Dol-y-Moch, March 2022

Our children have had an absolute blast at Dol-y-Moch this year. Scroll to the bottom of the page to follow their fantastic adventure from the moment they arrived.

We are already looking forward to what adventures we can get up to next year!

Time to come home

We have had a fantastic time here at Dol-y-Moch and as it is our last night here we asked the children to summarise their experience in 3 words. Here are some of their responses:

Nature is beautiful

Learning new skills

A challenging adventure

Overcoming our fears

Amazing, beautiful journey

Creating strong bonds

Challenging, life-changing experience

Go for it!

A long-lasting memory

We are all so proud of what the children have achieved during their time here, they have showed an amazing attitude to the challenges they have faced and worked together to overcome whatever has been asked of them. We would like to thank them all for making this such a wonderful trip. 

Monday 7th March

 This morning we woke up to yet more sunshine and we certainly made the most of it. For today’s activities we worked as one large group, which meant there was the opportunity for the children to work with different people. The first challenge was to develop our map reading skills around the centre during an orienteering activity. Once the children had shown they could orientate their maps it was time to apply the skills on an orienteering course in a nearby wood. Here, they were in groups and needed to follow a course on their own! Together they made decisions about which route they needed to take and they were all able to complete the course without any assistance from the staff. 

In the afternoon we travelled to a beach, where we had a stone stacking competition followed by a paddle in the sea and lastly, a delicious ice cream. It was a fantastic way to end the week. 

Sunday 6th March

Now we can all say that we have climbed a mountain! Between us we conquered two mountains through fantastic determination and perseverance. The children showed incredible teamwork and support for each other to reach the summits of their mountains and we were rewarded with incredible views across the Welsh countryside and coastline. All the children can take a great deal of pride with how they approached today and have shown how much they can achieve by challenging themselves. 

Saturday 5th March

It was great to wake up to some Welsh sunshine this morning and both groups were treated to a very exciting day. We visited a local beach to explore the coastline and traverse across rocks. We were treated to spectacular views and the children enjoyed scambling up and down rocks and building their confidence moving safely in this environment. 

The other half of the day was spent kayaking! For many of the children this was their first experience of being on the water in a kayak and it was fantastic to see how quickly they developed their confidence and control. Some found it a challenge and they approached it with resilience and perseverance, showing the values of both Dol-y-Moch and Little Heath. The last challenge was the famous Dol-y-Moch dive, where brave volunteers jumped into the lake, we were impressed with the number of children who wanted to give this a go- the water was cold! Well done to everyone for a day full of personal achievements and great teamwork. 

Friday 4th March

We are here! After a long journey and as night fell, we excitedly arrived at Dol-y-Moch and our first task was to negotiate the dark walk from the coach to the main house. Here, a welcome warm meal awaited us and then we had the challenge of making up our beds and collecting the kit we will need throughout the week.

We have already seen some fantastic teamwork and we are looking forward to our first day of activities tomorrow!