Knowsley Estate hosts young people’s outdoor team-building day

12 November 2024

A team of young people were given the opportunity to visit Lord Derby’s Estate to take part in a range of outdoor team-building activities.

Once aboard their canoes, the participants had to work in teams to paddle across the lake, finding and solving a series of riddles with clues hidden amongst the reeds — Lake activities required teamwork to ensure success.

A team of young people supported by Career Connect’s Knowsley NEET Intervention Project were given the opportunity to visit Lord Derby’s Estate to take part in a range of outdoor team-building activities this week.

The Project is designed to support 16-18-year-olds, or up to 25 with Education Health and Care Plans (EHCP) who are not currently in employment, education or training – helping young people to plan their futures and get to where they want to be.

Surrounded by sheep, pheasants and the natural beauty of the estate’s large lake, the team was outdoors from 10am-4pm taking part in a series of activities delivered in partnership with the MYA Team. Activities included puzzles, problem-solving challenges, canoeing, archery and bushcraft.

The objective of the outdoor experience was to get young people working as a team, communicating with each other and building confidence – both as a preparation for working life and to provide evidence for the Open Employability Award that the participants are working towards.

Members of the group were presented with tasks that could only be solved by team effort.

Reaction

The team-building day went down well with the group members, with one participant commenting: “Before today I didn’t feel comfortable talking to others members on the project but, after today, everyone is talking to each other and it’s been great!”

Jennifer Fee, Career Coach with Career Connect said:

One moment that stood out for me was when one of our young people took leadership of everyone and solved the task using a completely new technique that the group leader had not previously considered. It was inspiring to see everyone contributing ideas and being respectful of each other’s input and the team leader commented on how clever the idea was! Another memorable part of the day was during canoeing, where we worked together to solve riddles hidden among the reeds. It was inspiring how the team members motivated each other to keep paddling when arms were getting tired!

Jennifer Fee Careers Coach

The day ended with archery and toasting marshmallows on a fire made using bush-crafting methods.

Click the link below to find out more about our careers support for young people.