Marie Marin and David Agnew welcome Estonian visitors to High Rise Lisburn

High Rise Lisburn welcomes climbing experts from Estonia

Published: 13 February 2025

Blog

Employers For Childcare, the local charity which owns High Rise was pleased to welcome two climbing experts from Estonia to visit the Lisburn adventure centre recently. The delegation from Estonian hiking and climbing club Alutaguse Matkaklubi visited High Rise on a study visit to research ideas for a new indoor climbing centre in Estonia, to help introduce children and adults to climbing and encourage a more active lifestyle.

Marie Marin, Chief Executive of Employers For Childcare, welcomed Kelli Kasu and Ingrid Kuligina to High Rise, where they enjoyed a tour of the Clip ‘n Climb arena and learned more about how the centre operates. Commenting on the visit Marie said: “We love what we do here at High Rise with our Clip ‘n Climb arena being the main attraction within the centre, so we were delighted to have the opportunity to showcase it to our visitors from Estonia. They were especially interested in how we support children using our facilities, and our programme of inclusive climbing, including the adjustments we make to ensure that Clip ‘n Climb is accessible to as many people as possible through our weekly Inclusion Zone sessions”.

Following their visit, which included an opportunity to try out the various Clip ‘n Climb walls and challenges for themselves, Kelli Kasu said: “We would like to thank Marie and her team for their time and hospitality in showing us around High Rise. It was very helpful to learn more about how the centre is run and particularly what is involved in the provision of the autism-friendly sessions, as that is something we are keen to develop in Estonia. We’ve got lots of ideas and useful advice to take back with us which will be helpful in informing our own plans”.