Adventure Experiences

At Aquila Alternatives, we feel the best way to learn is by experiencing a range of feelings and emotions in a variety of challenging environments trying new activities and moving safely outside our comfort zones.

We think that practitioners need to consider developing a wider approach to caring for vulnerable and challenging children and young people. They need to help them develop in a rounded and holistic way using opportunities for play and adventure.

Our aim is to motivate and enthuse staff and give them the skills and knowledge to be able to engage and motivate others using therapeutic adventure.

We offer a range of services including:

Therapeutic Adventure Programmes

We describe our approach as being “heads, hearts and hands”. We use adventure programmes to develop moral, intellectual and practical skills when working with young people who have social, emotional and behavioural difficulties.

Therapeutic adventure is about using a wide range of activities to promote experiential learning, about self, others and the world around us. It is effective at improving communication skills and building trust between individuals and groups. The therapeutic process is informal and can be tailored to suit the aims and objectives of your organisation. We can help to train and support your staff as well as develop programmes.

Play Workshops

Play is a basic human need that helps children interpret their world; it promotes learning and develops a range of skills, however, many children have a poor experience of play and many workers find it difficult to promote play activities. Play workshops can help to promote staff learning and development. Over the last few years, the importance of play and its role in learning and development has become more widely acknowledged. Many of the skills associated with helping children and young people to explore and discover the world around them are at the point of being lost as a direct result of television, computer games, mobile phones etc. In order to put fun back into play we need to be able to ‘light a fire’ under the adults who supervise leisure time for children and young people.

At Aquila Alternatives we believe that the role of the adult is crucial in supporting and enabling play. By providing guidance, ideas, equipment, motivation and, perhaps more importantly, participation, adults effectively give children and young people the permission they need to engage the ‘inner child’.

Adventure Activity Consultancy

We can support and advise organisations to develop their own adventure activity programmes. This would include:

• Developing programmes of outdoor and adventure work.
• Revising safety policies and guidance notes.
• Advising on skills training for care workers.
• Outdoor and adventure taster workshops.
• Assistance with AALS inspections.

We use traditional activities such as climbing, walking, canoeing and caving as well as more innovative activities such as woodcraft and survival skills, falconry, drama and arts and crafts.

Team Development

Aquila Alternatives approach to team development is experiential. Teams undertake activities that are designed to test their ability to work together effectively.

The outcomes from this process are:

• An improved understanding of the team, its strengths and weaknesses and how it could improve its performance.
• Better working relationships between team members and a greater appreciation of how each person can enhance their contribution.
• A realistic action plan for the team to take forward.

We can plan, organise and deliver experiential team development opportunities for staff and team development on a day, residential or expedition basis.