Weekend at Swattenden!

Last weekend, 14 very excited and happy juniors headed off for a two night residential.

“I am really happy as we asked to go somewhere new for our holiday, and asked if we could stay there for 2 nights - we got both!” Matthew

After a 45 minute country drive everyone arrived at the Swattenden Centre to quickly unpack and have a super speedy tour of the site before heading off for a lovely evening meal. There were chats about what the first activity was going to be in the morning and who was going to stay awake the longest that first night!

But first, the evening activity…. A campfire with biscuits and toasted marshmallows! Everyone divided into teams to learn how to make their own campfire using the equipment that was given to them.

“This is so fun getting to learn how to make a fire with flint and steel.” Samantha

...Time for bed (and sneaky midnight feasts!) before the full on day of activities.

“Saturday started with a morning wakeup call from Lucy - but at least it was to tell us we had a lovely cooked breakfast waiting for us!" Kylie

First activity was an assault course, with lots of 'climbing over' and 'crawling through' obstacles. The juniors worked in teams to see who could complete the course the quickest…. It was a draw! (It’s always a draw!)

Hand and eye co-ordination was tested with a round of archery- some hitting the target spot on and some heading to the next field - but everyone enjoyed having a go! Team building activities ended the exhausting but hilariously fun day.

Saturday evening was not only spent celebrating Sam's 11th birthday with a party and games but was also a chance for our Apprentices, Paddy and Karleigh to lead on some activities to encourage participation and promote the opportunity to share their views and opinions with YLF (more on this soon!)

After recharging their batteries there was time for a few last activities on Sunday morning including zip wiring and climbing Jacob's Ladder before we enjoyed our last lunch together and headed home.

“I loved the zip wire! It was good because I was scared to do it at first but everyone helped me and I was pleased I did it. I wanted to do it again.” Alanna

“The best bit was the birthday party we had for Sam.” Jack

“I've loved seeing all my friends again.” Sophie