All the young people had an absolutely fabulous time away on this one-week sailing residential experience.

The week consisted of a range of team building tasks to get to know everyone and then following instruction they were off on the high seas sailing around the North-East coast and with the week completed, they were awarded their RYA Competent Crew certificate and as the plaque says on entering the James Cook - ‘You enter as strangers but leave as friends’ - no truer word could describe their experience.

A superb experience capturing all the qualities of good youth work practice.

Following the Ocean Youth Trust residential experience in 2016, three young people from that voyage returned as mentors for the 2017 residential and have used the experience as a stepping-stone to venture to different parts of the globe.

  • Sophie Miller (Lumley Ladies) has recently completed some voluntary service in Swaziland, Africa
  • Christopher Healey (DABGC) has just returned from his second spell at Camp America in the Catskill Mountains (180 miles north of New York) where he has been teaching photography
  • Claire Hodgson (Consett Fire Cadets) has been walking the Appalachian Trial in North America

All were inspired by the opportunities presented by the Durham Association, which gave them the confidence to see the wider world and experience new environments.

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