Young people take to the hills
On a weekend in May, 67 young people from Edinburgh took to the hills on a camping and walking expedition as part of their Duke of Edinburgh Award. The group was made up of several of the city's DofE Award groups including, North Edinburgh Open Award group, South Edinburgh Open Award group and St Thomas of Aquins HS. The groups were led by 8 volunteers and the DofE Award Expedition co-ordinator, Fraser Robertson.
To top that, on the 12th and 13th of June groups totaling over 100 young people from Edinburgh took to the hills again from the Open Expedition Programme, the Ripple Project, Explore O Ten, James Gillespies HS, Forrester HS and St Augustin's HS and West and North Open Award Groups.
This must be our biggest single Expedition weekend, in terms of numbers and by all accounts, the young people involved had a great experience. Very well done to all volunteers involved and to Fraser and the group leaders.
The FOTA E&L kit store was at full stretch – we were down to our last few poop scoops!
Our kit store is funded by The Postcode Lottery Trust this year, enabling us to stock up on the very best (and lightest!) tents, rucksacks, waterproofs etc. We also have a partnership with The Sports Warehouse (www.sportswarehouse.co.uk) that enables us to access keenly priced items. Everyone who buys a record book through City of Edinburgh Council DofE unit is given a card that they can use at The Sports Warehouse. Every £ spent on these cards gives FOTA E&L a credit towards future kit. Any group doing DofE can join FOTA E&L for just £20, giving access to our kit store with a 50% reduction on our hire charges and other very useful benefits, like insurance. Read more about group membership.
