CLIConline

My CLIC Weekender

Posted by aevans001 from Swansea - Published on 05/10/2011 at 12:29
7 comments » - Tagged as Volunteering

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Yn Gymraeg

Red Ridge Outdoor Activity Centre, Welshpool

Day One

On the first day of the CLIC Residential I was to meet the minibus outside Neath Train Station.

Unfortunately due to traffic they turned up 30 minutes late. [Oi! We were on time! - ed]

When they finally arrived I wandered nervously to the minibus to meet members of several editorial teams.

There were a few people already on the bus waiting for another three. Once the pickup at Neath was successful we travelled to pick up another member who happened to be wearing her brand new furry hat.

Once we picked up the last person we were then on our way to Welshpool, it took us roughly four hours to get there. As most people were hungry, CLIC’s editor Ryan had said he was hoping to stop off at a McDonald's but due to us travelling in the middle of nowhere there seemed to be no McDonald's anywhere.

Arriving at the location, we were greeted by another South Wales team, some of which seemed to have met on a previous residential. We took our bags /suitcases into the building and awaited the arrival of the North Wales team.

Once they were in the building we all met in the dining area and went over the ground rules. After the rules we had food and all gathered in the lounge to choose which ACN training course we were interested in, they were: Photography, Video and Creative Writing.

As I have ever only read one book within the last year and given up after the first paragraph I decided it would be a good idea for me to take the Creative Writing course. After everyone deciding, we were given free time and went to look for our bedrooms, mine was shared with three other people who thankfully did not snore.

The building was located around a lot of fields with sheep and contained a games room (three tennis tables and a large Connect 4 toy), a lounge area (with a TV! something which I did not expect still being in the middle of nowhere) and obviously several bedrooms (the girls being upstairs and the boys downstairs).

After finding our rooms we unpacked and then went off to our free time. I chose to go into the games room where several people were and sat in one of the chairs. After a period of time they all left and I was on my own but not long after one of The Sprout editors asked if I wanted to have a game, saying yes we started playing and soon after I found myself really enjoying the experience and became competitive wanting to beat the other person.

During the late evening most people were in the games room and enjoying themselves. I got asked again to play table tennis this time with four people and even played sneakily against the other team with Connect 4 (something which they were very good at).

As the night came to a close some of us decided to go to bed, me being one of them. This gave everyone a good chance to meet their roommates better.

Day Two

In the early morning we were awakened by loud knocking and a voice telling us it was 7:30am. As I was half asleep I decided to take a shower, surprised that it was actually warm water.

After showering I went into the dining area to have breakfast feeling over the moon they had Coco-Pops. Admittedly I had three bowls which I ate like it was my last ever meal.

During breakfast another editor from The Sprout team asked what ACN course I was doing and after learning I don’t read or write stories she replied, “Oh that’s really good, a lot of people would be put off by something new” to which I smiled.

After everyone had signed up for a course they made sure the group numbers were even, luckily they were and everybody got their chosen course. We were then separated and began our course. As an ice breaker we went around the table and introduced ourselves stating our name and the last book or article we have read or written.

As I explained I gave up after the first paragraph one of the CLIC editor’s replied stating, “Maybe that’s a vital part of any book, to ensure the start is gripping and entertaining not to lose the interest of the reader”, something which I thought was really good advice.

We started by filling out a work booklet filled with boxes and text to guide us. My story was about an old man and wife planning their 50th anniversary, but shortly before his wife becomes ill and passes away, this left the man feeling depressed and turns into a grumpy person, hating most people. Then on their anniversary it becomes too much but just in time he is saved by someone who has met and helped his wife previously, this leaves the man overcoming the grief and is inspired to help people who are in the same condition as his wife when she fell ill.

We were given a long period of time to write a brief description of what would happen in the start, middle and end then becoming more detailed within each chapter. This then allowed us to write up our stories on Mac laptops which also allowed us to describe our stories researching information through the internet provided by the centre.

