Lakeland Adventure and Conservation

Our young people residentials deliver a wide-ranging, enriching experience and give you the chance to develop a range of transferable skills. This can be great to include in higher education and job applications.

Around core themes of nature and landscapes, active learning, and personal and social skills, our courses promote nature connection, environmental understanding and responsibility, health and wellbeing, working well with others, resilience and curiosity.

If you are a Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award participant, this course is also an ideal way to complete the Residential section of the award

See our Residential FAQs page if you’d like to know the answers to our most frequently asked questions.

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

As an Approved Activity Provider for DofE, our opportunities meet all the requirements for DofE. We do however always recommend checking suitability with your DofE assessor before booking a Duke of Edinburgh Gold Residential.

Day 1

Ice breakers
Morning/Afternoon
Get to know the rest of the group in an informal and fun atmosphere and develop a sense of community essential for the week ahead. Test your navigation skills together on our big orienteering course around the local area.

Team building games  
Evening
Get to know your fellow participants with fun team challenges.

Day 2

Lakeland fell walk
Morning/Afternoon
We will head out to one of the Lake District’s classic fells for a day’s mountain walk; as part of our conservation work we will do a litter pick throughout the day.

Blindfold trail
Evening
Put your team working skills and trust into practice on our woodland trail, crawl under and step over obstacles with nothing but your sense of touch and your team to guide you.

Day 3

Canoeing & Ghyll Scrambling
Morning/Afternoon
Learn the skills required and put your teamwork to the test on the picturesque lake Derwent Water.
Scramble and climb up a Lakeland stream, with plenty of opportunities for jumping in and getting wet!

Mammal trapping
Evening
Using humane traps to showcase our diverse environment by finding out what lives in the centre grounds.

Day 4

Mammal release & Bushcraft skills & Conservation 
Morning/Afternoon
Identify what small mammals we caught the night before.

Use bushcraft skills including building shelters and lighting fires the wilderness way to cook your own food and make your own hot drink. We use our leave no trace policy and help with some conservation of the woodland such as brashing, making wood piles for minibeasts and tree sapling maintenance.

Share session
Evening
Collate your photos and videos from the week to create a short film to share your experience. This could be shared on our social media.

Day 5

Conservation day
Morning/Afternoon
Work at one of Cumbria Wildlife Trust’s Nature Reserves, invasive species management for the National Trust or footpath maintenance with Fix the Fells.

The specific activity will depend on the weather and suitable tasks available.

Return to the centre to sign Duke of Edinburgh books.

Depart 3pm

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

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

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 their experience with those of a similar age. Please consider what age the attendee will be on the course date you choose and check they fit in the age category for that date when booking. (Please see each individual course at the bottom of this page for age ranges).

When you book, it is essential that you enter the age and attendees name in the Order Notes at the checkout.  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.

Prior to the course, you will receive the following:

• A full kit list. Any technical equipment required will be provided so you will just need typical kit for a residential stay and being outdoors.
• An introduction to the staff delivering the course and information about the centre so you know what to expect on arrival.
• A detailed itinerary for the course, including arrival and departure instructions. On some courses there may be the opportunity to book a train station pick up and/or drop off.
• A link to an online photo consent form.
• The expectations of young people attending our courses.
• A form to share any specific dietary or medical needs.