Staff from the Leeds Rhinos Foundation are in Thirsk this week with 40 junior rugby players from community clubs in Leeds for an adventure week at Carlton Lodge Outdoor Centre. Hear more about the camp below in this blog written by the staff about the week, starting with a day one and two roundup.
Day 1 –
After an early start the bus set off from Leeds Rugby Academy just after 9:30am, waving all the parents goodbye and we were on our way to a week of activities at Carlton Lodge in Thirsk.
Upon arriving at the centre, we were all greeted by the manager, Mark Faulkner, who briefed us all on the rules and forthcoming activities for the week ahead, followed by a tour of the rooms and premises.
Packed lunches were then eaten with more briefing and teams were read out, Roosters, Broncos, Rabbitohs and Cowboys led by camp leaders Chris Godfrey, Richard Cattley, James Darcy and Dan Phillis, which led us up to the activities for the day; problem solving, catapult building and archery.
After a slow start and the usual nerves of meeting new teammates for the week, the teams were starting to establish themselves by the afternoon and showing a competitive edge, with the introduction of a points system for the week.
Tea time came at 5.15pm, with plenty of good food to fill the lads with energy for the final activities at 7pm, as they changed around their activities from earlier.
Highlight of the first day was seeing the lads, who were newly introduced just moments earlier, working through the problems in front of them to pull through as a team, all contributing with their ideas – a promising start.
8.15pm saw free time for the lads and a rest for the staff before night duties began, checking up on the groups, who were still expectedly full of energy from the day’s activities.
With a new set of activities to follow the following day with Caving, Gorge walking, Climbing and bouldering, the lads finally got off to sleep after midnight to end the first day of the adventure week.
Day 2 –
Day 2 began with an early start for the boys with 7:30am showers and a breakfast in the main hall provided by centre staff.
The second day of our week was due to be off-site, taking advantage of the Centre’s experienced caving and climbing staff at How Stean Gorge and Brimham Rocks.
Groups 1 and 2 (Roosters and Broncos) were taking part in climbing, abseiling and bouldering, while groups 3 and 4 (Cowboys and Rabbitohs) were doing gorge walking and caving, with the activities due to be swapped over on Thursday.
With the promise of a wet day in the muddy caves and some cold temperatures in the gorge for the cowboys and Rabbitohs (numbering 20 in total) the groups were kitted out with everything from wetsuits and caving overalls to wellies and helmets and set out on their routes with the instructors.
Dark, slippery and altogether cold, were three words used to describe the caves and gorges from the groups, who after a slow start grew into both activities and by the end of the day were both excited and wanting to keep going, testament to all the kids giving it a go and doing everything asked of them.
Caving was exciting because of the chance to experience perfect darkness and not knowing what would be ahead of us around each corner.
Highlight of the day at the Gorge walking activity came in the form of a real tough but exciting challenge , the plunge pool, where many of the kids were out of their comfort zone. Both groups completed the activity and much of the talk afterwards was of how good it was.
Abseiling and Climbing were also a success for Roosters and Broncos over at the Brimham Rocks site, with Chris and Richard along with centre staff engaging the kids in very different type of challenge to Caving and Gorge Walking. This time around the challenge was that of dealing with heights, trusting others with absolute teamwork, to create a safe and fun environment.
Bouldering in particular tested both the staff and the kids, largely because of the small gaps that had to be crawled through and the trust again of one’s team mate to move through the routes laid out for them.
Day 3 and 4 blog to follow on Thursday.