Please note that the OpenBritain launch date is the 1st September 2009, please come and visit us again to see the full completed site. In the meantime, here’s some OpenBritain News!

Equal Adventue’s mission is to “To provide a wide range of support to providers – from consultation and research to strategy, implementation, mentoring and technical coaching – to enhance the opportunities to pursue adventure sport and active lifestyles available to people with diverse needs.”

The Equal Adventure website continues to state “For many, gaining meaningful access to sport and adventure opportunities is a greater challenge than the activity itself. Despite a commitment to equality, mainstream providers of outdoor activity, expeditions and sport are often forced into standard patterns of operation – often leading to exclusion. Gaining meaningful access requires taking measures that challenge technical, logistical and human barriers, building on simple good practice.

“For this reason and to help raise money for Motivation and 500 Miles, 2 charities that support the needs of people with disabilities in the developing world they decided to hold the Equal Adventure Festival 09. The event was held at Gelnmore Lodge just outside Aviemore, Scotland and spanned two days of outdoor activties to suit all tastes and abilities. 

On the first night Jamie Andrew, a world renouned mountaineer, quadrouple amputee and a founding memeber of the 500 Miles charity gave an inspiring talk about his accident and recovery from it. His speach and experiences took us through a barrage of emotions and certainly set us up for a weekend of challanges with his main focus being about setting yourself goals in life, acheiving them and then moving onwards and upwards to the next. These goals do not have to be breaking world records but instead pushing your own personal limits  from learning to undertake basic day to day tasks and then onto desirable personal aims.

10 teams of up to 4 people which were mixed of disabled and non-disabled people competed against each other undertaking tasks such as an endurance loop through the Cairngorns National Park, problem solving activities, orienteering and water based fun on Loch Morlich in adapted Canoes. My personal favourites were “Off the Beaten Track” a challenge to work as a team to navigate land, water and mud including crossing the river in two places.  Sometimes the river crossings went well and at other times it was slightly more dubious!

Below a video of the Whacky Races on the Off The Beaten Track Challenge.

Another of the activities that I really enjoyed was the problem solving where as a team we had to create a rope square while blind folded and also try to build the tallest free standing lego tower. This wasn’t as easy as it sounds with a fairly strong breeze coming down through the valley, but of course our team managed to erect a tower of 5 foot 7 inches creating the record.

Another activity was to create eco-friendly head dresses from local plants and vegetation…

A great weekend was had by all and I for one cannot wait for the Equal Adventure Festival next year, which have been provisionally set for the 27th – 29th August 2010 (To be confirmed).

For more photos from the Festival please see Equal Adventure’s Picasso photo album.

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