Youth TripsActivities

Youth Trips/Activities

The following are just an example of some of the trips and activities carried out by the Youth Project.

Democracy week - Area Committee Meeting 14th Oct. 2009

I believe that we all agreed that the trip to the City Hall, Wednesday 14th October for the Democracy Evening debate was a resounding success.

The whole object of the trip was so that the young people we took along, from Hessle Road Network would have the opportunity to exercise their democratic right to question a group of their local councillors, in open debate, regarding issues and council decisions currently being made, which are relevant and important to them as citizens.

From the very beginning when first invited to attend this meeting, the young people concerned approached this project with the right amount of interest and had their own meeting prior to the date, where they discussed and explored, possible questions they felt needed answering regarding the area they live in and certain ongoing issues of relevance and at the end of the day it was unanimously agreed that all these young people, made us very proud representing Hessle Road Network both in the way they made themselves heard, asking their questions and generally conducting themselves with, eloquence, enthusiasm and spirit.

The trip was organised as part of a local initiative promoting a Democracy week in the Hull area and local councillors were keen to invite young people along to their meetings to discuss and challenge decisions being made, that would concern them in their everyday life. Some questions which came under fire from the group were:

Why are there not more parks in the area?
Why are there not more things to do for young people in the area?
Who is meant to clear up glass and litter on the parks and fields in the area and why are they not doing this properly?
Why are the fields not being taken care of properly?
Why has the rubble at Riley College not been cleared yet?
Why are there not more security cameras operating in the area, and why can we not get more adequate street lighting, especially in the area of Massey Park?
And would it be possible for us to have more, youth pods in our streets?

All of these issues were debated and discussed with the councillors present and these led on to other issues which were brought up by the young people, who felt that their questions and grievances were answered up to a point, but that room was still left for further debate on certain areas of the agenda and needed to be pursued further, during possible future meetings.

The evening was enjoyed by all and finished well as we all returned to a supper of pizza and chips back at Hessle Road Network.

Environmental Arts Project

A group of young people in Year 11 at Endeavour High School have attended our Alternative Learning Programme for over a year and have been working towards their ASDAN Certificate of Personal Effectiveness Level 1. Recently, they have been taking part in a project aimed at raising young people's awareness of the environment by carrying out activities such as comparing and testing environmentally friendly products and creating a piece of environmental art. In order to prepare and inspire the young people's art work we took the group to Hornsea and spent some time sketching, photographing and collecting interesting objects on the beach. The young people used these items to create a piece of art which is being displayed at the project.

As well as having a fun day out, this piece of work allowed the young people to use their imagination and the environment around them to inspire their work and engage in a positive learning experience. It has also allowed us as youth workers to build a stronger relationship with young people by taking them out of their everyday environment and offering them a fun activity.

Capture The Flag
Beverley Westwood
April 2009

Capture the Flag is a team building activity which helps in maintaining relationships between the staff and the young people whilst keeping the young people active. It involves teams of young people whose aim is to 'capture the flag' of the opponents in order to eliminate them from the game.

The most recent trip was to Beverley Westwood, with a bus full of excited young people.

When we arrived at Beverley Westwood the young people were very keen to get started and rushed into the Westwood and eagerly started picking teams.

For the first round of games we played best out of 5 games with the green team taking a 2 - 0 lead with in half an hour of us playing, during these 2 first games the young people were running all over the Westwood very energetically diving through bushes trying to eliminate each other from the game. We then took a short 10 minute break so the young people could have some fruit and a drink before starting the games again. The next 2 games were won very quickly by the red team to level the scores 2 - 2 which meant that a deciding game had to be played. This deciding game was played with a very high level of competitiveness with both teams managing to remove tags off members of staff as well as other young people, This lasted for about 45 mins before a very happy red team returned with the green teams flag to be pronounced winners.

We then stopped and had a bite to eat whilst talking tactics for the next set of games.

For the next round of games we switched teams and staff members and played best out of 3. These games were played with the same level of competitiveness as the previous games with the red team winning 2 - 1.

We then took another break for refreshments and to catch our breath before playing the final round of games. For the final round of games the teams and staff members were switched again. We was playing best out of 3 games again with the red team winning 1 and the green team winning 1 but unfortunately we only managed 2 games as we ran out of time so the scores stayed at 1 - 1.

