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Activity
Holiday at Hauteville Sur Mer - July 2004
At
3.15am on a July morning 33 Young People 6
volunteers and a Youth Worker departed Tarleton
to go on an Activity Holiday to a centre in
Hauteville Sur Mer a small seaside resort
in Normandy.
They
stayed at a centre which specialises in Group
holidays and focuses on developing personal
skills of young people through a variety of
activities. The holiday involved team building
activities as well as initiative building
tasks. The purpose of the holiday was to develop
individuals in the group and prepare them
for community capacity building tasks in the
village. This was achieved through participation,
working as a team and most of all having fun.
The group who were aged between 12 and 19
participated a variety of activities Over
the 6 full days at the centre the group was
split into 4 activity groups and each group
participated in 10 different activities and
had a day off.
The
holiday was subsidised by a grant from Awards
for All Northwest and the own group members
fundraising activities.
High
Ropes
Two sessions of high ropes were available
the first involved climbing a pole and participants
were given the opportunity, in high quality
harnesses, to jump onto a trapeze or just
hang loose.
The
second high ropes session involved building
up crates and see how high they could be built
before the toppled.
Fencing
All groups had the opportunity to participate
in fencing which gave them the chance
to learn how to control their movements
and learn the correct moves to make |
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Kayaking
This activity helped several young
people with a fear of water overcome their
fear.
It was an enjoyable activity on a river that
was only 15 minutes away from the camp site,
after learning how to recover from a capsize
and having paddled for over a hour everybody
was given the opportunity to jump in just
to make sure they were thoroughly wet.
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Indoor and Outdoor
Rock Climbing
The groups had the opportunity to try
their hand at climbing indoors before
attempting climbing in a disused quarry.
Many young people conquered their fear
of heights to participate in these activities.
Several people also had a go at "boldering",
looked good but in reality they were
only 18” from the ground |
Abseiling
Yet again at the quarry young people had the
opportunity to attempt abseiling. The instructors
willingly gave their time to show members
of the older group who had shown an interest
in being activity instructors how to set the
activity up and control peoples safety.
Low
Ropes and Orienteering
This was an opportunity for people to cool
down, stay on the course or get zapped by
a water cannon or if you fell you stood a
chance of bursting the balloon that you were
carrying that was full of water so it was
a no win fun situation.
The
younger group ran round the orienteering course,
no wonder they slept well that night! The
older groups were far more demure.
This
was the test of working as a team, some groups
got stuck in and worked things out quite easily,
but others struggled a little to start with
but got it right in the end.
Archery
We hope we don’t get the bill
for all the missing flights! But we did have
some stars who scored well in this activity,
this helped people build up their concentration
skills.
Raft
Building
This was one of the activities on the last
day, and saving the best fun to last seemed
to work. Working in teams of 6/8 people the
task was to build a raft that would actually
float and be able to be paddled with the “raft
builders” on board. Well not everything
went to plan and only 3 of the 6 rafts built
managed to stay afloat with people on board.
Teams worked well together and it was nice
to end the week seeing everybody gel together.
Evening
Activities
A range of activities were arranged in the
evening which included spending time down
the beach playing games, quizzes and on the
last night we barbequed marshmallows.
Leisure
Time
We opted for a leisurely day in the nearby
town of Granville which allowed everybody
the opportunity to do a bit of what they wanted
which included shopping, sightseeing or going
down the beach. Most days their was very little
time for leisure activities but it was nice
to go down to the beach and watch the wonderful
sunset and just wander up and down the seafront.
Summary
The holiday was an absolute success.
The group worked together as a team. The outcomes
that will benefit the group in the future
are:
•
Both the younger and older groups worked well
together.
• The group are working together to
have elections next year to elect new members
to the groups committee. The older members
have agreed to help the younger members build
their skills and be more active members of
the group.
• More volunteers are now interested
in the groups work and this will hopefully
mean that TYAG’s activities can be widened.
• The personal skills of most young
people were developed to allow them to play
a wider role in their community.
• Members learned how to tolerate each
other and work as a team rather than being
rivals.
• The Groups willingness to work together
to fundraise to make this holiday an annual
activity.
Quotes
from Young People
‘It was the best holiday of
my life’
‘I enjoyed the activities’
‘Can we come again next year’
‘The staff were brill’
‘Enjoyed water fights’
‘Having fun’
The
holiday was a superb example of Lancashire
Youth and Community Service working in partnership
with the voluntary sector. The help and support
of the Service was very much appreciated by
the volunteers and the participants.
The
Group are planning a return visit next year,
but this year they will not be able to get
a grant and have to fundraise the full cost
of £320 per person. The group is looking
for sponsorship from local businesses and
support on their fundraising activities. If
you would like to help towards these young
people having a worthwhile group holiday please
contact the group by ringing 01772 811552. |
