Duke of Edinburgh - Bronze practice Expedition

Over the last 2 days I have been working with Award Solutions who are a charitable organisation who help develop and assist young people through their D of E awards. My role for the 2 days was to supervise a group of 6 from Altrincham College for their practice Bronze D of E Expedition. Monday morning I met the group at the excellent Linnet Clough Scout camp, near Mellor in the Peak District, where they were all issued with group kit and their personal kit was checked. We then spent the day on a pleasant circular walk, looking at navigation, teamwork, wildlife, and eventually some camp site admin. Once the tents were up we went for another shorter walk practising some more navigation, including map features, pacing, grid references and taking a bearing.

After a substantial evening meal, and pots washed I left the group with their teachers and returned the following morning to ensure they all had a good healthy breakfast. Tents and kit packed away then it was back out on the footpaths for a tougher 8 mile walk. At the halfway mark they were given an option to cut the walk short but my group wanted to finish the original route and were still the first group to finish the whole route.

The team had also picked an expedition aim, which was to identify 20 wildlife species. They easily achieved this, and were even able to offer some interesting facts about some of the species. Their list is as follows:- Chaffinch, Grey Squirrel, Elderflower, Gorse, Carrion Crow, Foxglove, Holly, Grey Heron, Canada Geese, Magpie, Buzzard, Silver Birch, Pied Wagtail, Tormentil, Swallow, Cow Parsley, Hawthorne, Thistle, Nettle and Robin.

At the end of day 2 it was time for group and personal debriefs and finally hand the group kit back and head home.

In all a very pleasant couple of days with a really great team, they supported each other when needed, stayed positive throughout the 2 days and will definitely do well on the qualifying expedition. I personally found it really rewarding to watch their confidence grow, and especially when one or two of them get that Eureka moment when they suddenly realise that they can actually do it. Well done guys.