically turned up to see us both those times. If we could find out what help they want from us, and see that through, even if we could influence just one of those guys, it’d be worthwhile.

In the short term, it’s working with those young adults over a 12-month period. In the long term, it’d be great to do something on a larger scale one day, involving other YMCA centres throughout the country. Also, Redsquid being a telecommunications and tech organisation, I believe that we have the right tools and the right people to help engage with young people.

Why should people donate to your Just Giving page?

The money is going to a good cause; after all, everyone’s been young at some point. Where most of us have been fortunate enough to have had plenty of support at that age, there are others who aren’t. So if we can help make a difference, we really should.

I also know where all the money is going, which is really important. When you donate to most fundraising projects, especially for larger organisations, that money kind of filters down to locations you don’t really know about.

But when I decided to do this, I ensured that we got to know the young adults we’d be helping, so we could see the difference the money is making.

With the help of your donations, Sohin is looking to raise around £5000. If you’d like to find out more, and contribute to this worthy cause, visit Sohin’s just giving page.