Life at dreamwall
My Life So Far
Alex Cuppleditch-Champion
June '09
I have currently been working within the Dreamwall team for three months and I have to say it's the most inspiring job I have ever had. The diversity of the job is fantastic; from working in the picturesque environment of the new forest to an industrial estate in Southampton. From leading sporting activities in the morning, cooking later that day and on the way home being a removals woman. Within the role you teach life skills and ways to deal with emotions by leading and supporting the young people through different activities.
This is defiantly not a job I would tire of since there is a great deal of rewarding benefits involved.It has been an incredible experience working with the different groups that we take away. I like the fact when we go away on a residential we get to work very closely with a variety of amazing young people, being supportive and providing a fun filled experience for them is imperative. The assortment of the activities we do range from talent shows to the dirtiest, muddiest, grimiest games you could think of (which I love). These are the moments that stick in their mind for life. My personal highlight so far has to be the cross-country challenge it is defiantly something I have never experience or was expecting. It gives you a very peculiar feeling of discomfort yet at the same time quite refreshing.
The first group I went away with was a Southampton new group (boys 3) which was apparently going to be hard not that I new any different. So I was a little bit anxious like starting any new job. I was pleasantly surprised, the group worked really well together and I was motivated by the experience. Due to it being my first week I got to join in more than a normal residential. My highlight was playing the sneaky beaky games with the group. I defiantly felt that the way we work with the young people is successful i.e. getting down to their level. Anything we ask them to do we will be in there first, which I found hilarious. Except when I had to concur my own fears which I wasn't really aware of i.e. ST. During the residential Hampshire (girls 2) I dealt with another small concern of getting up and acting. We performed a chat show situation where we were debating whether a tomato is a fruit or vegetable. I surprisingly enjoyed every minute especially seeing the girls come out of their shells. There were a couple of girls who seemed quite withdrawn from the group, but as soon as they had a character to play I was in stitches.
We have just finished working with Catford High School in London providing them with a leadership development course. We lead a bivi week that tests the body physically and mentally. This also entails them to be completely self-sufficient. My feelings at first were that it would be a challenging two weeks but after meeting everyone in the visit to Catford prior to the residential I was actually looking forward to it. I really benefited from watching them doing camp craft maintaining and cooking for them selves. This was all new to me as I had never bivied or used trangia so this was a learning curve for myself also. Sharing the experience of the muddy activities was priceless as some of the student had never been in a forest or camping let alone covered in mud. I thoroughly enjoyed both residential with the students. It was so rewarding to be able to return to the school and watch them perform on the stage their experience at Dreamwall, which was all, organised and produced by them. Overall I have had an awesome few months at Dreamwall and I can't wait for the summer to begin.
Summer '09
Matthew Pastellas- Champion
So the summer,where do i start, well i gues it really started when the dreamwall team started working residentials every week (on occasions back to back)! This is dreamwall's busiest time of year and I had to really show that I could keep up with the pace! So after 6 weeks of hiking, sleeping in a tent, eating out of tins, 5,000 mosquito bites, cold, wet, mud, tears, tantrums, tempers, sweat, concentration, engagement and of course FUN I had to look back on the summer and evaluate it. The rest writes itself as I and every other member of staff is still here, ready to start the new seasons work, which can only pay testament to the amazing group of young people that we work with.