The Challenge at Outward Bound

A stunning morning camped at Red Tarn below Helvellyn

I have just completed my forth week working for Outward Bound on The Challenge. This flagship program for school leavers is expanding widely next year after a very successful summer (and in view of the recent riots). Last week PM David Cameron and the local MP Rory Stewart were at OB Howtown joing in with a group building and sailing a raft on Ullswater and this week we had a BBC Newsnight film crew in. Another very positive course which challenged the youngsters views on life and developed bonds across various groups in their neighborhood.

A soggy group make their way back off a demanding expedition

Bill Gates' (founder of Microsoft) take on personal development....Defiantly something we can all use here!

1. Life is not fair; get used to it.
2. The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something before you feel good about yourself.
3. You will not make £100,000 a year right out of school.
   
4. If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss. He doesn't have tenure.
5. Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping; they called it opportunity.
6. If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.
7. Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you are. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parents' generation, try "delousing" the cuboard in your own room.
8. Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life has not. In some schools they have abolished failing grades; they'll give you as many times as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to anything in real life.
9. Life is not divided into terms. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you find yourself. Do that in your own time.
10. Television is not real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.
11. Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.

The Challenge

Enjoying the challenge of Freeze Beck

For the past couple of weeks I've been back at Outward Bound in the Lakes working on The Challenge, the initial week of a three week development program for school leavers. The weather has been pretty mixed with one expedition being a pretty soggy experience with rivers flowing through the tent and the other camped on top of Helvellyn watching a spectacular sunset. The groups have also completed a couple of long canoe journeys on Ullswater and a challenging ghyll scramble in Freeze Beck.

Another Challenge group show us how to do it...

Now it's our turn! - Rowing on Ullswater

Canoe sailing down Ullswater

Catstycam & Ullswater from the summit of Helvellyn

Red Tarn & Striding Edge from our campsite on Helvellyn

Helvellyn sunset

Outward Bound

Canoe sailing down Ullswater

I've spent the last three days working for Outward Bound Ullswater on a personal development course for young people. We've used gorge scrambling, trapeze, canoe sailing and improvised rafting to give them an enjoyable adventure but also to help build their confidence, friendships and a level of respect among their peers. The group have all just started at senior school together and we hope the challenges this week will have given them a real insight into themselves and help with this transition.

Outward Bound

Canoe sailing down Ullswater

This week I've been back working on a personal development course for Outward Bound Ullswater, my old stomping ground. I've had 8 youngsters on an Adventure week aiming to stretch and challenge them and introduce some useful life skills. A couple of highlights have been canoe sailing down Ullswater in a good force 4, battling high water levels in Glenridding Beck and a stunning camp on the summit of Helvellyn after a challenging days walk. All in all a great week and great to have the opportunity to do this sort of work again.

A stunning camp on the top of Helvellyn

Helvellyn sunset