The Court House, Longtown, Herefordshire HR2 0LD Tel:

Transcription

1 The Court House, Longtown, Herefordshire HR2 0LD Tel:

2 Longtown has been operating since 1964, and is part of First for Wellbeing, a Community Interest Company. This partnership was established in 2016 between Northamptonshire County Council, Northamptonshire Healthcare and the University of Northampton. Within the CIC, Outdoor Learning is part of Northamptonshire Sport, one of 45 County Sports Partnerships. Just 25 miles from the M50, Longtown Outdoor Learning Centre has a superb, scenic, rural setting, right at the foot of the Black Mountains, part of the Brecon Beacons National Park. The Centre is set in sixteen acres of traditional farmland, and is surrounded by rivers, fields and mountains. Longtown is all about challenging outdoor adventure activities in and around the Brecon Beacons National Park, with a warm and comfortable base in an old coaching inn. Our multi-activity outdoor education courses aim to promote resilience, self-confidence, consideration for others, caring for the environment. And the benefits of an active outdoor lifestyle. This comes from enjoying the successes achieved through personal endeavour and working together, in wild and beautiful landscapes. Specific skills development courses can be offered in canoeing, kayaking, rock climbing, caving and navigation. The Centre is also an excellent venue for geography, biology and history field trips (a Roman Fort and a Norman castle are among our closest neighbours). We can help you plan your field trip which can include a wide range of habitats ; freshwater, marine, upland and moorland. We have excellent facilities in an outstanding environment to provide training and professional development courses. We run accredited courses on behalf of Mountain Training, such as the Lowland Leader and Hill and Moorland Training and Assessment courses. Flexibility is the key to our courses, and while we can offer well-tried and tested programmes that we know will work well, most courses are tailor-made to suit each group s aims and background.

3 We provide a safe, enjoyable and memorable learning experience for all our visitors. Our courses provide rich opportunities for personal and social development in challenging situations. Trust, care, tolerance and the willingness to give and accept support are all core features of our activities, and the residential experience as a whole. Through our wide range of outdoor activities, course participants have the opportunity to explore independence and self reliance, as well as engaging in team activities, and living as part of a community. We generally build in to the programme some time to review and reflect on the day, in order to highlight the learning and to celebrate successes. There are often huge personal and team achievements to be very proud of, and plenty of funny moments, too! Our core activities are gorge-walking, caving, canoeing, and mountain activities including rock climbing and hill walking. Other activities include coasteering, camping and bivouacking. On site we have climbing walls, a high ropes course, an abseil tower, orienteering courses, and a kayak training pool. There are two acres of woodland, and a variety of other nature conservation areas.

4 Based on an old coaching inn, we have a variety of warm and welcoming accommodation: some in the old house, and some in a more recent extension. Bedrooms range from single and twin, through threes, fours, and fives to our largest bedroom which can sleep six. Overall, the Centre can accommodate up to 70 in the house. All rooms have a washbasin, and some are en-suite. The newer part of the building incorporates some DDA compliant accessible bedrooms and bathroom facilities. For a normal course, all bed-linen is provided, though the first big challenge of the week might be putting a sheet on the bed and a quilt in its cover! There are good showers, and big and effective drying rooms. Breakfast and evening meals are good, home-cooked food in our traditional dining room, where taking turns to help with serving, and with clearing and laying up the tables is all part of the Longtown experience. We can cater for most dietary requirements, just let us know beforehand. We ve a number of comfortable common rooms (The Dens, The Snug and The Sett), for meetings, briefings, and reviews (and bedtime hot chocolate!) There s a warm fire and a TV screen in each ideal for having a look at photos from the day. When we have more than one group in, we aim to give each group a particular area of the house, with their own common room, where possible. The separate classroom is heated and carpeted, and set up with a sink and a fridge, as well as Wi-Fi and a digital projector.

5 Longtown has been operating since We have well-qualified and experienced staff, and an excellent safety record. We have a licence from the Adventure Activity Licensing Authority (Registration number L12583 / R0100). This means that we have regular checks and inspections of our safety management systems, as well as The delivery of adventure activities to young people, with due regard to the benefits and risks of the activity. ( This is the top industry standard, and none of us should accept anything less. Working safely with the weather is a fundamental part of adventure activities, and we ve plenty of experience of making the safest and most effective use of whatever the weather throws at us at any time of year. We might not always be able to do what we d planned, but we will always do our utmost to deliver a good, exciting, adventurous and constructive course, whatever the weather. Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme We are an Approved Activity Provider There is no need to purchase any specialist equipment - we can provide everything you need. You just need to bring plenty of warm clothes and washing kit. We will send a kit list out to you prior to your visit. If you would like to discuss a possible booking, please contact us either by phone ( ), or by , longtown@firstforwellbeing.co.uk. You are also very welcome to visit us. To find out more, find us on Facebook or visit the Centre website :