The effect of the residential experience upon young people is well known. Often, young people experience significant change in areas such as: self respect and self value, development of hope and optimism, participation in learning environment (perhaps for the first time in a while), and improving relationships with peers and adults. In short, they often return with more belief in themselves and their future.

Bushcraft, the skills of being able to make use of the natural world, is undergoing somewhat of a ‘revival’ at the moment – no doubt helped by the television programmes by Ray Mears and Bear Grylls. But Bushcraft is about more than simply survival. It is also about understanding nature and how to work with it in order to live.

When you are in the forest, time somehow works differently. There is something special about eating what you have prepared over an open fire, which you started yourself without the aid of modern fire lighting tools.

Bushcraft has many mantras, one of which being, ‘If you spend time getting it right at the start, you won’t have to spend time later fixing it’. There are many transferrable skills and attitudes that young people can take from the forest into their everyday life.

Youth Solutions can provide short courses that will look at:

• Campsite safety
• Correct use of cutting tools
• Building individual and group shelters
• Fire making – without modern tools
• Backwoods cooking
• Leave no trace approach to camping

For an unusual and inspiring residential experience, there can truly be nothing like ‘getting out into the forest’ to learn from the land.