The fact that you can read it means the handwriting isn’t mine but I love the fact that, for one course at least, it is possible to pinpoint when all the ideas came together. [Click for a larger version]

We’ve been in North Wales all day, whittling sticks, chopping wood and building shelters as part of a stone soup bush craft session based at Boulder Adventures. Everybody has brought along ideas and we’ve shared them, improving practice and making all of us safer. Claire (above) seemed rather attached to her shelter and didn’t want to come out.

More Photos

We are pleased to confirm that we will be holding our 3rd Invitation Day on January 9, 2010 at the Link Centre in West Swindon.

The aim is to enable people aged 14-19 to come along and try their hand at a free indoor rock climbing session, and to find out about our residential course, “Fire Me Up!”. There will be an opportunity to sign up for the next course on February 2010.

This will also include a presentation about Inner Flame and a chance to hear stories and experiences from previous participants from our past courses.

Numbers are strictly limited, so please contact us as soon as possible. To secure a place, you need to register by calling us on [redacted], or email me at info@innerflame.org.uk.

Thank you!

Inner Flame are a great charity (as well as being one of our clients). Their aim is

Their  “Fire Me Up!” course is a challenging residential experience for people aged 14-18. It’s about achieving success by:

• Making positive choices
• Taking action towards personal goals
• Building skills and self-confidence

Having met some of the course participants, I can say that they have an extraordinary amount of success.

There is plenty of of information about the course at www.totemdevelopment.co.uk/anythingcouldhappen

In summary, it is an open outcome course with no fixed programme. We aim to draw together a diverse group of people, put them in beautiful surroundings, and provide challenging activities to create a powerful learning experience. It is aimed at people who are interested in their own personal development and who want to explore their own learning in an exciting and challenging environment.

Since we use Agile Programming, we can’t guarantee what you’ll be doing on the course but previously we have guided blindfolded partners; hunted foam animals scattered throughout the town; created art out of slate; abseiled and climbed; had round table debates; created codes and built a bridge across a lake.

We couple this with meaningful, engaging personal and group reflection and review to ensure that participants come away having learnt from everything they have done.

Some comments from previous participants:

“Thought provoking and loads of fun with plenty to take away to think about and hopefully apply!” -James

“A month of life packed into 48 hours!” -Eeva

“Thought-provoking; knackering but fun and challenging” -Billy

Mark also wrote a short piece about his time on the course, which you can read here.

The course fee includes all food and accommodation for the weekend, as well as the training, activities and any materials used. We will be based at the well equipped and friendly Bryn Du Mountain centre.

If you are interested in attending the course, please let us know which dates (11-13 or 18-20) you could attend and which one you prefer.

If you have any friends, colleagues or family who you think might be interested, please do not hesitate to forward this to them.

If you want to know more about this unusual course, please feel free to contact us.