A good day was had by all, with all the young people expressing how much they enjoyed the trip and are eagerly anticipating the opportunity to take part again.

Hessle Road Network Gardening Project 2009 2009 saw the start of the Hessle Road Network Gardening Project. The project initially began after a member of HRN staff acquired an allotment; after general discussions with the young people about the site a small group of young people decided that it was something that they too would like to be involved in and so the project began to evolve. Initially the group went to the allotment simply to get a feel for the project and see if it would be something that they would like to continue with. After a couple of initial visits (and a lot of hard work) the group decided that they would like to make the project a permanent fixture in the Hessle Road Network timetable. Five of the initial group soon after applied for funds for the project to continue over the summer and were successful in achieving a grant from the Youth Opportunities Fund for £1500. Over the summer (2009) the group tended to the plot weekly, starting initially with clearing the site and making space for their plots. The clearing was a really big job and in particular James Buttery and Jordan Abdul did a fantastic job, showing what a bit of hard work and elbow grease can achieve! Soon after, Danny Stones, Wes Naulls, Jonny and James Buttery and James Thames started building raised beds for their produce to grow in, and then dug over the soil. The beds were then filled with over two tons of compost and finally planting began! Over the short time that the group have been involved in the project they have particularly enjoyed harvesting what vegetables have been produced so far. Tomatoes, courgettes, three varieties of potatoes, spring onions, radishes, beetroots and blackberries are just some of what the group has grown – not bad for amateur gardeners hey! The project has brought together many different groups of young people - produce has been taken back to the youth project and young people of all ages have used the produce to make exciting dishes for all the groups to try! In turn, this sharing and developing has also made the project of interest to a wider range of youngsters that attend the project. We have more young people now keen to join in the allotment project and we are currently busy planning what we are going to grow next year and getting the plot ready to start the years planting again in March. This project has been one that is new to HRN and it has captured the interest of a wide range of young people. Staff have acknowledged that the project is clearly broadening young peoples knowledge and skills, both outside and at home in the kitchen and it is one that is definitely encouraging healthier lifestyles all round. We hope that the HRN allotment will be around for many years to come!

HALLOWEEN PARTY 28TH OCTOBER 2009 For 2 weeks prior to the party all the young people had been busy in their sessions making lots of different Halloween decorations to use at the party. It had also been decided that every member of staff would be a Halloween character and each would have a team of young people and take part in lots of team games, the winner would be presented with a trophy. There was an Evil Fairy, A vampire, a ghoul, the Grim Reaper, the murderer from the Scream films and Jack Skellington. On the day of the party the hall and Youth Room looked fantastic with all the decorations up. We opened the doors at 6 o'clock, there were already a few young people waiting excitedly outside. All the young people were in high spirits and were eager to start the team games. We started the tournament with Halloween Runaround and then played a balloon relay race. All the teams were full of energy and were all keen to be winners. Even when we played the Dare you eat the Biscuit game they were all that eager to get points for their teams they ate ALL the biscuits, including the ones with not so nice fillings!! They all really enjoying playing the Toilet Roll Mummy game, wrapping a member of the team completely with toilet roll. We played a few more relay games and then things started to get messy! A member from each team had to throw a specially made dice and if it landed on an egg they then had to choose an egg from the Halloween basket and crack it on their heads, there were 12 eggs but only 4 were hard boiled. After one member from each team had played the young people then got to choose an egg and crack it on each of the team leaders heads, some objected more than others!! The hall looked a little bit messy now and then we started our final most messiest game, Hunting for Spiders in buckets of slime. Each team had to find 6 different spiders in different buckets filled with lovely slime, including jelly, cold custard and lumpy rice pudding. The young people loved it, there was slime everywhere. The games had finished and they all got to have a nice jacket potato with a choice of Bolognese, chilli, cheese or beans. They all waited excitedly to hear the final scores and see which team had won. In first place was the Ghouls (Andy's team), second place The Vampires (Claire's team) and in third place came The Skellingtons (Tads team). All the winners received a rosette and a certificate. Awards were also given for Best Girls Costume and Best Pumpkin. A great time was had by all, everyone is looking forward to the next one!!

Saturday 27th June 2009
Everyone met at Hessle Road Network at 9.30am. All the girls were in high spirits as we set of on the journey up to Raywell Scout Campsite.
When we arrived everyone chipped in and helped to unload the minibus. Everyone helped to put up the tents, with guidance from Emma and Tad. Ronnie worked really hard, she managed to put up 2 tents on her own. It had been decided that all the young people would share the big tent, there were 2 small tents for staff and one tent would be used as 'a Big Brother Diary Room'. Once the tents were up and the minibus was empty we all relaxed for half an hour.
The girls then decided that they wanted to play badminton, we had a great new badminton set complete with net. We all tried putting up the badminton net but unfortunately we weren't very successfully, it kept falling over. Thankfully the nice scout camp supervisor came to our rescue, he secured it with some guy ropes. Everyone had a turn at badminton, Jade was a really good player. They all really enjoyed it, especially Emma!!
It was soon time for lunch so we all went into the Jubilee building we had hired and started to prepare the buffet we had decided we would have. We had various sandwiches, quiche, sausage rolls, dips, crisps, fresh fruit salad and much much more.
After lunch we played Block, Emma and Tad stayed near the tents and we all ran into the woods to hide. Emma and Tad didn't manage to capture anyone, Shannon was really good at hiding, we all got back to the tents. We continued to play until the group were all a little puffed out. We then decided we would take things a little easier and would spend the rest of the afternoon practicing the face painting.
Everyone got really engrossed and tried lots of different designs, some flowers, some hearts and even Spiderman! Ronnie and Claire did some really good flower patterns. The afternoon passed really quickly and before we knew it, it was time for our tea.
As the girls had decided we would have a full Sunday Roast and homemade flapjack with custard, it was all hands on deck to prepare it all. Everyone went into the kitchen and we soon had the broccoli, cabbage, carrots, peas, sprouts, stuffing balls, Yorkshire Pudding, mince and onion and roast chicken cooking!!! While the tea was cooking the girls and Tad all played Uno and other card games, Kathleen was a great card player, she won lots of games, although Tad thought there was a little cheating going on!!! We then ate dinner, it was lovely and all the plates were completely clear, every last bit was eaten up. No one had any room for the pudding so we thought we would save it until later.
Also at the camp that weekend there were many young explorers (Scouts) and they had built a big fire at the fire pit area. They had asked us to join them so we went to join in with the singing around the camp fire. After the scouts went we stayed a while telling jokes, singing and having fun.
We made our way back to the tents around 11pm and once again the girls were hungry so we made our custard to go with the flapjack they had made earlier. They all then got ready to go to bed.
Although everyone was in bed by 12.10 am they were all still laughing and chatting for an hour or so. Eventually they all went to sleep.
Everyone was up by 8am the next morning, once everyone was clean and dressed we all started to make our full English breakfast. Once we were all fed and had washed all the pots, Natasha once again was a star washing up, we went to meet the camp supervisor to start our Archery session.
The camp supervisor went through all the safety rules with the group and split them into groups of 4. First up were Claire, Ronnie, Emma and Kathleen. They all tried really hard, managed to fire the arrows really straight. Next up was Natasha, Shannon, Jade and Letitia, again they did really well and even managed to hit the target. The archery session lasted about another hour, the girls had the chance to have quite a few goes each. All the girls did well, Letitia even managed a BULLSEYE!!!!
After the archery we went back to the tents to start to pack everything away. It didn't take long everyone once again was really helpful and they worked fantastically well as a team.
A great weekend was had by all!!

BBQ - Summer Holidays 2009

One of the projects we have been running is a Thursday night session at Edinburgh Street Community Centre. This session is aimed at young people aged 13+ and runs every week between 7pm-9pm. After a couple of weeks of the session up and running we started getting a lot of young people who were originally from Eastern Europe attending, these young people were mainly Polish, at one point we were getting 30-40 Polish young people attending the sessions. We decided it would be a good idea to throw a big summer BBQ on Massey Street field, Which is across the road from our project, and to give it a Polish theme to get young people, their families and friends familiar to the project and its workers and increase community cohesion between the Eastern European groups and other local residents. We got help with any language difficulties from Maciej who is a Community Warden and has a good relationship with a lot of the Polish young people. Maciej was a great help on the day, he helped out with the BBQ alongside his colleague James.
At the BBQ we served some Polish food and played Polish/Eastern European music, we also had an Indian Henna artist there doing Henna tattoos.
Grass roots Sports also came along and set up a football tournament on the Astroturf which was really popular with all the groups of young people attending, subsequently some of Polish young men have joined the Hessle Road Network 5 a side football team on a Friday evening. The winners of the tournament were presented with a trophy and medals at the end of the day.
The event was a great success enjoyed by everyone who attended and something which we hope to repeat in the future. We met lots more young people at these BBQ's and some of them have started attending the Thursday night Edinburgh street sessions.

