Yes #9: Skiing in Pila 2014

After 3 amazing holidays and lots of fundraising, I must have given off a good impressions as the Caring Cancer Trust appointed me as a mentor for the charity. This meant I would be on every trip to be a support and helping hand for the children and help them feel less relaxed as it is easier for children to talk to someone their own age about their worries rather than one of the adults.

 

This meant that I would be back for the ski trip 2014! However, this year would be different for me. Both other ski trips with the charity I have snowboarded, but the resort this year, Pila in Italy, were not happy having a snowboarding group due to too many injuries in the past and this meant I had to ski.. I had never skied with the charity but I did have a weeks experience from the school ski trip in Austria so it wasn't going to be completely new for me, but it was safe to say I was still very nervous!

 

 

This year the holiday started in London. It was suggested that me and Shannon go up to London the day before we were due to fly as the flight was early in the morning and due to how far away Shannon lives, it would have been hard for her to get the airport in time. This was suggested by charity owner Ian. He would also be coming up to stay in London and with him was Becki, one of the children on this years trip. She came up with Ian as they both come from the Isle of Wight so it was an easier option for them both too.

 

We stayed overnight in a 4 star hotel which was beautiful! Ian had his own room whilst Shannon, Becki and myself shared a room.

 

Becki, myself and Shannon

 

After exploring the rooms and having dinner, we still had time to waste before it was time to go to bed, so Shannon Becki and I went out to explore London, all in walking distance from our hotel. This was a good opportunity to use the camera I had received as a present for Christmas. We saw Chelsea Bridge, a tall building which I'm not sure what it was called, some Boris Bikes and some small features.

 





After an amazing night in the hotel, it was time to fly. Whilst on the plane, I decided to test out the zoom on my camera which is pretty good. You know sometimes planes fly past each other but they're so far away to avoid crashing that the other plane looks like a dot? Well my camera got close enough for me to see which airline the plane was.. I also captured some brilliant images of the coast of England and of the mountains appearing through the clouds.

 The flight was an hour and a half roughly and it then took us around 2 hours to drive from the airport to Pila, right at the top of the mountain. When we got to Pila, we went straight to our hotel; Plan Bois.

Plan Bois

The hotel was a lovely hotel. As you walked in, you came to a huge living space with sofas and a big TV. This made the perfect space for all of us to sit down in the evenings after skiing and socialise. In the corner of the living area there was a small bar where alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks could be bought. The room off of the living area was a big dining area where we had our meals each night, cooked by the hotel chef. I must say, the food was pretty poor and no one really enjoyed it. The main corridor, situated next to the bar lead to a corridor of rooms as well as stairs down into where you keep your skis and some more rooms. The adults stayed in the rooms upstairs whilst us kids had the three rooms downstairs.

Here's a virtual tour from the hotels website: Hotel Tour

For most of the week we had the hotel pretty much to ourselves with only two other boys staying there too, but we only ever really saw them at breakfast time. Our very last night a wedding party came in, literally a party. This meant us kids spent most of our last evening crammed into one of our rooms whilst the adults joined in the party upstairs.

We arrived in the hotel late afternoon which gave us enough time to go and collect our skis. We all went down together and the shop was only small so it was a long process! We all eventually got kitted and we went back for a tea and had an early night (if you call 11pm early) before our first day skiing.

Our hotel was right next to one of the easy slopes that leads right back to the bottom where all the slopes meet and all the cafes are, the central point of Pila. This meant we started each day by climbing up a small hill, which in ski boots is a mammoth task, and warming up by skiing down the last little bit of this slope onto the main area where we met our instructors.

On our first day we were split into two groups; never skied before and skied a little bit before. Of course I was in the group of skied a little bit before. Shannon however wasn't in either, she went off with our camera guys and our own instructor as she had excelled so much last year that they didn't think she needed lessons.

Nick (charity funder) and Dean (our own ski instructor)

I was so nervous about skiing because of how bad I was on the school trip the previous year, but our instructors in Pila were amazing! My confidence built up so quickly and I improved quickly every day and by mid week, unknown to the other kids, me and Shannon were out skiing on our own and I was even starting to parallel turn thanks to Shannon's advice. It was such a brilliant afternoon!

