A week at Rhos y Gwaliau can be transformative for the young people that visit us. Your child can expect to have some amazing new experiences, succeeding at things that they never thought possible. Through the activities they will be encouraged to develop their independence, team-work skills and resilience, skills that will help them throughout the rest of their lives. A trip to RYG is not just about the activities; we work hard to foster a ‘family friendly’ feel in the centre, with everyone a valued member of the community. Taking part in duties, having responsibilities for making their beds and keeping their room tidy is all part of the experience. We hope that everyone that comes to Rhos Y Gwaliau leaves with not only some great fun memories, but also with some new skills that they can use back at home to help them to succeed throughout life.
Every day is action packed, and things do vary, but here is an idea of the usual daily routine at RYG:
07:30 Wake up
08:00 Breakfast and make packed lunch
9:00 Duties
9:30 Morning meeting
9:40 Meet with instructors, pack for day’s activities
10:30 – 4:30 Activities (Have a look at our activities pages for more information on what they will be doing)
4:30 Free time
5:30 Dinner, three course meal
7:00 Evening activities
9:00 (ish!) Bed-time
We arrange transport as part of the booking process and ensure that we use a trusted and reliable coach company to get groups to the centre and home again safely.
During the week we travel to activities via minibus. All of our instructors have the correct licencing and training required, and our minibuses are regularly checked in line with government requirements.
We have an excellent safety record at Rhos y Gwaliau, and we do everything we can to ensure the safety of everyone that visits the centre. Many of the activities that we do carry by their nature certain risks, but we employ fully qualified staff, and follow clear operating procedures and risk assessments to ensure your child’s safety. Safety is our number one priority, and we encourage groups to be involved in assessing risk and take responsibility for their own safety on sessions where appropriate.
We are regularly inspected by AALA (The Adventure Activities Licensing Authority) with respect to all our activities. It is this body that gives us permission to have each activity on our AALA licence and monitors the level of qualifications and competencies of centre staff. This licence is a legal requirement and is a thorough inspection of safety practices and procedures, quality and care of kit and effective risk management. On top of that we have been awarded the AHOEC (Association of Heads of Outdoor Education Centres) Gold Standard quality accreditation. This is a comprehensive look at the running of the centre, from the quality of everything we do at the centre.
You will receive a kit list from your school, and you can also find a downloadable version here.
Generally, we would advise people not to bring new clothes on the trip with them, as they are likely to get wet and muddy on activities. We also advise you to avoid bringing anything valuable such as expensive cameras. Please make sure that all items are clearly named.
For indoor use
- Fitted bed sheet, duvet cover and pillow case
- A set of casual clothes
- Slippers or indoor shoes
- Night clothes
- Toiletries in a bag
- Two towels
- Sufficient change of underwear/socks
For outdoor use
- At least 2 changes of warm clothing (old clothes are best) to include:
- warm jumpers (fleece or wool are best)
- Tracksuit bottoms or warm leggings (NOT jeans)
- T-shirts or tops some with long sleeves
- Swim wear (all year)
- Wellies
- Warm hat & gloves or mittens
- Sun cream SPF50 ideally/sun hat (warmer weather)
- Pair of shorts (warmer weather)
Additional
- Lunch Box
- Flask with integral cup for hot drink – Please don’t use flasks with glass inners as they will not survive the experience. Thermal mugs also leak and don’t hold enough for a full day out.
- Water bottle – very important in warmer months
- Torch
- 2 large plastic bags for dirty laundry
We will supply waterproof top and trousers, a fleece, walking boots, a rucksack and any activity specific equipment needed for the activities. You are, of course, more than welcome to bring your own if you have any of these items, but we do advise using our kit to avoid ruining your own.
Your school will have a system to get in contact in case of emergencies, but if this is not possible the centre office will be available during office hours on 01678 520 395.
Your school will have a policy as to whether they allow electronics on the trip. A week at Rhos y Gwaliau is a busy week, and during free time we encourage the children to play together using the games that we have available, so electronics are often collected in on arrival at the centre. They are then kept safe in the staff room until the bus journey home. If your child does have a phone or tablet that they keep with them these items are kept at their own risk.