Shortly after, the group talked about something which has happened to them over the year to which everybody needed to make up a story about that person's time i.e. how they were feeling and what happened.

Shortly after starting, lunch was ready to be served, this involved several foods such as sausage rolls, sausages and so on. The dessert at the centre was delicious apple crumble. After lunch we discussed what activities we could take part in and were instructed to get ready which involved changing in case we got wet and muddy. Once changed we all gathered in the dining area and were introduced to the people who would be showing and helping us with our activities.

We were split into teams of 15 which once at our activity were split into teams of two again. Team 1 were rock climbing (climbing wall) and abseiling while Team 2 did zip wiring. As I was in Team 1 we had to support each other by holding a rope to ensure the person climbing wouldn’t fall and encouraging them that they were doing well and nearing the top.

I was last but one so seeing how everyone else did I wasn’t phased as they seemed to make it look easy. One of the team members connected me to the rope which allowed me to progress; I walked to the wall put my right foot on the stepping stone and pulled myself up placing my left foot on another stepping stone, as I’m sure you’re aware this continued up the wall, once I got half way the wall ended and now became pieces of thick wood slanted at an angle.

It was nice to be at an angle and not climbing vertically but unfortunately due to this I could now see my other team mates on the ground when I looked where to place my feet. Of course seeing them I also couldn’t help but notice the height, and being someone who is scared of heights felt really uncomfortable.

As I was climbing I started to lose confidence in my ability to reach the top, with my body shaking I slowly pulled myself up two more stones still having to look at the ground before I started to panic.

At this point my other team mates must have seen me struggling and decided to give me encouragement and advice by putting my hand one stepping stone up and then pulling myself further. This took some effort as I was now a nervous wreck, but with their support I finally reached the top where I grabbed on for my life.

If that wasn’t hard enough I now had to make my way across a metal floor which was see through. Meeting up with some team members for abseiling we patiently waited until it was our turn.

The person in front of me accidentally dropped their safety helmet which seemed to take forever to reach the ground making an almighty thud when it crashed into the concrete. This being a vertical drop I was still a nervous wreck.

When it was my turn I put on a pair of gloves to avoid rope burn and was clipped securely onto the harness. I was told how to lower myself by loosening the grip I had on the rope holding me up. I bent down almost in the sitting position and put my legs through the hole.

I then forced my shaking body to do a mini jump and immediately grabbed the rope for my life once again. I was excited but really nervous. As I lowered myself I started to become less nervous and began enjoying the few seconds moving to the ground. I felt like a member of the SAS on a training mission.

After that somewhat ordeal I decided I had enough fun climbing walls and abseiling to try something else. We were advised to meet one of the centre’s staff by the zip wire which meant climbing back to roughly the same height only this time climbing on pieces of rounded wood shaped like a maze, this involved body twisting and a sense of direction.

Due to me not having these qualities I struggled but luckily I was following the person in front until she said go back there’s no way to get through up here. A sense of panic came over me as I would have to climb back down and being very skinny I was afraid I might slip and slide between the wood and fall most of the way down.

Thankfully after a few seconds she spotted a way through and we carried on as normal. Once reaching the top there was a mini course which involved good balance. It was compulsory but due to the other member taking it I thought I may as well have a go. Once reaching the zip wire another team member joined and started making funny comments. I thought they were hilarious.

After being strapped in I then proceeded to drop off a ledge and slide to the bottom something which I really enjoyed and even had a second go, this time jumping off the ledge. After everybody had a go we all met by a door outside. As we proceeded through the door it was like Alice In Wonderland. The ceiling was so low I had to bend in order to move.

Luckily for one person they were able to stand up correctly much to everyone’s amazement. It turns out this room was the underground cave (made out of wood and had obstacles such as plastic pipes, pieces of wood in tunnels etc.). The man explained as it is dark in the cave there are several lights which are on dimmer switches, the first time we go in the lights will be on ‘full’, the second ‘half dimmed’ and then ‘fully dimmed’.

We all went in the tunnel with the lights on some areas were darkish but we were able to see where we were going. It was really fun crawling and trying to bypass these objects, I went back in when the lights became half dimmed putting my hand in front of my face to avoid being kicked in the face (as we were quite close to each other).

After finding the second time a little more difficult I went in a final time in complete darkness. It was weird knowing everyone was in front of me and not being able to see but only hear them. I was behind a fantastic team member who said where he was and what was coming up. This helped me to manoeuvre around the obstacles, after going around several corners and squeezing between tubes I finally saw light with the person being in front I crawled cautiously towards the light. Once at the end of the tunnel I got up and banged my head on the ceiling, doing this once again seconds later.

Once our caving was complete we walked up a path and came to some archery targets. I had never done archery before in my life so was absolutely useless as how to use a bow and arrow. Noticing how rubbish I was I received some much needed help from a friendly team member (the same team member who dropped their helmet).

Seeing as they had done this before I was showed how to stand, how to load an arrow and how to shoot properly. With this knowledge and help I managed to actually hit the target not missing once. I was so chuffed.

That was it for our outdoor activities. We retuned back to the building changing into some warm clothes and had an evening meal, this time having a sponge cake topped with warm custard as a dessert. After this meal we returned to our ACN courses to finish our work. After this everybody met in the living room to have some fun.

CLIC’s Got Talent was fantastic with a lot of talented people showing off their skills. These videos have since been uploaded on the CLIC’s YouTube Page which is a great memory to have. After the talent show there was a karaoke where several people sang and messed around.

I really enjoyed the time everybody spent together. After everything calmed down everybody had their free time and mostly split up. After staying in the living room I went downstairs to see quite a few people sitting in the dining area.

Being shy I sat at a table opposite them near the door I just entered. Noticing I was on my own one of the CLIC members invited me over saying she doesn’t bite at this point I laughed and joined them. They had a bag full of food which over time went on to become empty. They polity offered me food. Everybody spent quite a while around the table talking and having a laugh.

It was becoming late so the CLIC member was trying to hint that it was late and she wanted to go to sleep but I think as it was our last night on residential we all wanted to make our residential last as long as possible. Soon after more joined and went off to do another activity. Somebody suggested going to the lounge and watching TV. Everybody agreed and went upstairs.

As I was travelling upstairs the CLIC member asked if I was going to bed to which I smirked and said "no" causing her to be a little bit disappointed. When upstairs we all sat around the TV eating crisps and spent the remaining time watching The X Factor.

Once it was finished at 3am half of us decided to go to bed (which included me) while the others stayed up a little bit longer I assume to watch The Xtra Factor.

Day Three

Once the sun had risen and shone into my room I received another knock on the door, but this time for some reason at around 8 o’clock while the others got awakened at the normally time of 7:30am. I once again had a shower and went to the dining room to eat the wonderful Coco-Pops.

Once breakfast was complete we made our way up to the living room one last time to showcase our films, stories, poetry and photos. It was fantastic seeing other people’s work and what they had come up with.

It was time to evaluate our weekend at the centre giving our feedback on topics such as ‘how was the food?’, ‘how was the accommodation?’ etc. Once complete we received our CLIC t-shirts (whoo hoo!) and made our way outside to have our residential photo taken.

Unfortunately I looked a mess [no you didn't! - ed :)] but was pleased a photo was taken to remember everyone who attended. Once all packed up, we were ready to go, this was a sad moment as I believe everyone got on very well over the weekend.

We all got into our buses and departed waving at everyone as we left. We stopped off for some food and funnily met the other South Wales team minutes later as they entered the door. After saying goodbye one last time we all were on our way home remembering what a great weekend we had. CLIC editor Ryan was even kind enough to drop me off in my hometown.

With all of the activities I did and the faces I met I am glad I went; I would definitely recommend the residential to anyone and everyone!

View videos from the residential at: www.youtube.com/user/cliconline

Would you like to come on the next CLIC residential? Email ryan@cliconline.co.uk to find out how!