dw Weekly Blog

60 Years since Mount Everest was summited by Sir Edmund Hilary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, what an outstanding achievement this was 60 years ago, and if you consider how equipment has changed over the years then in theory it should be easier today to summit the top of this great mountain.  However if you have ever climbed at high altitude you would know equipment is important, but mental toughness and physical ability are as important otherwise you will never make the top.   

And who has mental toughness, we all do and at all ages, therefore it was also particularly interesting to see in the last week or so that an 80-year old Japanese mountaineer has reached the summit of Mount Everest, making him the oldest man to scale the world's highest peak.  Yuichiro Miura, who climbed Everest when he was 70 and then again at 75 and now 80, definite mental toughness.

Just as impressive and inspiring for Young People a Saudi woman has made history by reaching the summit of the world's highest mountain.  Raha Moharrak, 25, not only became the first Saudi woman to attempt the climb but also the youngest Arab to make it to the top of Everest.  Coming from Saudi Arabia - a conservative Muslim country where women's rights are very restricted - she had to break a lot of barriers to achieve her goal, her climb team said.  A biography on the expedition website said convincing Ms Moharrak's family to agree to her climb "was as great a challenge as the mountain itself", though they fully support her now.  Raha was quoted saying, "I really don't care about being the first, so long as it inspires someone else to be second." and she of course has shown mental toughness to achieve

So what does this all mean, I am sure you can infer much, but I would suggest overcoming challenges whatever your age, ethnicity, equipment, if you want something then if you are motivated and hungry for it you can achieve.  Maybe this should be a message for our young people and maybe we should do more to develop the mental toughness in Young People as to my mind this is an essential skill in the outdoor world and in the general world we live in if you want to succeed and

 
Remember… experience – learn – develop   dw

Avon Tyrrell Week 20

Well what a week, Monday/Tuesday in the Lake District at our UK Youth national conference with a theme around youth unemployment and the challenges and initiatives to support young people in seeking employment.  And at any event of this nature there is also the networking that can be done, and for me also the enjoyable ICT clinic for staff, which did run a little late into the evening….

And then on the Tuesday after the conference three of us managed a spin on our mountain bikes into the Lake District Mountains and what fun we had.  I tweeted on the route with my tweeting skills @AvonTyrrell the journey into the great outdoors can begin and it can lead to adventure in magnificent places such as the Lake District Mountains.  And then I was homeward bound to Avon Tyrrell driving through 6 hours of rain, but it was so worth it, because I do so enjoy being in the Mountains.

Being away always brings the inevitable catch-up so I have spent the last two days and evenings catching up on the continual plethitude of paperwork involved in managing our centre day to day.  But do I mind, no, because we do have the ability to impact on so many young people each week and make a difference.  We work in a wonderful environment and can be proud of Avon Tyrrell as it is a place for all to enjoy the outdoors, experience, learn and develop.

Across the site great things continue to happen at Avon Tyrrell with our new sewage plant now being installed as our old one finally fell over in late April.  Fortunately for us our UK Youth Trustees had approved a replacement and all was in place to start work, so we have managed to keep operating while the work is done.

 

And more exciting news, to continue to develop and support the work that the charity does with cycling, and don’t forget our president Nigel Mansell, sponsors a professional bike team that display our charity colours, we are going to work in partnership with a local bike shop, ‘Gone Biking Mad’.  We will on site be able to provide more professional bike services, bike hire and a bike shop for the users of Avon Tyrrell, and the local community.  Very exciting.

 

There is much more happening here at Avon Tyrrell so if you can why not come and see, it is such a cool place.  Our charity, UK Youth, has made such an effort to make an accessible outdoor venue for all and because we care so passionately about making a difference for young people we absolutely keep our costs affordable because we want everyone to have the opportunity to experience, learn and develop at Avon Tyrrell, enhance life skills and support employability and personal development in the future.

