Diary from an LHM Youth Weekend

One of our young members, Amy (15, HLHS), wrote this diary for our 13-16s Youth Weekend that we had in the middle of August.

Day 1: When We Arrived

I was very scared on the drive up to PGL. Luckily I did have my brother, William, with me so that made it a little better! When we arrived there was only one other boy there called Alex – he must have been there a little while before us (basically because the M25 was a complete nightmare) but he seemed really nice! I then met Laura who was really kind and helpful (which she was throughout the whole weekend) and also Suzie – which I hadn’t seen in ages! So that was lovely! Then I learned that I was going to be the only girl for the whole of the weekend (that made me feel a little worried – but not for long as I fitted in just fine!) We then met Maddie – our group leader for the weekend – she was lovely (really everyone was). Then everyone else started to arrive – our group was me, William, Alex, Ben, Connor, Alisdair and Ollie. We all basically got to know each other that evening while playing Robot Wars, it was really fun but I must admit a bit random! It was a great laugh and a great chance for everyone to work together and just have a laugh dressing a team member up in cardboard and just having a great laugh – after that we played table tennis and cards and just chilled till bed!

Day 2: First Day of Activities :)

We had to get up by about 7:45ish (was really sad because I normally don’t get up until at least 9) but I was surprisingly the first out of our rooms! The first activity was Archery – which was after a very good breakfast! It was really fun because although most of us had done it before it we were able to do lots of different skills with the different bits we did through the hour and a half activity. The second of our activities was Survivor with Maddie :) It was really fun learning ways to survive in the outdoors and starting fires with just a blade and your foot! It was really cool building the shelter as a team as well – it just made you feel better when you saw the end product.

We then had lunch – food is always good :D We then had Abseiling, which was really, really fun and although some people were scared and didn’t manage to do it everyone was very supportive no matter what stage you got to on it. I went down 3 times and each time I got more confident which was really nice! Everyone was so smiley when you looked down so that was really nice! We then did our final activity of the first day, Sensory trail – it was a great laugh, well us kids did the sensory trail and finished first but we kind of left all the adults behind and then when we completed it we went back and tormented the adults making it harder for them to complete then it already was. I think, for me that was  the most fun that I had all day (not just cause the adults were blind folded) just cause us kids all worked together and just laughed and made each other laugh (and although it shouldn’t have been that funny it was because we all just worked together!) In the evening after dinner we did a campfire which was really chilled and nice because we could just chill out listen to music eat and toast marshmallows and of course play CHUBBY BUNNY!!! Then we watched Men in Black 3 which was really funny.

Day 3: Final Day :(

We all slept very well that night and we were ready for the activities ahead that day. So the first activity was Nature Trail. It was a really nice activity to get the day started. We went through all the woods spotting different trees and learning about tree growth – it was very nice and formal! Then we did a squirrel count to end with (which I hate to say I was rubbish at that :( ) but was still really good fun! Then we did problem solving which was really fun because again we had to work as a team to get all our ideas out there so that we could solve all the problems like making a football go through a maze without falling off (harder than it sounds) and also balancing a board with all 10 of us on it! 

Then we had lunch (fun times)! Then we did first aid where we learnt CPR and the recovery position which we are now trained to do. It was really fascinating learning all about it and I’m pleased that I can now do it on someone to help them. We then did tunneling – now I really wasn’t looking forward to this activity but I did do it and although it was really pitch black (couldn’t even see your hand in front of your face) and muddy it wasn’t that bad – but I didn’t go through it again but I think the boys enjoyed it! 

Then it was time for the last supper :( (literally) and to wait for our parents to come. It was such a fun weekend and I enjoyed meeting everyone and leaning about their heart conditions and how it has affected them. I really hope that there is another activity weekend like this really soon!