DofE Gold Residential (Learn 2 Lead) Joining instructions

We are looking forward to meeting and working with you for your upcoming DofE Gold (Learn 2 Lead) Residential Course. Please find below all (hopefully!) the detailed information that you will need, preparing you for the course itself, relevant travel bookings that you might need to make and outlining the plans for the course. Of-course if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to get in contact with us directly on:

WhatsApp 07444 383424 or email us on hello@up4adventureuk.com

Intro

By now you will have completed your kit, medical and consent forms, so we will be readying your kit in preparation for your adventure. What follows is some more information, including; 

• Travel arrangements
• Activity Programme
• Staff & Qualifications
• Risk Assessments, Operating Procedures and Insurance 
• Food and Accommodation
• Personal Equipment and Phone 
• Kit List
• Learn 2 Lead 
• DofE Residential Course Report 

Travel Arrangements

The course runs from Monday to Friday, starting and finishing at: 

Isle Of Man Sea Terminal, 8 Bath Place, Douglas, Isle of Man IM1 2BY 

What3words: ///hint.spices.cooks | Google Pin: https://goo.gl/maps/LmoCh9KszVSfJVgf7 

You will be picked up by Up 4 Adventure UK staff, who will be in the arrivals lounge and wearing company uniform and an ID badge. Please feel free to ask to check their identity – we won’t be offended! You will be transported to and from the sea terminal to the campsite/base used for the course, in the North of the island.  

On the Monday, you should arrive on the ‘Manannan’ high-speed catamaran car ferry, departing Liverpool at 11.15am from: 

Landing Stage Terminal, St Nicholas Place, Princes Parade, Liverpool, L3 1DL  

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If you wish to fly to the Isle of Man or arrive on a different ferry, you are of course welcome to. You will however need to pay for this and make your own way to the Isle of Man Sea Terminal as described above, ready to be picked up by 2pm. 

We will purchase your tickets for the Monday Liverpool (11.15am) - Isle of Man (2pm) and the Friday Isle of Man (3.15pm) - Liverpool (6pm) crossings 28 days before the course start date. You will need your reference number (which we will email you) and some form of ID with you to board the boats. Your travel to and from Liverpool is to be organised and paid for by yourself. 

Throughout the course you will be transported by minibus, driven by our qualified staff who all hold D1+E (minibus and trailer) licences.  

Activity Programme

Although weather might force us to change some things around, we will endeavour (and expect) to keep to the following programme of activities. It is our expectation that by the end of the course you will have completed all activities, even if we are forced to juggle the order around due to bad weather! 

Monday 

11am: Depart Liverpool Albert docks on 'Manannan' high speed catamaran. 

2pm: Transfer to accommodation. 

4pm: Coastal path trek 

7pm: Risk Assessment Theory 

Tuesday 

9am: On site and off site (120ft cliff) abseil 

2pm: Gorge Walking 

7pm: Leadership Theory 

Wednesday 

9am: Mountain Biking 

2pm: Coasteering 

7pm: Navigation 

Thursday 

9am: Sea Kayaking 

2pm: Hill navigation 

7pm: Outdoor First Aid 

Friday 

9am: Raft Building 

2pm: Depart accommodation 

3.15pm: Depart on 'Manannan' high speed catamaran 

6pm: Arrive Liverpool Albert Docks 

Staff and Qualifications

All activities are run by our highly qualified, experienced and very enthusiastic staff team. All staff members are qualified to run the activities they are leading and have first-hand experience of the area in which they are operating. They will hold an industry accredited outdoor first aid certificate as a minimum, with many staff holding much more advanced wilderness and expedition first aid training. All staff are DBS certified and known personally to company Directors Mike and Jay. We do not use staff who have not seen operating previously, know and trust. Qualifications are only a demonstration of competence on the day of assessment; a staff members decision making ability, currency and temperament can be seen as being just as important.

Risk Assessments, Operating Procedures and Insurance

All activities are thoroughly risk assessed. These risk assessments are available upon request, within 28 days of the course start date. This ensures that you have the most up to date copy of the assessments, which are constantly reviewed and updated. Our risk assessments and operating procedures are thoroughly checked and advised upon by a dedicated technical advisor, who is employed solely to ensure we stay current and are operating at the highest levels of safety and competence. We are AALA (Adventure Activities Licencing Authority) checked and registered, a government and insurance requirement. We are fully insured with AIM (Activities Industry Mutual).

Food and Accommodation

Up 4 Adventure UK will provide all food for the duration of the residential. You will be expected to prepare and cook all meals for the group, on a rotation basis. Our staff will be on hand to help you with this of course, don't worry. Make sure you have filled in the form sent to you, so we know your dietary needs if any! We will be staying in a local, independent campsite, with exclusive use of indoor kitchen, dining room and function area. The site has hot showers and toilets. You will be sharing a tent with one other participant, identifying as the same sex as yourself. Under 18’s will not share tents with over 18-year-olds and over. If you would like to discuss this with us, please feel free to get in contact. 

Personal Equipment and Phones

Up 4 Adventure UK can provide you with all the technical equipment that you need for your adventure (make sure you have filled in the form sent to you!). The kit list for personal clothing needed is attached. Phones are now a big part of most people’s lives, we get it. If you would like to bring your phone along to take photos and or stay in touch with civilisation, you are very welcome. You will be asked to leave it in the minibus or in camp during the activities, so they don’t get broken or lost... or sunk! You are welcome to bring money, you don’t need it – but you are welcome to buy snacks/souvenirs etc! 

Kit List

Click Here for a list of what you need to bring...

Learn 2 Lead

We will be focusing on how we (as leaders) and you (as participants) can use the outdoors as a tool in which to ‘lead’ others. This will be done via learning how to manage activities safely, how to identify and assess risk, how to manage people in hostile (potentially dangerous) environments and much more. As well as a ton of physical activity in the day, we will spend the evenings touching on the more academic side of things – identifying how people learn and develop, the history of formal outdoor learning practices and find out who on Earth Kurt Hahn was... not to mention the late HRH Prince Phillip, who founded the DofE! We are strong believers that learning needs to be fun for it to stick, so don’t worry about being stuck in a classroom for too long – that's not what we are about! 

DofE Residential Course Report

Following the completion of the course, you will be sent a full report which you can upload to your eDofE Residential section. We will also complete the online DofE assessor report form for you. Both reports will be done by 9pm on the Friday that you go home! 

Bookings and Cancellations

Our full booking and cancellations policy can be found here: 

www.up4adventureuk.com/booking-cancellation-policy 

 

That’s about it! We are really excited to meet and work with you and show what an amazing industry the outdoors is, how you can use it as a tool to develop yourself and others and finally (but most importantly) how to have loads of fun in beautiful, natural surroundings!  

Jay and Mike – Up 4 Adventure UK