There has been a longer gap between the last blog update and this one than I had intended. This has been due to a couple of different reasons, which I'll go into now...
The end of February saw us put on a saturday programme for a group of 20 or so church-going teenagers. The programme consisted of some orienteering (which is fast becoming a staple activity here, I suppose the variable landscape and the spectacular views makes orienteering here at St Madoc's even better than elsewhere?) in the morning and the 'St Madoc Challenge' in the afternoon. We like to award points for each task and activity, encouraging the teams to get more into each game or problem we set them, and this group, like many others, got quite competitive (I'm sure it's the leaders who're the worst!) - although, only with the best intentions I'm sure. The final result of the programme hung on the last bonus question of the day which was:
'How far have you walked today?'
Now, I know that each person will likely have walked different distances, but we can guestimate the average distance walked and go with that. The winning group guessed within 20 metres and won themselves (and their highly competitive leader) a large box of chocolates - to share with the rest of the groups, obviously!
Storming into March now, we had our first overnight programme of the year (there are plenty more to come) for a primary school bringing over 30 children, ranging from 7 to 10 years old. The programme was very successful, with all involved, including me, having a great time. The weather didn't help us particularly, although the rain did hold off for the majority of their stay, coming down only as the kids moved their bags onto the coach.
Each programme we do improves the next, we learn something from every one we experience, and we are getting better and better at tailoring our activities to better fit the target audience. The range of activities we offer, and the ways in which we can offer them are also always increasing, meaning that whenever a group visits us having stayed previously, our programme will be even better than before, as many groups have already experienced!
If you have tried to contact us in mid-March you may have had some problems. This is because we have finally moved our office out of the tiny 10'x10', non-insulated shed that we used to use, into a much larger, much warmer office, more suited to our increasing number of staff. This has meant we have lost the ability to answer emails or phone-calls occasionally, but all problems have now been sorted out, and we should be back to normal!
As time goes on, the closer we get to our peak period, with 2 and a half months of fully-booked school weeks, all having their programme run by the staff here at St Madoc's. I look forward to it, albeit with a certain degree of trepidation! That being said, if they are as much fun as the past two programme I've had the pleasure to be involved in we shall all have a brilliant summer!
