Tamerton Centre The Tamerton Centre was set up in order to encourage people

Hello everyone. I’ve been asked to talk to you this afternoon about next month’s trip to Tamerton Study Centre for the two-week course. Now some of the things I’m going to say you may have already heard or read about... but I think it’s important to emphasise a few key points.
First of all, it’s worth reminding you why Tamerton was set up in the first place... in the late nineteen sixties. That was really before all the concern with preserving the environment which everyone talks about these days. The idea was simply to get people out of the cities and into the country and to find out that just being outdoors can be very rewarding.
This is not going to be a holiday in the usual sense. It’s called an adventure course because you’ll really be stretched to your limits, but that in itself can be a positive thing. The group I took last year, for example, said that although they actually felt pretty weak and exhausted all the time, it really made them learn a lot about themselves and increased their confidence... and in the end that’s the most important thing.
Now all of you knew about policies at Tamerton before you signed up for it, so you know that in many ways it’s quite old-fashioned — you don’t have a lot of choice in what you do. But something which I think makes the place so special is that you get to try so many different things, every day. For instance, one day you’ll do climbing and the next you’ll be surveying rock pools. It’s not intended that you become an expert in any of them... it’s more like a taster, which you can follow up if you want.
And there isn’t a lot of free time... organised activities and talks, etc. go on until nine p.m. and lights go out at eleven p.m. There are table tennis tables, with all the equipment, and board games, though I have to say the pieces often go missing so it’s a good idea to take your own. There’s a DVD player with a good selection of films suitable for this age group so don’t take yours.
Bed-time at eleven p.m. is strictly enforced... and there’s a good reason for this. You’re all under eighteen and we organisers need to know that all group members are accounted for in the house as we close for the night. And of course you’ll be so exhausted anyway that you’ll be too sleepy to want to cause any trouble.