Thursday Night youth group

On Thursday nights the Hessle Road Network runs a youth group for young people aged 9-14 from the Hessle Road area. Whilst working with these young people we have carried out a range of activities including issue based sessions with topics such as anti bullying and a session around respecting animals.
We also regularly arrange arts and crafts activities with the group as well as cooking. The young people seem to really enjoy the activities that we arrange for them.
The young people that attend the sessions are from two different groups who would never normally interact with each other during sessions. The group now seems to have come together and they now take part in the sessions as one group instead of two separate groups.
One of the most recent activities that the group were involved in was to help make decorations for a Halloween party that was being arranged for young people from across the whole project, the young people made gravestones out of card board and covered them with paper mache then painted over them to make a 3D affect.
We will continue to engage with these young people by offering them activities which they enjoy and from which they can gain new skills.

Cycling Residential - September 2009 The Big Day First night, anticipation excitement night, as youth workers we accept this and never really expect to get shut eye before 1:30am, however past 2am we turn from calm collective adults to fire breathing dragons. As a species we are renowned for our patience, likened somewhat to that of a Saint, but even Saint's have been known to ride into battle and this night we saddled up the horses. As a general rule of thumb negotiation is our tool of choice, though with the birds about to sing, threats usually have the desired affect. My personal favourite is with every passing minute the assurance young people will be getting up that little bit earlier.

