Hello again! So last week was sick but this week has been the funniest, most amazing week I have ever had. It’s time to try and remember everything and let you all know what I’ve been up to again!

 

So this time, we stayed in a campsite/activity type place called Viney Hill in the Forest of Dean in Gloucester. It was located right next to one of the most haunted sights in Britain so that was pretty terrifying to know!

 

The house was so so nice especially the girls showers (the boys were so jealous) we literally kept going on each other’s floors to check them out. I will also never forget the ‘raving bathrooms’- we basically had some bathrooms with flickering lights and that’s what everyone was calling them so I thought I’d just go with it. I wasn’t a huge fan of the beds and the ladder I had to climb because it was pretty difficult but I slept pretty well most nights so that’s all that matters I guess!

 

Day 1

 

So we started the day at Young Gloucestershire and we were told that we would have to go round Gloucester and complete a challenge. It basically involved approaching strangers, asking for things, research and pretty much confidence building and being aware of things around us.

 

We arrived in the evening (evenings were probably my most favourite part) and got ourselves settled in. The owner of the place was so funny and so so nice. We mostly sat around the lounge on these really comfy chairs and had group discussions (obviously you can tell by my last post I am NOT a fan of those). One of our leader’s mentioned that we should fit in with the tranquil atmosphere and then the owner comes in and shouts OKEY DOKEY (that was a pretty hilarious moment). She was actually such an amazing leader. At dinner, she showed us this clapping sequence thing you can do on the table and we were literally doing it all week! Not going to lie, it was SO funny when we accidently ended up spilling a drink on Rosie’s phone because we were getting so into it (it was fine don’t worry).

 

Arriving in the evening also meant we could get together as a group again as we had free time to start with. A few of us played basketball which is one of my favourite sports. We also had a quiz and had a hot chocolate…as soon as we found out one of the categories was Disney, me and my friend Amber were having a fangirl moment in the corridor and then loads of people joined and we all had a Disney fangirl moment in the corridor and it was such a fabulous moment!

 

Day 2 

 

We started off learning how to write the perfect CV with our teams. We were given tips, advice and ideas about what to put in our personal statement and then had a go at writing our own. I was pretty proud of mine if I’m honest. All of us had to pretend our leader, Karl, was an employer for our dream job coming out of a lift and we had to sell ourselves to him in 30 seconds. It was hard and terrifying because of everyone watching but I did it pretty well I think.

 

The next two activities were so cool but also my worst nightmare (group speaking) and involved debating. The first was ‘town planning’ where we basically had our own characters from the Simpsons and we had to create a town so that all the characters were happy as they all wanted different things. I must admit it was harder than it sounds. The other one was similar to something I did in a Sociology lesson… We created a bomb shelter and were given different characters again from the Simpsons and we had to decide who should be saved based on their occupations and personalities etc. My character kinda died but oh well. Our evening consisted of a very graphic lesson about sexual health (but it was pretty useful and we were given lots of advice so it was kinda worth it). It was made into more of a workshop though so it was pretty fun in the end.

 

Day 3

For this day, we went to another place called ‘skillzone’ where we saw Team Jon and Team Barry from last week. Obviously this was wicked because a few of my friends from last week were there, however we still had to be split when we went off to do things.

 

The first thing we did was go into a fake town consisting of different buildings, a bus and different locations that you’d find in a real town. It was so flipping cool!!! My team and I started off in a house, we went around and had to identify all the dangerous objects. Not going to lie though, the sofas were comfier than mine at home. As soon as we got into the bedroom, me and Becky were lying on the beds (which again were comfier than my bed). Probably the coolest part was opening the door to the room that was on fire, the smoke smelt like strawberries. Then seeing the room actually burnt down. It wasn’t even painted, the firefighters actually burnt it and it took 6 minutes apparently for it to completely burn.

 

There was a really scary dark passage way with walls covered in graffiti and we were told to go through it and it was terrifying. There was a dummy of a stereotypical teenager in a hoodie, smoking which everyone thought was going to jump out or something. We went to a building site, a park and a train station (again all fake). I think the train station part was very eye opening when we saw videos of people almost getting hit. Wait before you cross basically! I think the best part was going into a police station, prison cell and the court room. It reminded me of the mock trial thing we did in primary school.

 

We also had several talks including dog safety and road safety. I actually kind of enjoy sitting listening to someone talk about interesting subjects. The talk we had at the fire station had us all involved. Learning how to throw ropes, parts of the fire engine, what the job entails etc. And we got to use the hose! They also made us go under a waterproof sheet so they could spray us all afterwards. Rude!

 

In the evening, we worked with someone from Gloucester Rugby in a thing called Hits where we basically had to get ourselves fitter. I hate exercise and running with a passion but I got involved. Probably the most fun part of that was the game we played based on Pokemon Go. I won’t explain it but it was SO FUN and I LOVED IT!!! We then had an egg rocket competition to see which team’s eggs would survive being chucked inside our rockets (which were made out of only paper). We had to make up egg puns and they were absolutely hilarious. I don’t think I can forget Amber’s “prepare to die” when the egg flew out the rocket and over the fence (RIP Eggward you will be missed).

 

Day 4 

 

This was probably my favourite day. We firstly had a workshop on body image. Addressing some of the things that cause insecurity and low self-esteem and how you can get support. Beth and Karl our leaders gave out a clear message that it doesn’t matter what others think, be yourself and every time you look in the mirror, say ‘I’m beautiful’ always! Can I just say at NCS you can 100% be yourself and that is one of the best parts. You can also improve yourself, become more confident and feel good about yourself. NCS and YG if you’re reading… Thank you.

 

Then, we took part in archery and low ropes. I’ve done archery before but only high ropes before so it was pretty exciting. Not going to lie, I was nervous about archery because of how bad I am, but as I had a few more goes, I got it in the red three times. (Everyone please be proud of me). It was probably my favourite activity of the whole week, I really enjoyed it. Next, low ropes, I wasn’t a fan but I had a go. It started off a few people being blindfolded and we had to help them through the course but then we had to go round ourselves. I loved the seesaws. One thing I didn’t like AT ALL was the tunnels. I got so claustrophobic but I GOT TO THE END!!

Now, the evening activity was the CAMPFIRE! The other teams came and camped out so we had the joys of seeing them again, I got to see my great friend Fallan again. It was so lush hanging out with my friends and of course stuffing marshmallows. We did ‘food Olympics’ as well which was absolutely mental (a bit too mental in the end) it was so fun taking part and supporting our teams. Team Sunscream for the win. One of the best parts of this was singing with Amber and Polly as she’d brought her ukulele. Literally adored every second of these two weeks…

 

What I learnt/ achieved this week:

 

1. A card game called s***head / wombat and in the end won against Amber.

 

2. What to do in serious situations.

 

3. Egg puns!

 

4. How much I hate crawling through small dark tunnels… But I DID IT!

 

5. How much I hate bubble football and how painful it can be. But again, I had a go.

 

6. That I’m not actually as bad at running and archery as I thought. Practise makes perfect.

 

7. That I really love the band Twenty-one Pilots.

 

8. That NCS is amazing.

 

I can’t remember my cooking day but we made three types of curry and it was SO LUSH! Well done to everyone… No food poising occurred in the end then.

 

Soooo in conclusion Resi has been so so so good and I am so glad I have met so many amazing people and been able to have some good old banter with them. I have made so many memories and I would strongly advise every young person in Gloucestershire or anywhere really to do NCS!

 

Much love, peace out

 

Lucy x

 

NOOT NOOT!