Team Adventure River Trip
One thing which is predictable about adult life is that there are many obstacles and challenges around the corner, and you never quite know what is coming next. As you get older, you build resilience, step out your comfort zone to meet new challenges, and work with those around you to make the best of things. The question is, how do you prepare young people for this? The answer – our Team Adventure River Trip, involving a mindful meander down the River Derwent in Matlock, Derbyshire.
To help facilitate this, we joined forces with Rapid Horizons, who provided all of the equipment, as well as Gary and Charlie to help guide our ten enthusiastic young people down the river. Many of our children will have tried kayaking or canoeing before as part of Team Fostering’s action packed activity programme, but this was completely different. The River Derwent is a grade 2 river, meaning there are sections of moving water and rapids as well as rocks and other obstacles to navigate. This was not a straight forward challenge for our young people, and they had to show determination and resilience to complete the 6km journey through the Matlock gorge.
The team set off in a mixture of single person kayaks and two person canoes. The idea behind this was to give young people a chance to try different boats, but also to show the difference in challenge when you are either facing obstacles alone, or trying to work with others. Some of our older young people took on a supporting role, and provided reassurance and care towards younger members of the group, which was lovely to see. One young person said “I really enjoyed the rapids, they were fun, and a good test of skill”
Towards the end of the trip we had to portage around a weir. This involved lifting the boats out of the water, and working together to move them below the weir before getting back on the water. People were clearly showing signs of tiredness by this stage, but despite this, everyone pulled together to help lift the boats downstream, and get each other back in safely. We had one last short stretch of river, which took us past the 18th century cotton mills, considered to be a foundational pillar of the industrial revolution, before seeing foster carers waiting for us on the riverbank as we arrived in Cromford.
This experience will have created lasting memories for many of our young people. However, more important than this, it helped strengthen skills such as communication, team work, resilience and perseverance. Experiences like this are a core part of Team Fostering’s Life Skills Package, where we give young people the opportunities to grow and develop the skills they need for adult life.
If you’d like to find out more about becoming a foster carer with Team Fostering you can contact us on 0800 292 2003 or complete our online enquiry form here