Avon Tyrrell 22nd May 2009

We heard a very good slogan today, “See Your Own Back Yard before the Rest of The World” and this was from the parents of a New Zealand GAP Student who is staying with us for 9 months. What a great statement and what a good reminder to us all at Avon Tyrrell as to what a Great Back Yard we have and why so many people come to visit Avon Tyrrell. Have a look on our website, then come see for yourself, you will love it here http://www.avontyrrell.org.uk/

Another Bank holiday weekend looms and as we say farewell and thank you to Locks Heath and Beecholme Primary Schools, our Princes Trust teams and Sheiling School for staying with us at Avon Tyrrell, we look forward to a busy weekend.

Yesterday unfortunately one visitor was taken poorly and as our staff prepared for the arrival of an ambulance we were surprised by the arrival of the air ambulance. In the end the decision was made not to take the person to hospital, although this caused much disappointment from those concerned who were looking forward to a helicopter ride. The reason I mention this is to demonstrate how well our staff react to a medical problem, as a high proportion of staff are First Aid trained and have advanced knowledge of oxygen and defibrillation. The centre although based in the rural surroundings of The New Forest is also very well supported by the local community responders and ambulance service when a medical issue do arise. We are happy to say the person concerned is again fit and well.

This week we also sent a couple of staff to run a stand at the Children and Young People Show at London’s Earls Court and we hope the two days were of benefit to those who attended the show in learning more about Avon Tyrrell, http://www.avontyrrell.org.uk/ and our charity http://www.ukyouth.org/

Site Developments this week saw our replacement shed arrive, which will be used for our 3 year funded Ecominds Project. This project starts next month in association with Solent Mind and aims to help people with mental health problems, and is funded by The Big Lottery Fund. The project will include gardening, conservation, estate maintenance and environmental projects. Outdoor activities improve the mental and physical health of the participant, and the project will improve the recreation, conservation and educational value of Avon Tyrrell for all to enjoy. We hope this project will help reduce the stigma surrounding mental disorders and help create a society that treats people with experience of mental distress fairly, positively, and with respect.

And finally, we were very fortunate to receive a visit from B&Q Store Planning Team, who volunteered their labour for the day to help out at Avon Tyrrell. The 17 strong team worked with our maintenance team and after an arrival introduction and sausage and bacon roll, they set off to tackle tasks down by our small lake which involved;

• Building an oak fishing swim
• Clearing vegetation to create a parking area for disability groups when visiting our strawbale classroom and environmental area
• Building raised beds for the environmental garden.

It was a hard day’s work and we kept the team going with drinks, biscuits and cake as well as a hearty lunch. We finished the day by giving the B&Q staff time on some of our activities to say a big thank you for their magnificent effort in completing all that we asked of them. We achieved a lot within a short space of time and the B&Q team contributed to making our site a little better for the visitors to Avon Tyrrell.

If anyone wants more details on our corporate volunteer days please do contact us – Tel; 01425 672347 or email info@ukyouth.org

Remember… Young People need to Explore to Learn