This February half term saw the return of our much loved social action project ‘Making Good’. ‘Making Good’ aims to get young people engaged in their local and wider communities, making a positive contribution with projects involving conservation, outdoor management and improving and maintaining public spaces, e.g. painting at the local children’s centre.
We love to partner with local organisations and charities, and this half term we had the opportunity to work with Walton Firs Activity Centre! Despite the dreary weather, we gathered a great group 12 young people from Leatherhead and Bookham, who were all keen to get involved. We were greeted by Stuart and Ben at Walton Firs, two amazing instructors, and they guided us to the tools and equipment we needed to get going.
The first day consisted of clearing a large woodland area of recently felled trees and unwanted overgrowth, for a new archery range! It was hard work gathering up logs and running them to a drop off point via wheelbarrows. The young people were brilliant and took to the task well, the weather not slowing them down at all. After a solid few hours of hard graft the young people, and youth workers, were able to enjoy one of the many activities that Walton Firs Activity Centre offer. Expertly instructed by Stuart, we had a lot of fun using the shooting range, taking aim as best we could at paper targets and metal ‘circus’ boxes. Everyone really enjoyed the activity and were grateful for the reward after the day’s work.
On the second day, we were happy to see that the rain had decided to stay away, and the young people were again keen to get stuck in. The day consisted of building and managing a fire to burn all the branches and overgrowth cleared away for the new archery range. The young people learnt how to construct and start a fire safely as well as using tools such as loppers and hand saws to deal with the bigger branches. It was great to see the young people working together and helping each other out. After another successful day’s work, we were able to enjoy another great activity. This time we all tried our hand at archery, with the Walton Firs staff showing us the technique and giving important safety tips!
The third day of Making Good is always a reward day for the young people. We took them to the Big Apple in Woking for some fast-paced Laser Quest action. The young people really enjoyed their time, and were able to hit up the arcades! After a couple of Laser Quest games, we had lunch together and set off back home. We had a great three days together and would like to say a big thank you to Walton Firs for having us.