Most of the days started by going up to the middle of the blue slope, 15, the main slope that lessons take place on, in the gondola. I'm not a fan of small spaces so it wasn't the best experience for me. Once we got out the gondola, we skied down to the bottom of that slope to a chair lift which took us back up to almost where the gondola is. This was the perfect steady slope for us all to learn on and everyone picked it up so well!

At the gondola station.

 

We were joined by some special guests on this trip.

 

The first one was Olympic skier Graham Bell. He is a patron of our charity and really does support us in everything we do, so on this occasion he joined us on the trip and bought his family along with him. He gave us all extra skiing tips and it really was an experience skiing with him! His wife and children are also incredible skiers and it was great to have them all there, what a wonderful family!

 

Graham Bell's daughter.

 

Our second guest was Don, a valued member of the charity. Don is registered blind and set a mission to be sponsored to learn to ski. Learning to ski is already quite difficult, but when you cant see where you're going or what you're doing, it must make it 10x more difficult. Don was taught by a specialist instructor, Ricardo. He went off on private lessons and by the end of the week was skiing on his own, simply being guided down the mountain! I can't remember how much he raised, but it was a lot of money! Well done Don!

 

Ricardo, Don and Graham Bell

 

During the week, as we learnt in different groups depending on our abilities, we skied down different slopes. My group was fortunate enough to be taken to the very top of the mountain. The chair lift up only carried two people and took around half an hour, but it was definitely worth it! The resort we were in, Pila, is completely surrounded by taller mountains so the view was just astonishing, I didn't have a camera this year though so I didn't get any pictures.

 

My group was the only group to go to the top. There are two ways down, either a red road or theres another magic carpet which goes up to a very hard black. We took the red road down. It was so scary because the road was so so thin and there was no netting at the edge, just a huge drop! We made it though and it was such a fantastic run.

 

At the end of the week, everybody took part in the sponsored ski slalom. The slalom is a set of flags you have to ski round and get the fastest time possible, but if you miss a flag or you hit one, you get a time penalty. The lessons throughout the week were to prepare for this moment as everyone involved had raised huge sums of money for the charity to take part in the slalom and everybody smashed it!

 

 

 

The evenings consisted of different things. Some evenings were spent just chilling out in the living area, some evenings playing card games, some evenings outside playing in the snow and foraging through the forest out the back of the hotel and some evenings doing planned activities.

 

The activities included a quiz night and going out ice skating, surprisingly though the ice wasn't real.

 

At the end of the week, we had our usual awards ceremony. We all received medals from both the charity and the ski school whilst some people also received trophies for reasons such as getting the fastest time in the slalom, improving most throughout the week and also being the most helpful throughout the week. I unfortunately don't have any pictures of this years ceremony or any idea who won the trophies due to writing this two years later, but it was a successful night overall which ended with one of the children using her guitar to sing a song she had written about the week.

 

Overall this week was another successful year of skiing for 12 more strong and brave children who have fought the battle of cancer and won.

 

It was really a shame that not many pictures were taken this year, however it's the memories that count!

 

Don't be afraid,

Say Yes!

 

 

 



Yes #8: Boat Show 2014

After having such a success in getting so many donations at the Ski and Snowboard Show, me and Shannon were invited back to help out at the Boat Show in January. This was at ExCel London.

Boats didn't really interest me, but I was more than happy to go and help out to raise awareness of our charity and get donations.

 

At the Ski and Snowboard Show back in October, we met Barbara and Stewart Lees who own a company called Fosy Originals where they create Faux Fur Accessories. They also own some apartments in a place called Zell Am See in Austria. At the show they offered us these apartments to take some children to Zell Am See for a week to learn how to sail on the beautiful lake, therefore, this is what we were promoting and raising money for at the Boat Show. Despite this, our stand was very well presented.

 

 

 

Our stand at this show was right to the side of the hall, in a corner and very out of the way which means not many people were walking past us. Also, people at this show were very different to people at the Ski and Snowboard show and getting donations proved extremely difficult.

 

The show mainly consisted of big pretty boats that were being sold for thousands or even millions. Some of the boats you were also able to go on and walk around so it was fun sitting in the drivers seats pretending they were yours (no matter how sad that is..).

 

 

During the week, on one of the days, James Corden visited to buy a boat. He started off by doing a talk to a crowd of a few hundred visitors before announcing the boat he had bought. Now I love James Corden, a lot! There were several opportunities I could have walked up to him to meet him and get a picture but me being me, I chickened out and I will never forgive myself for that.

