The 2015-2016 has drawn to a close and all of a sudden we are starting to visit schools to kick off the next season. The students, both from all the schools and Open groups have all been fantastic and had to undergo some really tough weather conditions: hail, snow, winds, rain, freezing conditions with some occasional and very welcome spells of sunshine! Beauchamp College in Leicester kicked off the season with their Gold Practice in Snowdonia last October and completed in the Lakes this summer, as well as Bromfords in Essex, whose Gold group were great fun to work with and so keen to learn and do well. The girls from Leicester High and Rugby High really had to cope with some challenging conditions over Easter, so a special commendation to those who battled with blizzards, freezing fingers and feet and copious amounts of mud. Their qualifiers in the Peaks, Yorkshire Dales and the Lake District were all successful and they all showed that girls ‘can’ and ‘do’… brilliantly! We’ve taken out The Kingsley School Bronze girls for the first time and they all completed their qualifier in the Peaks – we hope they will continue on to Silver. And finally we worked with a brilliant bunch of young people over the summer who booked onto our Open expeditions. They came from Scotland, London, Manchester, Liverpool, Leicester and so on and showed amazing skills to work effectively with each other. Humour, empathy and teamwork ensured a hugely success set of expeditions. Thanks to all the students, teachers and parents who make it happen and our great team of instructors and assessors. It’s been a good year! Emma and Andy