Hopefully see you soon, and please come and say Hi

Best Wishes dw
Remember… experience – learn – develop

Avon Tyrrell Blog - Week 16

dw Weekly Blog

My oh my! – the UK Youth Outdoor Activity Centre, Avon Tyrrell,  is a 'majestic' place to work and the week has gone so quickly. What have we been up to?  Well; we continue to worry we have not picked up all the House roof drainage to stop it going to the sewage plant, which is about to be updated.  The maintenance staff have done a fantastic job working through a 120 year old drainage system to get it resolved once and for all.  And if that was not enough, we have had to put in a new power supply for the pool heating system, so our pool will soon be up and running; we want to see the sun please as the pool is outdoors.

Marketing – we have worked hard to find the right format to ensure we get our message across, with a core theme that ‘Avon Tyrrell’ is the venue which hosts the UK Youth Charity, Outdoor Activity Centre.  We think we are winning.  So look out for some new branding and marketing material, and we would like to know what you think.

L We have written letters to a big organisation who wants to be very unfair with their charges to our charity.  They are stating that we cannot leave them without a large penalty even with 3 months notice. When you get charged £220 for the removal of two small bags of waste you know the costs are ridiculously extortionate for a charity that wants its money to be used for young people, and not making big companies rich, so we have made a stand, wish us luck…

The Avon Tyrrell Team delivered a successful Inspiring You weekend for families who have a family member with special needs.  Here is a flavour of the feedback and I hope you understand how proud this makes us feel that we can say ‘we did that!’ And the 'Bench' this was something they made for Avon Tyrrell:

"Avon Tyrrell, well what can I say!!! Wicked, fantastical, epic awesome are only some of the words used by the kids to describe it here.  This weekend was especially special because......."

"Im just giving feedback about how Fab this weekend was for my family of 6. It was the best weekend away may family has ever had, family life in my family is challenging to say the least, but this weekend was a godsend the children were in their element.  I have never met such nice and friendly staff who are simply the best, they were so encouraging and friendly it was like one big family......"

 

  Other highlights of the week…

·         The Customer Services Team continue to work hard to implement Cinolla booking system with some great positive  changes that provide good reporting functions and a better booking experience for those that use Avon Tyrrell.
·         The Café has had a revamp and look out for some new menu’s
·         The staff have received their new polo shirts and fleeces and are looking very smart.

And finally we hope you have a grand weekend.

Best Wishes dw
Remember… experience – learn – develop

Week 15 at Avon Tyrrell

dw Weekly Blog

My week – hectic, busy, exciting, rewarding, I could list many superlatives, the fact of the matter is, as any Centre Manger would tell you, it is one of the most rewarding jobs anyone can have.  It is worthwhile as you are a part of a team that touches and influences many lives, and in particular our focus as a charity, UK Youth, is supporting young people to gain life-skills and accredited awards that build confidence, resilience and help broaden their opportunities in life.  Avon Tyrrell is such an outstanding outdoor centre to support this.

We now will Blog to you every week with the highs and lows of Avon Tyrrell life.  UK Youth does very much want to make the Centre continually develop and so we would very much welcome dialogue and comments from you in what would make Avon Tyrrell better for you.  We cannot promise to do everything but we will do what we can within the Charity’s resources.
And as for the rest of my week:       

-          More work on Cinolla; our new bookings system

-          Working on how we use NetSuite our new Charity finance system and the integration with Cinolla

-          Looking at how we internally operate and market ourselves

-          Preparing for our bi-annual LOtC Inspection next week

-          Telling staff about fantastic feedback from Special needs Family and a letter to our chefs.

-          Contracts to sign for services

-          Dealing with a support services company who are not nice and would rather take our money than have ethics.

-          Discussing with Maintenance Staff how to improve outside toilets and showers and the plan to improve the roof drainage.

 

You get the gist!  You may ask what keeps me enthusiastic, motivated and driven to make Avon Tyrrell better and better for visitors and staff, why, of course, the people. Have a good week and please get in touch if you have something to say about the Centre.

Best Wishes dw
Remember… experience – learn – develop

And from our History Photos: