It’s been a while since I last updated the blog and whilst I feel a bit remiss, the reason is basically because we are having our busiest ever season here and there’s barely been time to pop home and get the washing done over the last few weeks! Not that I’m complaining….There has been a lot of centre work down at Standon Bowers in the heart of the beautiful Staffordshire countryside. We have been working with hundreds of primary school age children and running a range of activities including; Bridge building challenges, orienteering, toasting marshmallows, using flint and steels, shelter building, low ropes and cargo net climbing, caving in our underground system and bouldering…..it’s all a bit exhausting really 🙂 It has, however, been a privilege to help to introduce kids as young as 6 years old to the great world of outdoors education. At the opposite end of the spectrum this was interspersed with back to back Yorkshire 3 Peaks. The first was with RAW Adventures and Diageo (the company that owns Guinness) and we followed this on the Friday working with Al Fresco Adventures and Emerald Publishing House. This was a traditional small group excursion and we had a belting day out in fantastic conditions and raised a lot of money for worthwhile causes. After a post-walk pint and feed at “The Golden Lion” and a night in the tent at Holme End, it was up and across Yorkshire to Kettlewell. This was to be the start of a weekend of D of E practice with BXM and St.Aidan’s which saw the young people making their way from Kettlewell to Gordale Scar and then onto Grassington. It was a great wild area in spite of the weather and there were some great birds out on the moor including Curlews, Redshanks, Oystercatchers, Lapwings, Buzzards and even a beautiful Little Owl. I’d visited the area a few times but it’s certainly somewhere I’d like to spend more time in the future. The last job during this busy spell was yet one more D of E practice on Cannock Chase, an area that I am getting to know well.
The last nine months have been a challenging time for me personally and Come walk with me UK has proved to be a force for positivity and I am happy and proud that our business and reputation are continuing to grow. This is our fourth year of operation and by far the busiest one yet. Already this year we have worked in Cambodia, Nepal, South Wales, Yorkshire, Staffordshire, Somerset and Ashdown Forest. We are looking forward to a Summer expedition to Ecuador and plenty more days on the hill and in the woods during the rest of 2017! I can’t wait.
