GYC have had a jam-packed summer with activities that have been attended by 185 young carers! For some it was their first time doing an activity with us and it was amazing to see them grow in confidence through the day, make new friends and even open up about their caring role to others.

To recap on our adventures this summer:

Wild in the woods

We had a brilliant activity day with the Ernest Cook Trust at their outdoor education centre. We spent the day exploring the woods in small groups finding natural equipment to help build dens, despite being armed with maps we took the wrong root and got lost once or twice which added to the adventure.

No outdoor trip is complete without toasted marshmallows and cooking popcorn on the open fire -what a treat! In the afternoon we learnt how to write in Viking on wood slices and had a go making our own woodland wristbands.

The young carers described the day as ‘fun, adventurous and exciting’.

Sports day is a must for the summer.

On this day the young carers were rotated across various activities such as parachute games, tennis, assault course, archery and the egg and spoon race.

Archery was kindly hosted by Andrew from The Pavilion, and it hit the mark with all the young carers. The afternoon consisted of football, rounders and ended with the much-loved dodgeball, with adults mixed into each dodgeball team. There was an uprising with chants of ‘get the adults’ and all the children had fun with their new targets.

Having a real hoot

We visited the Cotswold Falconry centre and watched two shows on a variety of majestic birds, we saw them in flight, swooping through the air until they were a tiny spec in the distant and walked around meeting vultures, falcons, eagles, hawks and kites to name the few.

We were lucky to see two baby owls go for their daily walk, understandably they had to have a nap on the grass after the excitement of nipping everyone’s fingers and being petted.

Ice cream dreams

Quick scoop about the three tours we had at Walls factory from makers of sausages and meat pies to the well-known ice cream connoisseurs they are today. Dressed in our finest PPE we watched how various ice creams were made and packed from Soleros dipped in their fruit juice to the much-loved Ben and Jerrys.

We also had an important task of taste testing unlimited ice creams well done to the young carers who managed 4. Each young carers were gifted a bag of exclusive merchandise this included a Ben and Jerry hot water bottle, Carte D’or Candle, Magnum beanie and a hot/cold cup, notebook, and pen.

Walk on the wild side

In the jungle the lions were sleeping tonight, actually at the Cotswold Wildlife Park they were cuddling. It was so wonderful to see the various animals in their houses – our favourites were the baby white rhino, penguins being fed, capybaras, red panda, and course we can’t forget 8-meter pythons.

Water you doing this weekend?

We are diving into Saturday with Frampton Sailing Day which is kindly hosted by the sailing club. We will be having a beautiful walk around the lake, followed by a BBQ lunch. After lunch it will be aboat time to go on to the lake with experienced sailors.

Some feedback from young carers who were asked how these activities helped them :

“It made me feel like part of a nice group/community’.

‘we could interact with people who were in the same situation as us’.

‘it helps to meet people going through the same’