7am wake up call, when out in the wilderness without the luxury of a radio alarm we find pots, pans and Tads angelic singing voice offer a grand alternative. After thirty minutes of gentle coaxing one by one seven dazed zombies began to wobble around and occupy the camp site. A quick injection of Kellogg's and the sweet aroma of sausage and bacon spitting away and the group were back in the world of the living. I mention the aroma because for some of us this is as close as we came to actually eating. To coin a favourite saying of the young people 'if you're not fast you're last' and on this occasion Tad and I failed to finish. A few final cups of tea and the gang were ready for the off. You may have noticed there was no mention of getting a wash; this crew weren't dirty how could you dare consider such an absurd notion. No! These lads think it perfectly reasonable that at 2am in the morning they should get up and parade semi naked across the site, pop over to the shower block (a good 200 metres away) and go have a jolly good rubber dub dub.
Deep down I know this is exactly what these lads were doing because they would never ever fabricate the truth. I can only imagine the conversation went something along the lines of this. 'Aiden you feeling a bit icky''Yeah being a long day aint it Jack, Maccauly has some sick shower gel, got that hello Vera in it' 'Maccauley grab the gel, oh Eric, Mark are you feeling a little dishevelled also, lets go invigorate ourselves with a hot shower' And so off they toddled to the shower block at 2am.
	We became suspicious after a strange silence descended around camp (at first we thought our ears had tuned out) it was then we discovered to our horror we were missing five young people. I'm not proud of this but for a brief second a small part of me hoped the bears had been. Realising I had to do the responsible thing I put on my big coat and pulled on my Benny hat setting out in search of these AWOL individuals. It was then whilst marching across camp mentally preparing what I would say in the coroner's court, I was confronted with one of the strangest sights my eyes have ever fallen upon. Five fragrant shiny young men, in only their boxer shorts slowly strolling back towards camp. Two of the gang were proudly riding upon their mates backs, these lads weren't daft they didn't want to dirty their bare feet on the sodden field, after all they had just taken a shower. The fifth lad probably drawing the short straw hung his head, walked a few paces behind and was condemned to drag the cavalry's towels through the mud back to camp. It was at this point I coolly and calmly enquired to what the boys were doing out at silly O'clock on a cold damp night with so little clothes on. To which I received the reply 'well if you're dirty you need a shower don't you Andy?'
My first thoughts were this seems a little odd and was not convinced that a normal person would consider this logical, were there other motives for them being out so late? Surely not, they would not deceive me. At this point I deliberated whether to use the long piece of rope in the van to tie these lads together to ensure their safety. Well if the crisp county air continuously brought about peculiar urges they needed to be restrained. After realising this was probably illegal, slightly unethical and the clincher could never make it wash with the police, I instead opted for ‘negotiation, diplomacy and good communication skills'. It was only later when thinking back to the reply I received, youth work aims to challenge norms; the taken for granted, encourages and celebrates individuality. These lads were in fact dirty, why shouldn't they shower! That is why I now cut my grass Sunday mornings at 3am and have subsequently received the affectionate name ASBO Andy. Slightly side tracked, the camp was buzzing with excitement, the group doing the traditional Woodcock Street cycle warm up, wheelies around the tent guy ropes with narrow misses the red arrows would be proud of. Think the gang may regret this waste of energy later in the day but right now it didn't matter. Claire had done an admirable job of coordinating the packed lunches, we were set and the hour of reckoning was upon us. A quick pic and the group were ready for the off. Cycling up through the site passing the entrance of Rockley Abby Farm there was an air of apprehension amongst the group, they were well aware this would be tough. The only prep done was four twenty mile training rides but today we aimed to cover thirty seven and unfortunately flat Hull is little preparation for the terrain we were to encounter. Hanging a left out off the entrance of the site onto the normally quiet B road which the day before had delivered us to the friendly elderly camp proprietor. This gentleman upon arrival had said 'HOW MANY KIDS! Are they quiet? You can't disturb the other residents!' after some convincing that the young people weren't as he suspected a rowdy bunch of feral children, he had, I think reluctantly agreed to accommodate us. Be that on the bottom field far far away from the amenities and civilised folk and which incidentally resembled a swamp. Oh we were hanging a left, expecting to be confronted with tranquil tarmac occupied with the occasional car meandering to no place in particular. We instead were faced with a precession of HGV's in a considerable rush to be some place. Suspecting that these drivers had sent off for their licences from the back of a bag of Space Raiders we were forced to dismount and walk.
Leaving the newly formed haulage artery we were soon back on the bikes and in search of the Trans Pennine Trail (TPT). It was here we encountered our first navigational predicament. The TPT maps bare little resemblance to the lye of the land and can be bewildering and as for the signage it is often contradictory. After about thirty minutes of biking up and down a rather steep hill hoping the trail was under the M1 where the maps promised it had been left we were forced to call in the big guns of the Ordnance Survey. It seemed a good time to stop for a snack and get our bearings. The group were eager to get out the big map and point out to Tad and I where we were going wrong. So we stepped back tucked into a turkey sandwich and watched a well oiled machine scramble about on the ground whilst taking in the morning air. After about ten minutes we decided to offer some guidance and point out that maybe they should turn the map over. Although the group had decided we were somewhere near Leeds (a substantial distance from our actual location) there was definite amount of deliberation and cooperation between them. A crash course in map reading and the penny dropped for Craig who then led the group to the elusive trail.
	Trail found and all we had to do now was head east! Remembering that the Pennines lay just over the horizon I settled into the saddle trying to conserve energy and encourage the group to do the same. By this time the wheelies had stopped and a few red faces had begun to appear. Heading along the old Railway bed down the Don Valley trail a very large DANGER KEEP OUT sign confronts you. The trail cuts its way through the hill side creating a steep sided jagged gorge. Assurance from the young people that it would be safe to continue and punch our way through the hill didn’t deter us from sticking to the plan to take the high ground and pass the gorge on one of its banks. According to the group the precariously balanced flinty boulders were stable, being their years, would never fall and if they did 'we had helmets on'. They then choose to demonstrate this with a hail of stones hurled at one of the up rights.
A short intense burst of energy saw us up the bank and soon travelling parallel with the gorge. This section is very technical needing skilful negotiation of the tyres between tree roots, ducking branches and importantly ensuring you don't fall into the gorge. Every member of the group received nettle stings, thorns and the occasional thistle along here but some moaned more than others didn't they Jack! Leaving the gorge you are faced with the first real challenge of the day, a long climb up to Silkstone Common. The track here is again narrow and overhung in places with varying vegetation, most of which is prickly. The farm house in the distance marks the top but progress is slow and painstaking. The mood of the group had changed somewhat from the cheeky lively mob of yesterday. ‘This is stupid Andy it's not a laugh' it was here the first bike was thrown down in tired frustration. Sure enough the group did reach the top and there tucked into some more sandwiches.

