Shadwell Basin Outdoor Activity Centre Summer Project Report 2018 Shadwell Basin Outdoor Activity Centre Summer Project 2018 th nd Monday 30 July to Sunday 2 September Fitch London Charity Committee River Projects The Maitlands Fund Charitable 1 Trust Shadwell Basin Outdoor Activity Centre Summer Project Report 2018 Youth Activity Co-ordinator - Report Throughout the year there are many different aspects to the co-ordinator role and even after twenty years I remain highly motivated to see the development of young people due to the great work that takes place within the Youth Project. Throughout the year there are over 200 planned sessions, between 15 to 20 day trips and 3 to 4 separate residentials and expeditions throughout the UK. The Summer Project is the largest onsite project we run and a key aspect of the Youth Project. This year there were 148 individuals that took part most of which participated for at least one to two weeks and some for the whole project. It also attracts many new participants as young people have fewer commitments at this time of year and more time away from school. Individuals who attend find out that we are a year round Centre and this feeds other holiday projects and the regular weekly sessions. The skills that individuals learn at Shadwell can then be adapted to the real outdoors on residentials and expeditions where individuals can enjoy peak performance and reach their adventure threshold. The beauty of outdoor education is that there are many of these peaks which attract individuals to stay on the long term programme hence continual development. The Youth Activities programmes are centred on the “Pathways” scheme which aids personal skill development, award achievements and provides the opportunities that lead to life long skills. The changing of young people’s lives becomes the focus for us as year upon year it is evident how individuals progress at a personal level and develop into great young citizens. Further to this many become young leaders and contribute to the outcomes of newer less experienced members. Through the funding we gain for the Summer Project we can employ more coaches which allows us to reach the participation figures and evidently increase achievement and success in young people’s lives. I am particularly pleased with the situation we are in as there are now so many young people with such high level skills within the project as a whole. Another area that we should be proud of is the way in which the young people adopt our Youth Values which develops great personal skills and inspires them to become good role models. The atmosphere was fantastic this summer with very little personal issues needing resolving which is a credit to the development of the individuals who take on these values. It was encouraging to see so many girls participating with 40% overall and a higher percentage of repeat visits than boys. The ratio of staff is usually 50/50 or thereabouts which in the outdoors is unusual. I am proud of our commitment to an equal gender balance. I thank the staff coaching team and volunteers for their individual contribution to the project. They have shown that they are dedicated to making high quality experiences for our members. Adopting the Youth Values and developing young people around these takes time and commitment. Staff are encouraged to go beyond the scope of coaching activities to develop mentoring and caring skills which clearly aids the obvious development of our youth members. William Tytler 2 Shadwell Basin Outdoor Activity Centre Summer Project Report 2018 1 Introduction The Centre’s work with young people started with a summer programme in 1976. Today it remains important to continue to provide much needed activities for young people in the school summer holidays. In 2018, a daily week-day programme took place from Monday 30th July to Sunday 2nd September which included the activities programme at Shadwell Basin and a seven day residential expedition to Ullswater in the English Lake District at the end of the project. 2 Preparation and Planning The evaluation of the previous year’s programme was considered in the planning process, including the views of the young people. This year the plan was to cater for more individuals and less groups as local funding for this type of group has reduced and bookings have lessened over the last couple of years. The Inclusion Programme also takes up to 10 individuals daily to encourage participation and lead those individuals to integrate into regular youth sessions. In the early phase of planning we decided to liaise with two school groups from Central Foundation and Date Palm as a strategy to develop individual participation and increase diversity throughout the project. At the latter part of this planning we decided to give this programme more development time and plan to run a pilot scheme for 2019. In line with the Shadwell Youth Clubs aim to work at a more long term educational development stage with individuals, it seems right to select local schools and give additional opportunities for prospective youth membership for the future. Here is an outline of the weekly participation targets. Individuals Inclusion Programme School Groups Week 1 60 10 00 Week 2 60 10 00 Week 3 50 10 10 Week 4 50 10 10 Week 5 27 Residential to Ullswater As the regular youth members progressed through the “Pathways” Scheme in sessions prior to the summer project, they were given a level: Green, Blue, Red or Horizons. A list of names and respective levels were created, which included individuals that were likely to turn up from previous projects and the summer before. This aided the efficiency of the Pathways administration and the educational development and progress of individuals. 3 Staffing The staff on the Project comprised of full-time and part-time staff who had all previously worked on the summer project. The staff team, including volunteers, had a good balance of qualifications enabling the multi-activity programme to run well. Unfortunately this summer we were one staff member down but this turned out quite well as numbers were lower due to no group bookings as you will read later in the report. Daily staff de-briefings were important enabling staff to share and explore ideas as well as discuss individual and group situations. It also allowed the opportunity to monitor the development of the young people and gauge their progression on the “Pathways” scheme. Specific issues regarding young people were also discussed here and plans made to aid individual development and solve any personal issues, which were then handed over to the Youth Activities Co-ordinator to pursue and provide additional support where needed to individuals and parents/guardians. 3 Shadwell Basin Outdoor Activity Centre Summer Project Report 2018 4 Programme The feedback gained from regular youth club members, Centre staff and the coaches have allowed for further development of the “Pathways” scheme, which was introduced in 2014. The scheme focuses on an educational journey of exploration and discovery, which allows the student to gain experience and skills as well as progressive certificates and National Governing Body awards. The Pathways scheme is colour coded green, blue, red and purple. The awards are designed to become increasingly challenging as the young people progress from green to eventually reach purple and reflect the National Governing Body awards they also gain along their journey. As you can see in between levels, there are stepping stone tasks which include elements of bushcraft, challenge and adventure as these allow young people to gain a depth of knowledge about the sport, build confidence and gain essential survival and life skills relative to the sports and adventurous activities. A further development which was introduced this year was the Pathways Leader Award which included three awards in unison, Communication, Team Building and Leadership. Individuals who are at the Horizon (purple) level, who have achieved at least three red awards in different sports were eligible for this award. It was decided to run this as a pilot with the next group of young people who would become potential members of our Adventure Coach Training Scheme as a pre requisite to the upcoming coaches. This award develops qualified individuals and provides them an ideal opportunity to become leaders, through developing essential group skills and the use of coaching models in a practical way, helping less experienced members within the early stages of the Pathways Scheme. The Youth Club Values play an important part in individual development and personal skills whereby coaches and leaders can educate young people to become the best person they can be. They can either do this by selecting one of the nine key values to work on to develop the aim of the session or as a way to resolve problems and progress resolution in a behavioural sense. 4 Shadwell Basin Outdoor Activity Centre Summer Project Report 2018 4.1 Activities Programme The final programme offered the following activities: canoeing, kayaking, sailing, climbing, high ropes, improvised rafting and mountain biking. The Pathways Leadership programme also involved theoretical and practical lessons in Communication, Team Building and Leadership. These skill sessions took place from Monday to Friday during the four week onsite project. 4.2 Trips Sailing, kayaking and mountain biking trips were scheduled on Thursdays and Fridays on the River Thames or local venues, which enabled the young people to transfer the skills learnt on the Basin to these more dynamic adventurous environments which allowed them to gain more experience and challenge them further. The new slipway enabled easy and safe access to the River Thames making it easier to use for a variety of abilities.