As Storm Goretti gracefully swept a band of sleet, rain and winds through Essex, I found myself on a muddy footpath a couple of miles from Ongar admiring a sty full of pigs while a flock of geese honked crossly from a nearby shed, angry they were being kept inside to protect them from the latest bird flu outbreak.
The site of this rural idyll was Lambourne End Centre for Outdoor Learning, one of the Brentwood and Ongar constituency’s best-kept secrets (aside of the Secret Nuclear Bunker, naturally) although many of our local children will have been there to visit during their school days. The Centre sees eighteen thousand children and young adults through its doors each year, giving them the chance to learn new skills, build confidence and develop their social skills and friendship groups, all in the open air.
The Centre’s work focuses on OWLS (Outdoor Week of Learning) which takes 8-18 year olds away from their lives at home and school and into a week of immersive, outdoor encounters. Some of the children come in school parties, others attend so their individual needs – be it a disability, poor mental health, low self-esteem, or a difficulty in engaging with the mainstream school system – can be embraced, supported and developed.
Led by Rob Gayler, the team at the Lambourne End Centre for Outdoor Learning do an amazing job. They put together a short film to show me some of the young people who have taken part in learning experiences over the last twenty years or so, and it was hear-warming and emotional to hear how they have gone from backgrounds where they were struggling in all kinds of ways, to finding their “thing” in the open air, leading to the making of friendships, and finding employment.
This is an amazing organisation which deserves our support, fund-raising and positivity and I look forward to going back again – when the sun in shining and the geese are less cross – to hear more about this excellent work to support our local children and young people.
If you want to find out more about it, please do watch the amazing film the team has put together about its work. The link is below.
