This week we have welcomed a group of Ukrainian children to Treacle Valley for one of our infamous adventures!

The children came to us on Monday and Tuesday for two days of outdoor activities. We built dens in the woods, swung around on hammocks and played loads of outdoor games including Swedish Kubb! The children made their own healthy bannock breads with natural ingredients and we made pancakes for lunch too, all cooked over the campfire. We spent as much time as we could exploring nature and interacting with it, and even our lunches had a foraged theme – some of the braver children tried eating a stinging nettle!

Then on Wednesday night everyone came for an overnight camp, with sleeping bags and teddies in tow. The weather was a little wet but nobody seemed to care! The highlight of the overnight camp was the amazing night walk where we found traces of deer in the woods, a fresh sparrowhawk kill, and listened to the sounds of bats echolocating as they swooped above our heads.

This camp was possible thanks to Social Farms and Gardens, a fantastic organisation who encourage communities to get outside and grow together. They have partnered with the Hilden Fund to get more children outdoors and enjoying nature together, and they kindly provided the funding to allow this camp to go ahead. We are very grateful for the support.

Thank you also to Yuliia and Ash from Torbay Community Development Trust for all their help in co-ordinating, making lists of children, finding spare sleeping bags and organising transport; the amazing Karina and Anya who came as volunteers, we couldn’t have done it without you; our own team Rich, Jo and Elaine who worked so hard throughout the camp; and finally to Freddie and Alex who took on the role of peer helpers and made sure all the children felt happy and safe.

What a great camp!