We continued into Oxspring just one of the many picturesque Yorkshire villages along the trail. I say continued but you kind of swoop down a fast descent flashing past charming thatched cottages and land bang in the centre of the village. The speedy plunge lifted the group and the sound of 'THAT WAS SICK' rang across the valley. The village green was awash with people young and old; the sun had finally started to shine (a bit) so we parked ourselves on the grass, ate lunch and afterwards some enjoyed an ice cream or two.

The group were recharged full to the brim and ready to burn off the ice creams. We made our way out of Oxspring, a feverish chat bounced around the group, each lad recalling their individual experience of the 'sick' arrival into the village. I told the group that the rush into Oxsping was small fry to what was to come, this only spurred them on further and the volume increased. The only thing was that the group had to push their way up the Pennines to experience the thrill of tearing down. Admittedly I had doubts that some had the fitness levels or strength of character and expected a call to our support team (Claire) shortly. But they were to prove me wrong!

Through the market town of Pennistone we proceeded, crossed the River Don which we would follow for the next five miles or so. The group now had a sense of purpose and ate up these relatively easy miles at an impressive pace. Reaching the Upper Don Trail the group slowed slightly as the incline became more obvious. This did not deter the now team of adventurers and we pushed on to Dunford Bridge and the big hills of the Peak District National Park. Reaching Dunford Bridge well before I had expected I stopped at a blind corner, checked nobody was about to pass out and gave a pep talk in a weak attempt to prepare and psyche the group up for what lay around the bend.


Turning the corner and bang you are faced with trails Nemesis, three miles of seemingly vertical tarmac stretching towards the clouds. You know there must be a top but sometimes seriously doubt it is there. Things weren't helped by a strong icy wind attempting to push us back into Dunford Bridge. I don't think motivational speaking is a strong point of mine as here a further two bikes were thrown down in earnest. One of the bikes was kicked and some colourful language resonated throughout the group. The main target of the angry mob was me closely followed by Tad. At least the group had a sense of togetherness, which had been brought about by hatred and an urge to tear pieces off the youth workers. The group sat down in protest and urged me to ring Claire. Here me and Tad deliberated whether to leave the group and identify the bodies at a later date. Instead a fantastic performance incorporating reverse psychology and Jedi mind tricks saw the group back underway. Tad and I can't take all the credit for this however as Craig and Shane sided with us and I think were the real reason for the group's eventual arrival at summit. We had now entered the national park and reached Windle Edge the highest point on the trail 1427ft above sea level. Only one more sole destroying climb to go, I didn't think this was a good time to mention this so chose to allow the group the thrill of the downward section before bringing this up.


At the top we stopped to catch our breath, admire the scenery and rest, if only briefly. By now legs were weary and bums feeling every small bump thanks to the previous twenty five miles in the saddle. We left the road and hurtled down the fastest most dangerous section of the trail so far. Spirits once again high the group hurtled down the hillside into the valley below. This isn't for the faint hearted, tests the nerve and also the bikes brakes. STOP! STOP! STOP! All but one came to halt safely before ending up in the stream, Tad on the other hand opted to use the wall for assistance to the amusement of the group.


Stopping on the bridge full of adrenalin hysteria broke out at the sight of the sheep inhabiting the landscape. Like a pack of wolves the group set about chasing the poor animals. Fortunately the sheep were fast and escaped unharmed. By far the most enthralling discovery was the sheep that had fallen victim to a metal fence. The dead animal captivated them, some wanted to give it a formal burial others were content to have their picture taken with it. The picture above shows Aiden stumbling on the find and then checking for life signs. With all this spare energy it was a good time to gather the group and break to them the news. Gesturing to the hill top now shrouded in black cloud I said 'Just up their now then' This went down far better than I expected and the group casually got back onto their bikes. The sprint into the valley had brought about a second wind. More likely they realised they were in the middle of nowhere and moaning would be a waste of time and precious energy.

The climb is not as long as the previous one yet more challenging as it is far steeper. It had started to rain but the end was in sight, well it lay behind a few thousand tonnes of earth. In reality we were only a few kilometres from a road but the fact it is not visible makes it feel very remote. The persistent wind and angry sky made it seem even more desolate. As you near the top the camber makes it almost impossible to remain on the bikes. Dismounting the group pushed on taking one step at a time, being careful on the uneven ground. 'Plod, Plod, Plod' the sheep and occasional rabbit had kept us entertained, we even think we saw two kestrels (well they were big birds) The slight spit had developed into a steady stream but we were undeterred and began to sing 'Ooolllldddd faithful, oooooollllllldddd faithful,,,, in any kind of weather' The Boulevard classic stirred up emotions and Tad struggled to hold back the tears.


