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CVQO Duke of Westminster Expedition 2012

Everyone has arrived safe and well at Heathrow ... after an amazing expedition!

Last stand! Cadets tour Rorke's Drift before returning home tomorrow

Lion & Elephant viewing ... close up at Hluhluwe Imfolozi Game Reserve!

Cadets complete community project work at school and divert to Hluhluwe Imfolozi Game Reserve for a real treat ... Lion and elephant at very close quarters - before heading for Battlefields and Elandsheim!

Despite a touch of stomach upset the cadets enjoyed Kosi Bay AND caught supper

Duke of Westminster Award Cadets on the Pongola River

 Hot off the press, our intrepid explorers are relaxing on the Pongola River preparing themselves for the next week of project work. They look very happy to me.

Mike, the expedition leader catches a tiger fish while the cadets have a snooze!

Cadets return from exciting camping out in the bush experience in Swaziland

The weather has been very hot whilst the team were in Swaziland doing their wilderness trails. They saw lots of plains game, buffalo and got close to a rhino whilst on their walking trails.

Each cadet had to do a ‘night stag’ by the fire as the duty guard for the Group; some enjoyed it and stayed awake all night, was this being conscientious, or fear of going to sleep?

Adam particularly enjoyed sleeping under the stars, whilst some of the girls were a little apprehensive.  They all survived and are now back in Kwa Zulu Natal and paddling up the Pongola River for a few days "messing about on the river."

Updated news on the Outposts Expedition News page

Its raining in South Africa too!

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It has been raining a lot, indeed, the cadets all got very wet on Monday as they cruised on a boat in the Great St Lucia Wetlands Park. Notwithstanding the rain they saw masses of hippos and crocodiles.  Later they drove to Hluhuluwe Game Reserve where they saw Buffalo and Rhino. Most animals were sheltering in under the trees.... just like England!

Duke of Westminster Award Cadets take part in an Environmental Awareness Course

Link to Expedition News on Outposts web site.

The EAC is designed to teach the cadets how to behave in the bush when doing their game walks later on in their programme. Learning about animal behaviour, tracking, how to cope if you meet a snake, recognising and reading spoor and understanding how nature works. Disecting a wild animal is the best hands on biology lesson ever. It teaches you that all animals are perfectly designed for their environment and the part they play in it. In this case, they disceted a wart hog which they will be eating soon!

Frasier, Jordan and Adam discuss warthog for dinner, encounters with spiders, and meeting some great people

Link to CVQO Podcast

To listen to the podcast Click the Snake

Frasier Hiorns, Jordan McClellan and Adam Hughes, 3 of the 9 winners of CVQO’s Duke of Westminster Award prize expedition to South Africa, talk live to Steve Taylor from camp.

Each year, CVQO’s top learners battle for a place as one of the Duke of Westminster Award winners, where as one of the top nine they travel across South Africa for three weeks.

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Duke of Westminster Award Cadets start their expedition in South Africa

Duke of Westminster Award Cadets start their expedition by learning about the environment in South Africa. This means handling all sorts of creepy crawlies such as this scorpion. This is so they understand how to behave when they do their wilderness walking in the bush later on during their expedition.

The Duke of Westminster Award winners from CVQO depart for South Africa

Final 9 chosen for the CVQO Duke of Westminster Award

CVQO is thrilled to announce which nine young people, chosen from across the UK after a challenging selection process held at Outposts UK, an outdoor adventure specialists based in the Quantock Hills, Somerset, have won a place on the coveted prize of a three week adventure in South Africa.

The winners, all members of UK youth organisations, will attend an awards ceremony and lunch in June, and one will also be declared the winner of the prestigious Duke of Westminster Award 2012, an annual competition organised by educational charity CVQO.

From 20,000 potential nominees, 21 competitors took part in a challenging selection assessment in April, following a programme of physical and mental tasks designed to reflect which participants are worthy of the top award. In addition, the activities undertaken during the challenge met the criteria for each candidate to achieve a Level 3 Award in Leadership from the Institute of Leadership and Management.

The final 9 were selected from these 21 cadets.

The nine finalists for the award have been selected from 250 nominations, from over 20,000 eligible CVQO learners nationwide. These are young people who possess a wide range of skills and abilities and have overcome personal challenges, as well as demonstrating a consistently high level of commitment to their communities and their peers.

Edward Woods, Chief Executive of CVQO and head of the selection panel says, “It was a really tough job choosing just nine, but we are very confident that our finalists will make a fantastic team in South Africa.”

In addition to a raft of other qualifications, all participants have gained BTEC diplomas with CVQO, and cite this learning experience as invaluable to their future educational and career development.

CVQO Interview (Podcast) Click Here

CVQO Interview with James Bellamy Outposts Operations Manager, Discussing The Duke of Westminster  Award final, held at the Outposts Bush Camp

Day 1: Duke of Westminster Award: LAST TASK, THE GUN RUN.

Day 1: Final team task for all of the CVQO candidates.

Day 1: A VIP part of the Outposts selection committee.

Day 1: CVQO cadets (tri service) are selected for an expedition to South Africa as part of the Duke of Westminster Award

Day 1: Assesors, including Harry, who won last year, watching CVQO candidates completing team tasks.

Day 1: Outposts Bush Camp where selection for the Duke of Westminster Award takes place.

Day 1:"Trust your team", CVQO Duke of Westminster Award selection.