Betws-y-Coed Residential
During the last weekend in March I had the privilege of taking 18 young people that are connected to the circuit to a residential in Betws-y-Coed, North Wales.
We set off from Gledholt Methodist Church and after a long journey (thanks to the M62) we arrived to our centre just behind the main street in Betws-y-Coed. The young people got straight into the swing of things, getting something to eat, spending time getting to know each other and having a time of reflection.
We woke up on the Saturday morning and after a quick time for breakfast, we were straight out of the centre. After a mile and half walk we arrived at the activity centre called ZipWorld FForrest where we did our two main activities, the Fforest coaster and Tree Top Nets.
Fforest Coaster – We sat on our sled, (which is a little like a tea tray with brakes) and we were slowly dragged up 365m up through the forest to the top of the hill. When you are at the top of the hill you are released down a track where you speed around corners at up to 25mph. Each person had 3 goes on this and we all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
Treetop Nets – Imagine trampolines 60 ft up in the air, well that is essentially what the treetops nets are. Our young people bounced around, slide down the shoots, played football, and played tag all whilst up in the sky.
When we got back to the centre we spent some time thinking what life would be like if we could change some issues in the world today including Brexit, war, and climate change to name just a few. We looked at just how lucky we really are compared to young people around the world, we made some things we are grateful for out of playdoh, and looked at our dreams and ambitions for the future. From there we wrote ourselves a letter to a future version of us, before getting in pairs and writing down our dreams for that other person.
We also did a few other activities through the day using the idea of being royalty for the day in groups. We turned one of the young people in each group some royal garments, a throne to sit on, as well as baking them a small feast (a batch of cookies).
Sunday came around far too quickly due to the clocks changing, we played a few games, spent time reflecting on the weekend and did some feedback, before cleaning the centre and having some lunch. Finally we spent the afternoon in Betws-y-Coed, shopping, eating some ice cream and playing frisbee before setting back home.
The weekend was amazing and the young people we took had a really good time and wanted to do it again. So more work for me to do!!!
Chris Mason
Circuit Youth Worker
During the last weekend in March I had the privilege of taking 18 young people that are connected to the circuit to a residential in Betws-y-Coed, North Wales.
We set off from Gledholt Methodist Church and after a long journey (thanks to the M62) we arrived to our centre just behind the main street in Betws-y-Coed. The young people got straight into the swing of things, getting something to eat, spending time getting to know each other and having a time of reflection.
We woke up on the Saturday morning and after a quick time for breakfast, we were straight out of the centre. After a mile and half walk we arrived at the activity centre called ZipWorld FForrest where we did our two main activities, the Fforest coaster and Tree Top Nets.
Fforest Coaster – We sat on our sled, (which is a little like a tea tray with brakes) and we were slowly dragged up 365m up through the forest to the top of the hill. When you are at the top of the hill you are released down a track where you speed around corners at up to 25mph. Each person had 3 goes on this and we all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
Treetop Nets – Imagine trampolines 60 ft up in the air, well that is essentially what the treetops nets are. Our young people bounced around, slide down the shoots, played football, and played tag all whilst up in the sky.
When we got back to the centre we spent some time thinking what life would be like if we could change some issues in the world today including Brexit, war, and climate change to name just a few. We looked at just how lucky we really are compared to young people around the world, we made some things we are grateful for out of playdoh, and looked at our dreams and ambitions for the future. From there we wrote ourselves a letter to a future version of us, before getting in pairs and writing down our dreams for that other person.
We also did a few other activities through the day using the idea of being royalty for the day in groups. We turned one of the young people in each group some royal garments, a throne to sit on, as well as baking them a small feast (a batch of cookies).
Sunday came around far too quickly due to the clocks changing, we played a few games, spent time reflecting on the weekend and did some feedback, before cleaning the centre and having some lunch. Finally we spent the afternoon in Betws-y-Coed, shopping, eating some ice cream and playing frisbee before setting back home.
The weekend was amazing and the young people we took had a really good time and wanted to do it again. So more work for me to do!!!
Chris Mason
Circuit Youth Worker
