Trustees Day

On a bright, sunny and warm day in December, some of Trustees from Shaftesbury Young People embarked on a journey. A journey that saw lots of laughter, a tremendous team spirit and proved a huge learning experience. The journey wasn’t to a particular destination but rather all took place in one venue, our very own Arethusa Venture Centre.
 
The trustees truly got stuck in and adopted the outdoor spirit by taking part in Archery, High Ropes, a wonderful Christmas Lunch and finished off the day with a spot of climbing at our indoor climbing facility.

The would be team of Robin Hoods really took to archery and seemed to be enjoying every minute. We saw some arrows hitting the highest score on the target and others that hit the floor, but everyone soldiered on and by the end of the session, all were taking aim and showing how quickly they had learnt a new skill. As well as learning a new skill, we made the trustees put it to the test, and wow did they do just that! We saw screams of joy louder than you’d have heard at the Rio Olympics, screams made

by a surprisingly competitive group of trustees! All in good spirit, a team spirit in fact. The perfect ice breaker for the day, firing a few bows and arrows surprised all as it produced copious amounts of laughter and a fun time was had by all before moving on to their next activity. After a short interval and a quick change of shoes, the trustees moved on to their next activity and challenge. A challenge that saw some truly determined people conquer fears with the help of a tremendously supportive team shouting words of encouragement up to them. By climbing to new heights (and quite literally jumping from them), the trustees showed why they are where they are in our organisation.  Inspiring to see a group of people coming together and supporting each other in their individual challenges whether it be fear of climbing or the more obvious jumping.

After such a brilliant and determined effort, the AVC kitchen staff provided a treat of epic proportions with a three course Christmas Lunch. Once again, the laughter flowed throughout and all those around the table were sporting their Christmas hats and sharing their Christmas jokes. By the end of it, it almost seemed hit or miss of whether we would make it to our third and final activity as everyone sat around the table feeling festive and full from the feast. But, as I mentioned before, the determination prevailed as the trustees soldiered on to their last activity.

The third and final activity of the day was that for the individual effort. The effort being a physical effort to help burn off the lunch! Climbing can be challenging for anyone but we saw most take this challenge by the horns. Whether it be on the first or second attempt, we saw those taking part make it to the top of our 10m wall which is a very commendable achievement for a first timer as well as those who have dabbled before.

Another session full of laughter and encouragement, climbing proved to be the perfect end to the day.

A tremendous effort from our Instructors Megan and Jason who took the lead and ran the day, and also from Diana and Lisa in our kitchen team who provided such an amazing lunch. The day proved to be a great success, with learning experiences for both the trustees and our staff, it truly did prove a bonding experience for our staff and trustees. We hope to see this type of event continue and grow so that all of our team can experience such a fun and fantastic day.