It wasn’t so long ago that we were enjoying the late summer sunshine on our tenants’ residential at Calvert Lakes near Keswick, and it was obviously something that everyone enjoyed given the number of requests we had for another holiday just like it.
Whilst mid-winter in the Lake District isn’t perhaps the best time to embark on three days of outdoor adventures – including water based activities – Fairoak’s tenants weren’t to be deterred.
So in early February, 18 tenants plus 4 of the Fairoak team headed to the Kepplewray Centre at Broughton-in-Furness for three days of outdoor adventure and, hopefully, plenty of fun.
Fairoak Customer Engagement Officer, Alison Barnes: “Where to start… well, let’s just say that the weather forecast could have been better but the tenants were determined to go ahead, and what an experience they had!”
Day one’s activities of archery and bushcraft were indeed undertaken in rain but, undeterred, everyone donned their waterproofs, took part and enjoyed themselves – toasting marshmallows over an open campfire was definitely a highlight of the first day!
The next morning was time to put on the waterproofs, walking boots and helmets for a hike Hodge Close Quarry from Little Langdale and into Cathedral Cave. The caves and adjoining tunnels were created as a result of historic mining activities, with the main ‘cathedral’ being an enormous 40-foot high cavernous chamber.
“The walk was a bit further than we had anticipated but, again, everyone just took it in their stride and were rewarded with a great experience that they will definitely remember for a very long time.”
Canoeing on Coniston Water was the afternoon’s activity with the canadian-style canoes turned into rafts with plenty of strenuous paddling ensuing to get the craft out into the middle of the lake. Thankfully the weather stayed dry and, even more remarkably, so did we with everyone managing to stay in the canoes!
Archery and crate stacking were on the agenda for the last day, more brilliant fun for everyone to get involved with.
“Some of the activities were much harder than anything they [the tenants] had ever done before.” adds Alison, “The walk to Cathedral Caves was longer than anticipated and the weather was pretty rubbish at times, but they were all brilliant.”
“It was amazing to see the resilience they had to tackle these challenges, trying things some of them had never done before, properly getting out of their comfort zone, and seeing just how proud they were at the end of it.”
Like the stay at Calvert Lakes, the Kepplewray residential was partially funded by Friends of Fairoak through donations and from money raised from last year’s Coniston to Barrow walk.
Friends of Fairoak contributed a third of the fees for the residential, with tenants self-funding the rest.
You can see more great images from our time at the Kepplewray Centre on the Fairoak Facebook page: