Venture Scouts

Five Venture Scouts have received resounding praise from the Peak District Expedition Panel for the manner in which they conducted a Gold Duke of Edinburgh Award Expedition.

Leaders En Route to Gold Ventures Report

Andy Butler, Tim Clark, David Frid and Julie Clark had their original plans for their gold qualifying expedition in Snowdonia rejected as being "only suitable for SAS Training", so undertook that trip for their Queen's Scout Award and sought an alternative to a purely physical challenge for D of E.

In July 1998 the Ventures responded to an appeal in the national Award Journal; a leader at a centre for young people with learning difficulties had found it impossible to match the ideals of the award with the practicalities.  Phil Hughes from Bognor, who has Down's Syndrome, had failed to complete an expedition in South Wales due to unsympathetic terrain and companions and it was feared that the final part of the award for which he had worked so hard would elude him.  Due to their range of experience the AMICVS Team felt that they would be able to help.  They had an array of leadership, first aid and lifesaving qualifications.  Tim and Dave worked with autistic children at Loddon School and they had completed numerous expeditions together since 1994 when they hiked across England, coast to coast, following the course of Hadrian's Wall.  They were a good solid scouting team, but, as always, the difficult bit was the paperwork!  It took six months of numerous letters and calls between the AMICVS members, Phil's Chichester Award Centre, D of E HQ at Windsor and Scout HQ at Gilwell to gain approval for the partnership and to ensure that the special needs of both the rule book and the Team were met.

The Ventures spent much of the year getting to know Phil, initial meetings being held in a Petersfield Pub (naturally), then graduating to training trips on the Sussex and Hampshire Downs.  Claire Dinsdale, who, along with the others, had participated in AMICVS expeditions in Exmoor, the Brecons and Berwyns, joined the Team as a welcome female companion for Julie.  A three day expedition on Dartmoor was designed to test the Team's capabilities.  They knew that Phil's sense of balance and body temperature control mechanisms were not well defined and that he tired quickly on uphill stretches but the practice trip was invaluable in establishing ground rules for their qualifying expedition.

Precise plans were submitted to the Peak District Panel who responded very positively.  Having previously been in situations where obligatory expedition plans were either not acknowledged or rejected completely, it gave the youngsters a real boost to sense an immediate understanding of the aspirations of their venture and a willingness to share local knowledge.  Their appointed assessor was, coincidentally, County Scout D or E Advisor for Bedfordshire.  She was very strict but fair.  It was perhaps just as well that AMICVS only subsequently learned that every team that had been assessed the previous August had failed!

The first 36 hours of the expedition were really tough.  Phil had been training extremely hard for the trip bt was suddenly overwhelmed by the pressure of it actually happening at last.  The AMICVS Members had their work cut out to try and get him to relax and enjoy being part of a great adventure rather than just an individual fighting a personal battle that he wasn't convinced he wanted to win!  The Team was relieved to stop for lunch on the second day; here was water and their excuse to play. They lay in the stream, they slid, they slipped and they life saved their oranges as they tumbled over the falls.  Phil sat on a rock with his toes dangling in the water and relaxed at last, sharing the fun.

It was great from then on.  They walked, camped, cooked, sung and walked some more.  The Assessor would appear at regular intervals to check on progress and she was there to cheer them on at the finish, Phil marching determinedly at the front of the Team.

Last month, the six friends presented an exhibition and verbal report of their expedition and of their study of ancient packhorse ways in the Peak District to assembled guests at Worting Scout Hut.  Each section of the 2-hour long presentation was introduced by Phil and included video footage of the trip.  The AMICVS Team paid a moving tribute to the special person who had worked so hard to join them and, for his part, Phil could not hide the tears when he thanked everybody for helping to make his dream come true.