This month, we were pleased to take nine young people from Young Bristol's Outdoor Employment Programme to RSPB's Cameron's Cottage in the New Forest!
Cameron’s Cottage was created as a legacy to Cameron Bespolka who died in 2013, aged sixteen. Cameron had a deep passion for nature, which began as a young child and developed further as he got older. The groups residential week was designed for the group to engage with the natural world in a number of exciting and unique ways, including outdoor cooking, survival skills, shelter building and learning conservation skills.
"I learnt so much and gained a lot of new skills. This week have been amazing and a great experience that I'll remember forever!"
Tuesday
Once the group settled and unpacked in the cottage, their first activity of the week was setting up camera traps. The RSPB team taught our Outdoor Employment Trainees why they use camera traps, and how to set them up. Trainees then explored the reserve, searching for signs of animal activity such as footprints, droppings or disturbed wildlife. This allowed them to figure the best places to set up their camera traps, which they reviewed later in the week.
Their first evening was finished with a barbecue, with the whole group sitting round the fire, making new friendships and playing card games!
Wednesday
The trainees first day in the cottage began with a conservation workshop, where young people explored the idea that dogs ahve an imapct on New Forest's environment. They did this by looking at the potential positve and negative imapcts that they have, and then mind-mapped ways that this could potentially be resolved.
After lunch, the group ventured out onto an extended walk, where they explored the reserved, learnt about the types of plants and fungi that grew in the local environment and enjoyed a session of pond dipping at the lake.
During the evening, participants got together to discuss a workshop that they are currently working on, which is planned to be delivered across our Community Youth Club network over the next couple of months!
Thursday
The groups second full day at the cottage was all about survival and bushcraft skills. Young people started the day by learning the basics of bushcraft, where they learnt how to light fires, use kelly kettles to boil water, and carve wooden pegs that would later be used in shelter building.
The group then spent their afternoon building their own shelters, where they used all the skills that they had learnt during the mornings session to build a shelter that would hopefully protect them from the rain!
The day wrapped up with an evening adventure outside the cottage, where the group searched for bats and enjoyed star-gazing around the reserve.
Friday
During the final day, trainees took on a final task of clearing rhododendrons, an invasive species that causes a reduction in the forests natural biodiversity. Our group spent the morning learning how to safely use loppers and gardening knives as well as collecting wood that could later be used for fires and carving activities by future visitors. This voluntary session was a way for our group to give back and say thanks to RSPB and Cameron's Cottage for for hosting and funding an amazing residential.
We would like to thank RSPB and the Cameron Bespolka Trust for hosting an incredible week away for our Outdoor Employment Programme. Well done to all the trainees that took part, it was amazing to see their passion and curiosity for conservation be highlighted throughout the week.
To find out more about how you can get involved with our Outdoor Employment Programme, click here.
