D of E Silver Practice Expedition
On Thursday 24th April 2025, a group of students headed out to Kirkby Malzeard in North Yorkshire to take part in their practice DofE Silver expedition. This involved a 3 day, 2-night camping trip where students cooked their own meals, pitched their own tents and camped out. The students were split into groups, where each group had planned their own 19km walk for each of the 3 days. Their walks involved farmland, byways, and forests. On arrival to the campsite students worked together in teams and cooked plenty of food. Some groups stuck to the basic and easy pot noodles, however some groups pulled out all the skills and made beef burgers, hot dogs, chicken pasta etc. They really did surprise us!
On Day 1, the groups headed from the Dallowgill Education Centre to the nearby campsite. The students had to navigate using a map and a compass along their planned route. The students were well up for the challenge as it was day 1, they had loads of energy!
On Day 2, all groups had planned their routes towards Fountains Abbey (National Trust Park). This was a spectacular route with an amazing walk through the forest. You could see the students starting to struggle as the day went on. Students had a quick ice cream stop at a halfway point and then pushed through to make it back to the campsite.
On Day 3, all groups battled their way through the last leg of the expedition heading to the pickup location. Some students really felt it suffering from blisters after the fact they had already walked 40km. The motivation and support from group members to their peers was incredible!
During the expedition there were many cuts, bruises, blisters and a few tears. But the groups realised just how far they could push themselves and see their potential for the real expedition coming up in June 2025. For almost all the students, just the practice was an experience of a lifetime!