 

 

He wasn't the only celebrity we saw in the week. On our way out of the venue during the week, we bumped into Lil Chris from The Only Way Is Essex! He was so so lovely and was really interested in what we were there for. He also said that he would tweet about our charity when he got home and charged his phone, but he never did, though he did retweet my tweet later on.

 

 

In one of the evenings, we took a trip to Canary Wharf for dinner. We walked around the shops for a while before sitting in a small chicken place to have dinner. When we were done, we went back outside and found an ice rink which we had a go on. It was quite big and had a little road track you could follow round a little Christmas and winter scene before joining back onto the main rink, it was actually a lot of fun!

 

                               Shannon, me and Calum, another mentor.

We stayed in the hotel which we stayed in for the Ski and Snowboard Show, which meant we were right next to the Italian restaurant again. My 17th birthday was two days after I had got home from the show, so for our last dinner, Shannon and Ian had organised with the restaurant for a little birthday surprise for me. Once we had finished our dinner, we sat and waited. I was a little bit confused because most nights we went on to have pudding, but this night no one mentioned pudding. After a little while, all the waiters come to our table with a giant tiramisu with candles in and everyone started singing happy birthday. I didn't expect this at all and I almost started crying I was in so much shock. I wasn't too pleased with the tiramisu because I didn't think I liked it, but I tried it and it has become my favourite ever desert, apart from cheesecake..

 

After this, the waiters bought some little lemon shots out to us which I tried. It burnt my throat more than anything and Shannon managed to get quite and amusing picture of me drinking it but unfortunately that picture has gone missing. 

 

As much as the boat show wasn't of much interest to us, we still had a good week and the things we did were really fun!

 

Don't be afraid,

Say Yes!

Yes #7: Telegraph Ski and Snowboard Show 2013

After 3 amazing trips with the Caring Cancer Trust, I was asked by the chairman and hon secretary, Ian, if I would be interested in going to help out at The Telegraph Ski and Snowboard Show in October. Funded by The Telegraph, the Ski and Snowboard Show is held every year in October in Manchester and London and is a big exhibition which promotes top ski brands, resorts, tour operators and more as well as holding talks and shows where visitors can learn more about their hobby.

 

I was honoured to be asked and agreed to go. Shannon was also asked, and also agreed to go. At the show, we stood by the Caring Cancer Trust stall promoting the charity, getting people to fill in a leaflet to win a free ski holiday in Pila, Italy, our next holiday destination and sold raffle tickets where visitors could win a signed painting of Olympic skier Graham Bell painted by Johnny Midnight.

 

The first show was in Manchester held at Event City where we were joined by Alex, the director of the ski school in Pila.

Me, Alex and Shannon on our stand.

 

Our stand was in a really good place. The venue had an ice rink, with real ice, which visitors could skate on for free! All they needed to do was book a place in a time slot, turn up at that time, put some boots on and have fun. This meant we were in one of the main places of show and thousands of people were seeing our stand as they walked by or as they skated and it bought us a lot of donations.

 

As we were right next to the rink, every afternoon when the show started to get quiet, me and Shannon would have half an hour on the ice and by the end of the 4 days, we were pretty good skaters.

 

The show in Manchester lasted 4 days, Thursday through to Sunday. After this, we packed everything up and took a 4 hour drive down to London.

 

When we got to London we met up with Carole, the owner and director of ski company PilaSki. She was staying in a hotel room with Ian and Alex whilst me and Shannon were booked in to stay in a hostel across the road. After me and Shannon were told we were staying in a hostel, we weren't too sure about it after reading reviews but went ahead with it anyway. When we went in there, firstly there were men walking around drunk with their private parts hanging out, secondly the receptionist was the rudest person I have ever met, and thirdly, when we got up to our room, there was a pile of rubbish in the middle of the floor, crumpled up dirty bed sheets and a shower which was green and black and disgusting. Within two minutes of being in the room, we walked out again and were booked into a room in the hotel everyone else was staying in. This hotel was luxury and was just a 5 minute walk from the venue. 

 

After that cofuffle, we dropped off our suitcases and headed for the venue where we picked up our exhibitor passes and headed to set up our stand. We weren't in the best of places this time, but still a place where we could grab lots of visitors. Our stand was also next to Johnny Midnights stand so it was great to meet him and see all of his paintings.

