Short Break Stories

Teens Plus Youth Club

A story by Orkney Disability Forum

Orkney Teens Plus Youth Club is a youth club that provides young people between the age of 13 and 20 years with additional support needs and the opportunity to enjoy various crafts and activities whilst interacting socially with one another.

What Teens Plus Youth Club did

Orkney Teens Plus went on a trip to Nethybridge. 8 young people had attended between the ages of 12 and 18 years old, all had attended the youth club prior to the trip. There was 4 males and 4 females accompanied by 4 adults. They left on the Friday afternoon ferry and arrived at Nethybridge in the evening.

Theyleft Nethybridge on the Sunday after lunch for the homeward journey. They stayed in 2 chalets, one for boys and one for girls and food was catered for at the activity centre. They undertook a number of activities including canoeing, climbing, abseiling, archery, swimming, bonfire, low ropes course and archery.

Schedule of activities, breakfast at certain times, made their own pack lunch. Instructions given for day ahead. All were always on time. Instructions were given on what they needed to bring. There were good examples of young people supporting and reminding each other and good banter whilst making pack lunches.

The group celebrated small successes and involved whole group. There was good peer support. There was a reflective activity after the trip in the Youth café and the group shared lots of laughs and were particularly amused when staff had had difficulty with activities.
One child's parents were able to go away for the weekend. They travelled on the same boat as their child but stayed away from the group so their child could enjoy their independence. All young people were dropped off at their homes so they would not have the hassle of collecting from the boat.

All parents verbally showed their appreciation. 2 children had been concerned about travel sickness and they communicated well with the driver and co-operated well with each other by swapping seats. 2 members of staff left since the trip and as a consequence , the questionnaire was not sent out to the young people.

What Orkney Disability Forum has learned

It was felt that if another trip was going to be undertaken then the group would opt for self catering. This would allow the young people to build on their living skills where they would plan meals, go shopping, cooking, cleaning. They would still have some activities.

Due to our remote and rural location we could not have afforded to offer this trip to the young people without the grant. This was the first experience for all but 2 of the young people of being away from their parents and carers for such a length of time. There was some discord on the homeward journey which meant that one member of staff felt threatened and unsafe. Some of the children surprised themselves about what they could achieve. No issue with young people wearing safety gear.
Top tips Orkney Disability Forum's top tips for an organisation that wants to run a similar project
Tip 1:
Prior discussion about sharing rooms and who has top and bottom bunks.
Tip 2:
Would not allow young people to bring or consume high energy drinks!
Tip 3:
Encourage young people to try new activities in small steps – non-swimmer built up confidence to canoe, climbing for someone scared of heights.