22 Apr Gold Duke of Edinburgh Award Practice Expedition
Well Done!
During the Easter break from 4th– 8th April four members of the JRCS sixth form went to South Wales to complete a practice expedition for their gold Duke of Edinburgh Award.
The students involved were Skyla, Fatimah and Sameer in Year 12 and Reece in Year 13. They stayed in the luxury of the brand new self-catering Lodge at Trewern for the first three nights.
On the first day of activity the group got to grips with the challenges involved in getting a wheelchair over some pretty rough terrain and got to the top of Twumpa. The following day they headed into the Brecon Beacons and honed their navigation skills on the drovers path near Pen-y-fan, the highest peak in South Wales, and later on that day took a walk beside the canal to look at the safety measures that they needed to put in place when sharing a path like this with bike riders and runners.
The last two days were a two day expedition. Unfortunately there was some trouble with the off road wheelchair that we hired, and we had to walk and carry Reece and the chair for 1.5km. The group showed amazing initiative in following emergency procedures and doing their very best to repair the puncture, whilst making sure everyone was OK, however due to a fault with the valve the tyre could not be re-inflated.
The group camped out near the village of Llangorse.It was a beautiful spot overlooking a lake, but the weather was very cold during the night, still the group showed resilience in coping with the cold conditions.
The next day the group completed a shorter walk than planned using Reece’s other wheelchair, and then returned to school tired but happy to be back in a warm bus again.
We wish them all the best in their continuing training and with their qualifying expedition which takes place in the Brecon Beacons early in September.
Finally, I would like to thank Bill Lockton our DofE volunteer, and Ms Ryzak for their invaluable help in supporting the students during the week, and Dave Barber and Justin Bradley of Trewern for their work with the group, and ongoing help and support with finalising a suitable route for the final expedition.
Ms Montague – DofE Manager
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