Adventures in the Scottish Islands (West)

Challenges might include climbing, snorkelling, raft building, and an overnight camping expedition. A key aspect of the residential will be your conservation day, where you will conduct work to conserve an area on the Isle of Cumbrae.

Our residentials also give you the chance to develop a range of transferable skills. These types of skills help across many areas of life and are particularly good for including in job or education applications. Here are some of the skills that are likely to be covered in this residential:

• Communicating with others
• Working as a team
• Managing your time
• Taking the lead
• Resilience
• Reliability
• Keeping focused
• Decision making

The course is suitable for a Duke of Edinburgh Award Gold residential. As part of this residential you will also be able to gain the John Muir Discovery Award.

This residential is only open to young people who will be aged 16 – 18 years old at the time of attending. 

We want to ensure participants get to share in their experience with those of a similar age. Please consider what age the attendee will be on the course date and check they fit into the age category when booking.

If the attendee is under 18, the booking must be made by a parent/guardian.

When attending the residential dates which welcome 16-18 year olds, all participants will be expected to follow the behaviour and conduct rules which will be in place to safeguard young people.

If these course dates do not suit you, we run similar courses at many of our other centres.

Example Timetable

Day 1
Arrive-1200
Team building, ice-breaker and Island walk - After getting to know one another, we will set out to explore the Isle of Cumbrae, practicing navigational skills and looking out across the spectacular views of the Firth of Clyde, discovering its history, geology and wildlife along the way.

Rock Climbing - In the evening there will be a rock climbing activity on our onsite crag.

Day 2
Snorkelling – During this session we will discover the world below the waves. In this introductory session, you will learn how to clear your snorkel, use fins and keep an eye out for some wildlife.
Raft Building - We will travel to Kames Bay and learn knot tying skills to build improvised rafts that will (hopefully) keep the whole team afloat!

Conservation work - There will be an evening walk down to Pottery Bay to participate in a beach clean.
We will then prepare for our camping trip the next day, packing rucksacks and looking at route plans and risk assessments.

Day 3
Travel to the Isle of Arran - An early start will see us set off for the Isle of Arran, the longer ferry ride providing opportunities for marine mammal and seabird spotting across the Firth of Clyde. Once landed in Brodick, we will walk to the campsite and set up our tents for the night.
Glen Rosa Walk - After lunch, we will set out on the stunning valley of Loch Rosa, under the imposing presence of Goat Fell. The walk will be around 10 – 15km.

Campfire - After dinner, we will build a fire and toast marshmellows before turning in to our tents for the night.

Day 4
Return to Millport via PS Waverley - After breaking camp, we will head back to Brodick, this time catching the historical and last remaining paddle steamer in the world, the PS Waverley, to transport us back to Cumbrae, with fantastic views of the islands en route! Time for a well-earned rest!

Mammal Trapping - What terrestrial wildlife can we find on the Isle of Cumbrae? Using a variety of humane traps, we will investigate the nocturnal inhabitants of the woodlands surrounding the Centre.

Day 5
Snorkelling - We will head down to one of our local snorkel spots and put our newfound snorkelling skills to the test, to discover the incredible marine life of the Clyde.
Archery - As the final activity, we will learn a new skill with bows and arrows, trying to hit the target and fine-tune our accuracy skills with games and challenges.

Depart 3pm 

Please note: to ensure safe and quality learning experiences for students, the timetable may alter depending on weather conditions and local factors at centres.

• 
  Expert Tuition
• 
  Free Wi-Fi
• 
  Full Board Accommodation
• 
  Hot and Cold Drinks
• 
  In Course Transport
• 
  Lunch

• The order of days and location of study sites may be varied due to the weather, and to avoid equipment/transport clashes.
• Participants are requested to bring a packed lunchbox and water bottle plus camping equipment. A full equipment list will be sent through.
• Participants will undertake activities outdoors for extended periods of time and should therefore be dressed appropriately for the weather conditions.  They will need wellies, a waterproof jacket with hood and waterproof trousers.  If students don’t own these items, they can borrow these from the centre upon arrival.

This residential is only open to young people who will be aged 16 - 18 years old at the time of attending.
We want to ensure participants get to share in their experience with those of a similar age. Please consider what age the attendee will be on the course date and check they fit into the age category when booking.
If the attendee is under 18, the booking must be made by a parent/guardian.

When attending the residential dates which welcome 16-18 year olds, all participants will be expected to follow the behaviour and conduct rules which will be in place to safeguard young people.