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: