This July we welcomed 14 young people from HOPE support services for a Back to the Wild project at Hellens. On arrival, the group met and fed the 3 donkeys, played some silly names games and walked the grass labyrinth whilst thinking of an intention for the day. Several games of ‘deer stalker’ were played with much laughter and stealthy crawling and hiding behind trees.
We made our way to Hellens B2W spinney for a safety talk and fire lighting demo, then each group went to find their colour coded hidden tinder, firesteel and balti bowl to light their own small fires. The weather was kind and we cooked damper bread on the main fire.
A game of stick balancing in the hornbeam avenue and blindfold drum stalking in the meadow en route to Hallwood.
After lunch in the woods, we made good use of the long grasses abundant on the forest floor, twisting them into a long rope, strong enough to hang and swing on. A few games of tug of war was followed by time relaxing in hammocks.
We each made gratitude sticks, weaving wool and feathers around our thanks for something important in our lives. Much gratitude was shared for a day spent in nature and time together, as we passed the talking stick around our closing circle. We then hotfooted it back to Hellens so the young people could travel by coach for a group sleep out at St Michael’s Hospice, hopefully worn out and inspired after a day in the woods.