 

At the end of the hall, there was a fake ski slope where people could have beginner lessons and nearby this was the ice rink, but this one was slightly bigger than the one in Manchester.

 

The London show lasted a hole week and during this show, we didn't use the ice rink every day but we did have a few goes on it and we were able to look around the rest of the stalls at the show and see what was on offer.

 

 

The hotel we stayed in was right next to an Italian Restaurant which we ate at every night. They served massive portions, but it was the nicest restaurant I've been to and the staff were so lovely!

 

On the Thursday in London, we had a big reunion where all the children from the previous ski trip and their families came to the show to meet up again. They were able to look around the show and have a go on the ice rink and the ski slope. This was quite fun because my mum and sister were quite jealous that I had been skiing and they hadn't, so it was good to see them have a go on the fake slope.

 

Fake ski slope (left)    My mum ice skating (right)

During the reunion, we all went into a presentation room where each of the children who came on the ski trip were presented with their ski awards. Other awards were also given out such as awards to our camera guys, to our ski instructors and even to me, Shannon and another of our friends Jimmy for being mentors.

 

 

The reunion was really good and it was lovely to see everyone again.

 

The ski show was a really good experience and I loved every minute of helping out! If I got the opportunity again, I would definitely say yes, and also take money with me to actually buy some ski stuff!

 

Don't be afraid,

Say Yes!

Yes #6: Summer in Morzine

After going snowboarding twice with Caring Cancer Trust giving me the most amazing time of my life, I was then invited back again for a third time! This time, it was for their summer trip, and it meant going back to Morzine which I loved! This was just a few months after going to Morzine to snowboard so I was excited to see how differnt it would be without snow.

This was the first time I had been on the summer trip with the chartiy so I was quite nervous as I didn't really know what to expect. However, when I got to the airport, I was greeted by some of the people I had met on the winter trip so this made me feel so much more relaxed! Shannon and Kirushni from Morzine in the winter were two of the girls and I was so glad because they were such lovely girls!

Kirushni, me and Shannon

We didn't stay in the same chalet we stayed in when we came in the winter. This time, we stayed in a lovely little chalet in the back streets of Morzine owned by a man called Darren and his company Great Escape. The chalet is one of the nicest I have ever stayed in! Inside it is so big with so many different sized bedrooms, a sauna and steam room, a kitchen area, an area where everyone can sit together at tables to eat and a bit living area to just chill. It's such a traditional kind of style of chalet and it makes you feel so at home!

In the chalet, there were two people who worked there who did all our cooking and cleaning. Their names were Emma and Miles. As well as doing their best to look after us in the chalet and make sure we all had a great time, they also came a did a lot of the activities with us which was really great fun! Having a good bond and friendship with chalet staff is one of the things that make you feel right at home. 

Unfortuantely, I don't have a picture with Darren, but he was the best host we could have possibly asked for. He did everything he could to make our holiday the best it could have been and he arranged all of our activities for us and took us there every day.

There was one day when we had a thunder storm which meant we werent able to do white water rafting which was planned for that day because it was too dangerous. Instead of just leaving us, Darren spent the whole day figuring out something for us to do. 

During the day, we took a trip into the village to do a bit of souvenir shopping whilst the rain was a bit calmer. It was really interesting to see what everything looked like without snow and see some of the slopes we had skied and snowboarded down only a matter of a few months before. It was a nice trips into such a beautiful little village but on the way back, we got VERY wet!

When the thunderstorm finished in the afternoon, he took us down to a foresty walk with his dog. At first, the idea didn't sound great, but he made it so much fun. Throughout the walk, there were little gym type obstacles which he made competitions on which were really fun! For an impromptu activity, it was such a good one! Darren's imagination is one of a kind.

However, as much as fun as this activity was, the activities on the days that it was sunny were just mind blowing! The activities included:

Rock Climbing

Rather than just rock climbing on them fake walls with colourful bits to stand and hold onto, we were able to do proper rock climbing up a cliff face. Whilst one of us were climbing up the rocks, another one of us were at the bottom with their rope attatched round out waist on a pully controlling how safe they were. It was scary putting full trust into someone else but it was so worth it!

