Creating lasting memories at our annual Calvert Kielder trip

One of the highlights of our summer is the annual trip to Calvert Kielder in Northumberland, where we take three young people to experience outdoor activities that would usually be beyond their reach.

We spend three days at the Calvert Kielder outdoor adventure centre, which is designed with disability in mind, so young people using Martin House can be supported to take part in a whole range of activities, like archery, canoeing or abseiling.

This summer’s adventure saw Rob, Carly, Lauren from the Martin House care team, along with student nurse Erin support three young people on a three-day trip.

The care team told us how their trip went:

“The first day we were there we had Zip Coaster action, followed by King Swing and archery. Our student for the week, Erin, was easily top of the class in archery. Loudest scream was rightly predicted by the three young people as coming from Carly.

Wednesday meant a nice gentle stroll around the reservoir, ice creams and the bird of prey centre. Wednesday night was the observatory talk about the universe. One of the young people is considering astronomy degrees now, so they got a lot out of it.

The final day was probably the pinnacle, with a canoeing trip, but just as much fun was had driving around and hanging out in the lodge with the young people. All three young people had an amazing time and told us it was a real once in a lifetime experience.”

Rob has done the trip to Kielder five times, and this year was his final trip, before handing over the reins to another member of the care team. He said:

“After five trips I can genuinely say they have brought me some of the most amazing experiences of my life. Whoever gets to go next year will have a great time, and will give the children and young people they take a truly once in a lifetime experience.”

At Martin House, we’re committed to ensuring children and young people have experiences and make memories to treasure – our annual trip to Kielder is just one of many ways we do this.