This year’s Adventure Awards were inspiring and exciting, showing the Lower Sixth Form applicants at their very best. In total, 43 pupils from 12 groups made it through to the final stage in the selection process.
Six winners were chosen, ranging from an arduous physical challenge, to a cycling pilgrimage to honour the soldiers of the Battle of the Somme and on to a quest for Italy’s less well-trodden artistic gems. Bavaria, France, Italy, Switzerland and the Somme are the destinations of the 2017 recipients of these awards.
The most prestigious scholarship, The Dudgeon Venture Award, was won by three New House girls who will trail run through three countries. Sammie Kwong, Jemima Bostrom and Isabella Wythe will complete the CCC® trail-running route (101km), which starts in Courmayeur in the Italian Alps, goes through Champex-Lac in Switzerland and ends in France in the heart of Chamonix. Their ambition and determination was outstanding and they captured the essence of these awards. In enjoying the stunning views that the Alps offer, they will have to navigate numerous passages in high altitude and in difficult weather conditions. They spoke passionately about needing a real capacity of personal autonomy and a high level of mental toughness. The Committee agreed with the pupils’ belief that it would be the ultimate test of their grit, as well as a once-in-a-lifetime experience which they would never forget.
Praise must be offered to all the groups that presented their plans so adeptly and faced questions from the ‘Dragons’ Den’ style panel of teachers. It was clear that all the pupils had thought beyond the conventional tourist hotspots of Europe to achieve a real sense of adventure and originality to their trips. It has been brilliant to see the pupils embrace the challenge of setting out an overarching purpose to their travel plans and giving form to their personal interests and aspirations so effectively.
T Harris