Ninety-eight students from Public Services, Sport and Health and Social Care from the Aylesbury campus recently took part in the Calecote Xpereince, a residential community project (NCS) with Action4Youth over the course of two weeks at Caldecotte Park, Milton Keynes.
For many students this was their first experience of sleeping away from home, sharing a room and being away from parents for the longest period of time. Amazingly, this was also the first time for many students to have tasted water straight from the tap!
During the intensive activity programme students got to experience high ropes, caving, archery, sailing, canoeing, raft building, kayaking, orienteering, bushcraft and abseiling.
“It was amazing to see and hear about all their achievements and every single student gained something from the experience,” said Tracy Palmer, Curriculum Manager for Sport and Protective Services. “Every evening the groups got together and reflected on their experiences and made TRUE awards to team mates."
Some of these TRUE awards included; taking part and never complaining, being selfless and helping others, consistently pushing themselves out of their comfort zone, and making an effort every day to make new friends and take part in an activity no matter what.
The event was all made possible by the Action4youth team leaders and activity leaders and staff at the Centre who were always smiling, encouraging and supportive throughout.
Experience tells us that the friendships and thought provoking challenges students faced over these two weeks was immeasurable. It will feed back into to the classroom and help to develop and motivate well rounded individuals who will encourage each other to achieve their goals.
