DofE Gold Success in Training

The weekend of the 18^th and 19^th November saw Gold DofE students in training for their Gold expedition in the Brecon Beacons, Wales. The weekend aimed to upskill the students in their ability to navigate effectively with a map and compass, building on skills taught at Bronze and Silver level. The weekend focused on the introduction of pacing and timing, taking and walking on bearings, recognising more difficult features on the map and looking at contours in more detail.  Furthermore, it allowed students to become familiar with the new environment used for Gold, which is more remote, more exposed and more challenging.  The weekend was certainly challenging in terms of the weather as it was gusting up to 60mph and it rained almost the entire time however, students powered on through with true Leighton Park determination.

On Saturday, the teams walked between fourteen and nineteen kilometres, and were out in the difficult conditions from late morning through to dinner time.  All of the team members challenged themselves to navigating, and all endured the wind and rain in high spirits.  The need for waterproofs was well appreciated, as was the need for gloves and hats even though the temperature was quite mild for the time of year.

On Sunday, the weather necessitated a change of plan and students used the features of the land to walk in relative shelter from the elements, although by the time they all arrived at the minibuses they were quite wet and wind-blown.  The windswept students walked with remote supervision in order to practice the skills learnt on Saturday, and get used to being out on their own, in preparation to complete their assessed Gold expedition.

Students were also tasked with shopping to a budget and catering for the entire group.  Teams were assigned either a breakfast, lunch or dinner duty, and they prepared the meal and cleaned up everything after them.  Some good food was produced from the kitchen and good fun was had by the chefs who were invariably dancing almost the whole time. In the bunk house, table football and giant Connect 4 provided some entertainment.  There was no reception and no Wi-Fi for students all weekend in the accommodation, so they were unable to use their pocket computers as they normally would! What a wonderful chance to be able to socialise the old-fashioned way and enjoy their peers’ company on a wet and windy weekend full of challenges encountered as a team.