COLNES Silver Practice and Qualifying Expedition
The City of London and North East Sector has been building our presence in the DofE award for the last three years – from little acorns grow mighty oak trees! Our focus over those years has been the bronze award and getting Cadet Force Adult volunteer support for the award, expeditions in particular and a continuity of training. The culmination in this effort has led us to our first Silver Expedition – in the beautiful setting of the South Downs.
The Expedition saw 27 cadets begin their adventure along the South Down way at various starting locations – some walking east to west, others walking west to east. The weather was absolutely stunning, as you can see form our photos. Participants had been thoroughly trained in navigation, but mostly around local areas and in more rural areas in North Essex. Moving to the South Downs brought to life some of the features on the map which perhaps the groups had not appreciated the scale of. Contour lines suddenly became real and were an uphill (or downhill) challenge to overcome! The cadets were certainly challenged and as time went on made adjustments to their plans to include more breaks, water stops and more time to climb some hills.
Following the expedition, we had several positive comments from cadets including:
“The weather was amazing but my favourite part was the pictures on the hill tops – you don’t get views like that in Romford! I cannot believe how high some of the hills were, I’ve learned so much about reading a map for what it really is. Can we come back next year?!”
A parent wrote in stating
“My daughter loved her weekend in the south downs – a brilliant experience developing her resilience, independence and challenging her. Thank you so much to everyone involved, she enjoyed working with her new team and made friends for life!”
