After a bit of a quieter month in July, August saw our activity picking up in preparation for the schools starting again. A really nice piece of work that we did in August was a programme for young people who may need a little extra support as before they make the transition from primary school to secondary school which can be a very challenging time. Through activities such as fire-lighting, crabbing at the beach, racing mini-rafts down the river and outdoor cooking, the group were able to develop new friendships and build their self-confidence for the school year ahead. We ran these sessions for the first time last summer, but have expand the programme by continuing to run sessions for the group, in conjunction with their school, over the early weeks of term. It is always pleasing when we are able to expand our services as we continue to grow as an impactful organisation.
With all our programmes starting again it has been a busy month but we also found time to run volunteer safety training training, hold a staff day to explore ways in which we can measure and reduce our carbon footprint as well as running a group with young people from CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services) using time in nature to develop skills, increase resilience and positively engage in activities with other young people.