	Before heading down the young people posed for a couple more pictures. The rain had really started to come down by now which made the final descent a little more treacherous. Being soaked almost through the group instead of avoiding the dirty puddles took great pleasure ploughing their way through them. Not having mud guards on the bikes ensured a generous covering in mud, dirt and sheep ****. Reaching the bottom we were all well decorated. The rain showed no sign of stopping and it was only the thought of a hot shower that spurred the group on.

We pushed on through the Peak District National Park along the valleys length passing reservoir after reservoir. By now water proofs had being beaten by the elements and well past their usefulness. We were all soaked through to the bone as though we had jumped into a swimming pool. It was then the emergency stop alarm sounded on the two way radios, oh dear what had happened? Tad then broadcasted over the air waves that Mark had fallen from his bike and that he required assistance. After a short twenty metre back track we turned the sharp corner and met the scene of the accident, by this time Mark was being helped to his feet by two of his buddies and Craig had set about repairing the damaged bike. Mark was a little shaken but escaped relatively unscathed which could not be said for the bike. The bikes handlebars were twisted and wheels bent out of shape, his helmet had taken a large proportion of the impact which hammered home the importance of wearing one to the many image conscious individuals. Apparently the fall was a big one Mark had misjudged the corner and hit a large rock. To give Mark his dues he managed to continue after a roadside repair involving the stamping of the wheels back into shape. The rain continued to torment, we were wet, cold and with the food entirely depleted (barring emergency rations) people were becoming grouchy. All this alongside Marks acrobatics and the question of his bikes safety, I had to agree it was no longer 'a right laugh!' We called Claire and headed for the nearest village for EVAC.

Arriving in the centre of the village, again we were confronted with a green but this time nobody was stupid enough to be out in the weather, except us! Opposite there was a newsagent, 'Sweets and chocolate, get in'. Unfortunately it was now around 5:30pm, rush hour, and it would take Claire over an hour and half to reach us, we all huddled under a tree and waited and waited. Our knight in shining armour eventually arrived; careful placing of bin bags saw five of the group and me in the people carrier. Heating wacked up set off to get the van from a neighbouring village where we had left it the night before. We then all headed back for the bikes, Tad and the two brave young people (Craig and Shane) who had volunteered to wait for our return. Around an hour later we returned, packed up the bikes and headed back to camp and the showers!!!!

The group should be very proud of themselves they managed to cover thirty four very challenging miles (including de-tours) and in some awful weather. If it wasn't for the wind and the rain I'm sure we would have all completed the ride.

Horse Riding Since early 2008, and after a once again successful YOF bid, young people decided that they would like to try their hands at a very new experience indeed - Horse Riding. Since the beginning of the project all the way back in 2008, 26 young people have taken part in the project, attending lessons for 6 weeks at a time. Each riding session comprised of one hour riding lessons, and one hour of Stable Management. Lessons included learning skills and techniques in order to successfully and safely ride the ponies/horses and a half hour hack (ride in the countryside). The lessons were then followed by Stable Management; here young people learned theories and practices on ponies and horses and how to care for them properly. Throughout the project the young people have started their lessons with a mixture of feelings; some very excited, some extremely keen, some apprehensive and some nervous. All the groups have however conquered their individual feelings, encouraged and supported each other and given 100%! By the end of the six weeks, what has been clear is that the young people have taken away new skills, increased confidence and all the comments from the young people have been sincerely positive! Several of the young people have taken to the activity particularly well and have shown real skill and talent for caring for and riding the horses. One young person in particular has become a very capable rider and now volunteers each week at the Stables. She now is a very confident, capable rider who has the necessary skills to care for the horses and as well as the skills she has learned personally she now helps other less experienced riders throughout their riding experience. She hopes that her new skills will aid her in gaining a place at Bishop Burton College and is very keen to become a professional show jumper. Good Luck to her! One thing that has been common to all the groups is that they have all been very disappointed when their lessons had to come to an end. Some of the groups are very keen to put in a funding bid of their own in order to go riding again in the future and if successful, we are sure that the waiting list will be as long as they have been in the past!

HOME PAGE