Avon Tyrrell Latest December 2010

The snow is falling and the forest resembles a Scandinavian winter and despite the weather our staff have continued to operate the centre and guests have visited and enjoy the scenic winter wonderland of Avon Tyrrell.   We are open right through Christmas and we hope that all our Christmas visitors have a memorable and fun filled enjoyable Christmas and New Year with us.

Our Inspiring you weekend ran a week ago with absolutely no snow and what an enjoyable weekend it was for the families with a member with a disability and our staff alike. The weekend was very successful and we can look back on the highlights and the life changing moments that remind us that we have the best jobs in the world!

We saw the BOMA chair used for the first time by a disabled parent who blessed us with a lovely quote, "for once my family had to keep up with me…usually it’s me who has to try and keep up with them!"

And.... Santa made a call to see the children on the Sunday morning.....

 

 

We do have two more weekends organised for February and March and if you would like to know more please do contact us on the details below.

Also last month our senior team got an upgrade!  they all took part in our walking group leader training so we can start leading groups on expeditions in the new forest.  they had the lovely Dartmoor weather with continual rain, strong winds and freezing temperatures but despite that they had an amazing time and can't wait to lead groups all over the new forest in 2011

And to round off last weekend on the Sunday afternoon we had a very enjoyable Christmas Fayre with many visitors to our event.  We had stalls, rides, singing form the local New Forest Ensemble Choir, Punch and Judy and of course Santa made it back for the afternoon.  Thank you to everyone who supported the event and attended.

 

As we sign off for 2010 we want to thank all of you who support us and visit us and hope you have a wonderful Christmas Break and a most prospurus New Year.

To find out more about Avon Tyrrell Outdoor Activity Centre and the many varied opportunities we offer please contact us on Tel; 01425 672347 or email info@ukyouth.org or view our website http://www.avontyrrell.org.uk/

Remember… experience – learn – develop







Hi all,

Just a very quick blog to say Santa Clause was spotted last week during all the snow checking the routes in and out of Avon Tyrrell House and we think this maybe as he is due to visit us this Sunday. We hope to see him for breakfast when he will be saying hello to all the families participating in our disability adventure activity weekend.

And then we hope he will also pop back in the late afternoon and meet all the children who be attending our fun packed Christmas Fayre, with Punch and Judy and a Fairground Ride as well as indoor stalls and Christmas Carol singing and some lovely food from our kitchens.

 

To find out more about Avon Tyrrell Outdoor Activity Centre and the many varied opportunities we offer please contact us on Tel; 01425 672347 or email info@ukyouth.org or view our website http://www.avontyrrell.org.uk/


 Remember… experience – learn – develop

Avon Tyrrell November 2010

The leaves have fallen the nights have drawn in and it’s not warm in the mornings as we move inescapably towards the end of another year.


However for the fish in our lakes this is not such a problem and yesterday 1200 fish were released into our small lake, which were kindly donated by the Environment Agency. The EA were joined by the Holy Family Catholic Primary School from Southampton who were staying with us and kindly offered to help release the fish into the lake.

 




Recently we have seen the departure of our European Volunteer Student, Jana, back to Slovakia after a year with us and we are going to miss her as she was a very helpful and willing volunteer who was a credit to the EVS project. Here she is pictured with our excellent new Head Chef who assisted Jana in creating a typical Slovakian Lunch for staff and guests before her departure.





We have also recently had a visit from volunteers from UPS who spent the day removing overgrown vegetation from between the two lakes so the area remains open and the wildlife have suitable wetland to play in. We are very grateful for the work completed by the UPS team who worked hard. We said our thank you by feeding them well on the day andalso let them play on our high ropes, which they all enjoyed. If any corporate group would like to do a volunteer day at Avon Tyrrell please do contact us on the details below, its actually good fun, promise....

 

Our Eco Health Project continues to work hard looking after the grounds and they have now erected their Polly Tunnel in preparation for the start of increasing their vegetable production for next year. The plan is that they will supply our kitchen with some fresh vegetables when they can. This will help towards the Avon Tyrrell sustainability plan.

 

To find out more about Avon Tyrrell Outdoor Activity Centre and the many varied opportunities we offer please contact us on Tel; 01425 672347 or email info@ukyouth.org or view our website http://www.avontyrrell.org.uk/  

Remember… experience – learn – develop



Avon Tyrrell Update

Well the Geese are back and Avon Tyrrell is busy and the weather has been so good that we actually would like a little rain just to water the site foliage, preferably on a Sunday afternoon or Monday morning when it won’t spoil the stay of guests.

We can finally tell you that our reed bed is now complete and the 1000 reeds are busy doing what reeds must do to help clean the discharge from our sewage plant. This also represents the completion of two very ‘Eco Friendly’ projects in the past year, the other being our straw bale classroom and sensory garden.

Old Reed Bed - start point

New Reed Bed

Planting The Reeds

Harry Planting 1 of the 1,000 Reeds

We have not finished there either as in the next week we will also be installing two further composting toilets making a total of three onsite.

Strawbale Classroom which also has a Composting Toilet

The Housekeeping and Maintenance Team are also working hard on improving the House Bedrooms to ensure they are more welcoming for those guests that use the Grade I Listed Avon Tyrrell House during their stay. We have spent the winter making the lodges more comfortable and welcoming.

To find out more about Avon Tyrrell Outdoor Centre and the many varied opportunities we offer please contact us on Tel; 01425 672347 or email info@ukyouth.org  or view our website http://www.avontyrrell.org.uk/

 

Remember… experience – learn – develop

New Play Pen

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Inspiring You Activity Festival for Disabled Young People

The weekend of 13th/14th March was weather perfect for Avon Tyrrell to host the Hampshire County Council Inspiring You Activity Festival for disabled young people and their families. The idea behind the weekend was to allow families who have a child or children with a disability to have the opportunity to experience outdoor activities together as a family and to encourage further participation in the future. There was the opportunity to stay at Avon Tyrrell or visit for the day and total numbers for the weekend was 600 participants.

This was a great opportunity for the families to do things together, a luxury not often afforded to families who have a member with a disability. It was marvellous to see brothers and sisters actually taking part in things together.

We had a full range of activities open and available from the zip wire to the climbing tower, high ropes and low ropes as well as water activities and bush craft. Outdoor activities were supplemented with external activity providers which included storytellers, arts and crafts, and Hampshire Libraries providing books and storytelling. There was a juggler on hand to entertain and a street dancer to show the families a few ‘cool’ moves.

Some of the quotes from families, who attended the weekend were as follows, and sum up for us why we did it and why the weekend was a huge success:

‘A fantastic weekend. It was so good to see my son attempting new things and discovering he could not only do them but enjoy them as well! Thank You’

‘A big thank you for the activity weekend. We had a fantastic time. All the family needed a boost like this and not just the member with special needs’

‘We were really impressed by the patience and helpfulness of the Avon Tyrrell Staff’

The staff of Avon Tyrrell and those from Hampshire County Council, who supported the event worked incredibly hard and long hours to make the weekend as enjoyable and rewarding as they could for those attending, and it was because they wanted to, and not because they had to. Their reward was the happy smiles of the children and their achievements.

We sincerely hope we will have the opportunity to run another weekend of this nature. Having talked to families we know there is a demand and we are sure other counties if they saw how appreciative and successful the weekend was, would also be interested in providing such an event for this community. We of course would be happy to help so if you are reading this and are interested please call us.

To find out more about Avon Tyrrell Outdoor Centre and the many varied opportunities we offer please contact us on Tel; 01425 672347 or email info@ukyouth.org or view our website http://www.avontyrrell.org.uk/

Remember… experience – learn – develop

Leo the Head Chef Retires

If I was to say ‘Leo’, nearly every visitor who has stayed in the Avon Tyrrell House would know who I meant; for he was until last week our Head Chef, but sadly he hit the retirement age of 65 and he retired after 20 years, 1 million meals and as many yep, yep, yep’s.

We did not let Leo go without a special send off, which started with a get together with about 50 staff, some old employees and the personal attendance of Dave Clarke from Hampton School and Jinty Williamson from Fair Oak Junior School.

We started the farewell with John Bateman the UK Youth Chief Executive reminding everyone about Leo’s long and loyal service to UK Youth and the quality of service Leo had provided, which was reflected in the fact we rarely received a complaint about the food he served. John presented Leo with an engraved pocket watch, which Leo was thrilled with. Dave and Jinty then said some kind words and gave Leo some gifts from their schools which Leo was very grateful for.

Leo was then desperate to say something and tell a story or two, anyone who knows him will know he has a story or a joke to tell. He said some kind words about the good times he had experienced and how much he would miss us all, especially the young people who visit us.

We did not finish there; we then had a big bag of something for Leo, starting with a rug, then a long greatcoat followed by a pair of shades and a flying hat. Leo was intrigued, especially when we gave him an envelope that he opened, which to his delight had a voucher for a helicopter ride; he then realised this was booked for 40 minutes time.

Not to worry as after a quick cut of his reirement cake, Sam Roberts was there and had kindly offered to drive him across in his 1934 Ford Model Y Tourer open top. So we bustled him outside and off he went to catch his helicopter and see his beloved New Forest from the air, and complete a flypast over Avon Tyrrell as the staff looked on and waved goodbye.

It is without a doubt a reflection on how highly regarded Leo was as Head Chef by the amount of tributes we received, and good wishes for his retirement from all those who have experienced his culinary skills over the years. He is an exceptional character who will be missed by all and we all wish Leo a very happy retirement.

.....And in case you wondered we have found a replacement for Leo in Hayley Hibberd who is now officially Head Chef at Avon Tyrrell who is already learning the call of the Head Chef, yep, yep, yep, (none of us really know what it means).

To find out more about Avon Tyrrell Outdoor Centre and the many varied opportunities we offer please contact us on Tel; 01425 672347 or email info@ukyouth.org or view our website www.avontyrrell.org.uk




Remember… experience – learn – develop