AT Blog 14 January 2009

The weekend saw our first House guests for the New Year and the House was ringing to the sounds of the Gosport & Fareham Orchestra and this with the use of our lodges ensured we had a busy weekend. It is always good to have large numbers in the House and there is always a special atmosphere when lots of young people get together have a good time, especially during the winter months when the open fires are lit. If you would like to see more please view our website http://www.avontyrrell.org.uk/ or for more information email your questions to info@ukyouth.org or call us on 01425 672347.

Last Thursday we ran a bushcraft day for all the staff to ensure the scenario of the day would work well for anyone who signs up to do bushcraft at Avon Tyrrell. The staff had immense fun surviving the forest and their culinary and shelter building skills were tested to the full as was their ability to work together to survive and escape the perils that awaited them…..

The maintenance team have now just about completed the revamp of the old 3 roomed Chalet Building, with its own kitchen and dining area it can be used by guests for training, meetings and birthday parties etc. The rental of this building remains very good value for money so if you are thinking about coming to Avon Tyrrell for a day visit and want an indoor space, or you are looking for a cost effective training room please give our Customer Services Team a call on 01425 672347 or email info@ukyouth.org.

Finally the big site event last week was beginning to prepare the ground for the new volunteer and staff lodge which involved the removal of the rather old and dilapidated caravans. After much effort from the Maintenance Team, then the involvement of the majority of staff in pushing and heaving to get the caravans when they got stuck, we managed to get them to our car park where we are pleased to say that we had found people who wanted to use them and they are off for a new life.

Oh and the two characters from the last blog were Suzanne Varney who works as a coordinator in the Central Services Department and Grace Tierney Baker who works in the kitchen. In this photo they were both helping out at a very successful corporate Christmas Bash which was held at Avon Tyrrell.

Remember… Have Fun

AT Blog 5 January 2009

Well here we are 2009, new year, new ideas and we all hope despite the difficulties of the world economy, this will not stop young people having the opportunities of enjoying the outdoors and visiting Centres like ourselves. For our part we have endeavoured to keep costs down in 2009 and we are offering some great deals to ensure visitors do get good value for money and most importantly an enjoyable experience in a safe environment, be it for learning or fun. For more information on Avon Tyrrell and what great facilities and deals we offer please view our website http://www.avontyrrell.org.uk/ or for more information email your questions to info@ukyouth.org or call us on 01425 672347.

The weather maybe cold and as I write the snow is falling, but we still have some exciting things happening to start the year off. We will hopefully within the month finish the straw bale classroom, and thanks to the peoples millions giving us a £50k donation we will begin to build a volunteers and staff accommodation lodge which we desperately need, as the caravans volunteers and staff were using are falling apart. We also will begin the next phase of reinstating our reed bed to support our sewage plant and whilst we are busy learning about how to do this, we would very much appreciate any support that could be given from anyone who has knowledge of building reed beds.

We also will see the arrival of 2 of our GAP students in the middle of this week and we very much look forward to welcoming them and our new apprentices and seasonal instructors as we begin a training cycle for the new staff and volunteers. And remember if you are interested in becoming a GAP student at Avon Tyrrell for 2010 please do contact us by email, info@ukyouth.org or call us on 01425 672347.

Finally maybe you have seen these two characters when visiting Avon Tyrell, do you remember them... I will let you know who they are when I write our next blog!

Enjoy the New Year