Last Thursday, I spent a day with the first of the Phoenix Summer Camp groups, as they took a trip to the banks of the River Mersey, near Stockport, for a day of exciting outdoor activities.

 

At 10:30 on the dot, minibuses arrived at Burnage Rugby Club bringing Year 7 pupils from Thornleigh Salesian College, Bolton; Our Lady's Catholic College, Lancaster; and St James' Catholic High School, Cheadle. Unfortunatley, at 10:35, the blazing sun hid and the rain came down, but the high spirits of the youngsters could not be dampened!

 

Activities for the day were provided by Venture Out, and the young people were speedily put into three groups, to take part in different activities on a tournament basis, so each group had a go at every activity.

 

Several sets of mystifying apparatus provided devilishly tricky tasks for team-building exercises, as groups competed to carry a wobbly ball on a plate through ropes that frustratingly seemed to snare an unwary team member just as the end was in sight - putting them right back to the start!

 

Over at the archery range, some of the young people hit the bull's eye, but even those who were off-target enjoyed what for almost everyone was a totally new experience.

 

 

On the Mersey, getting into the canoes down the steep river bank was the first challenge. Then, the groups had to paddle upstream to the weir, and turn their craft for the easier trip back downstream, before learning some fancier manoeuvres.

 

 

The thirty young people and their teachers formed the first of this year's Phoenix Summer Camps, run by Salesian Youth Ministry. They had begun their camp on Sunday 24th July, and were staying at Savio House, our youth retreat centre in Bollington, Cheshire, until Friday 28th, with the next group arriving for camp on Sunday 30th. More about that soon!