White Water Rafting

After this activity being cancelled on the day of the storm, Darren was able to rescheduel it for another day, and thank god he did! White water rafting is such an adrenalin rush and such a buzz! If you ever get the chance to have a go, definitely do it! Unfortuantely, due to the nature of the activity, I don't have any pictures of during it. But here's a picture of our team in all of our gear.

High Ropes
High ropes is a bit tree top course that includes balance beams, zip wires and lots of landing on nets.. It sounds scary, but you know you're safe because you're attatched to safety harnesses and it really is such a fun thing to do! It does take a lot of energy though.. 

Zip Wiring

One of the days we went to do a zip wire, and it wasn't any normal zip wire, it was the Fantasticable! This is a zip wire that goes over the mountains around 150m high. It is split into two seperate wires, but together makes 1,257m long. You have to wear some harness which allows you to glide down the zip wire hanging on your tummy. You look so silly, but it's comfy and safe!

Tobogganing

As an afternoon activity after zip wiring, we were taking to a toboggan. I've always been a bit scared of these but it was so much fun! Well the second time anyway, the first time I got stuck behind a lady who was so scared she was moving down it as slow as a snail!

Lakes, canoes and Pedalo's

In the week, we got to visit two beautiful lakes. One of them was classed more as a beach because there was sand and the lake was so big we thought it was the sea at first, until we realised we were on top of a mountain and there would be no sea.. At the lakes, we had a chance to sunbathe and relax, play on some canoes and play on some slide pedalos!

All of the activities were absoloutely amazing! However, there was one activity that was kept a secret from us all until we arrived at the place..

Paraglyding!

None of us could actually believe it when we were told we were going to jump off of a mountain with a parachute attatched to us, but it was true! It was honestly the most insane experience of my life! It was such a good afternoon as no one missed out on the fantastic opportunity as everyone, with the encouragement and support of the rest of the group, fought the fear and jumped off that mountain!

Overall, this holiday was a chance in a lifetime and the best week I have ever had! We got to experience the most insane things and we just had such an amazing time! Everyone in this group bonded really well too and there was so much friendship bought from this trip. 

None of this however would have been possible with Darren, so thankyou Darren! What an incredible man!

I gained a best friend from this trip. Me and Shannon were friends from the winter we shared together in Morzine, but something on this holiday clicked (we believe it was the night we spent throwing sweet wrappers into a bin together) and we have been best friends ever since.

These holidays really are life changing things. For kids that have gone through such a traumatic experience, these holidays really do help to life up their spirits again and give them their confidence back. Being able to experience things like we have with people who understand exactly what you have been through and what you are feeling is something you just couldn't ask for.

I'm so lucky to be able to experience opportunities like this and meet the amazing people I have met on the way. The Caring Cancer Trust do such an amazing thing and I could never pay them back for what they have given me.

Don't be afraid,

Say Yes!

Yes #5: National Citizen Service

The NCS was such a fantastic experience, getting to meet so many new people and getting to do so many things you never would usually get to do.
Heres how the four weeks went:

Week 1

The first week was a residential trip to an activity centre in the Isle of Wight called Little Canada. As it was in the IOW, it meant we had to get the ferry across so we met up at the ferry station. I started the experience not knowing one person at all who was doing it too, so I stood with some girls when I first arrived. After a few minutes, I looked around and spotted someone I knew from school, so I soon went over to say hey. Its fair to say I felt so relived that I actually knew someone! And after not long, another girl arrived who I knew from school who I also stayed with on the school ski trip, so I felt much more relaxed. They both arrived with other people, but I soon became friends with them.
After a half an hour ferry ride and a 15 minute drive, we arrived at the activity centre. We were told about the week and taken to our rooms. I shared a room with the girl I knew from school and her friend so that was good fun!

We were split into 4 groups and each group had one of the adult leaders and we stayed in the groups for the four weeks. They just ment that the groups for each activity were reasonable sizes. Thankfully, the group I was in was with the two people I already knew and their friends and 4 others.
Throughout the week we did different activites such a rok climbing, absailing, tunnel trails, zip wires, giant swings, kyaking, dragon boating and matrix. I went to this activity centre when I was in junior school and matrix was my favourite thing ever so to get to relive that again was incredible! But every activity we did was incredible!
Inbetween activities and in the evening we had time to chill with eachother so I was able to make friends with a lot of other people. One of the great things was standing in the area infront of the huts and all standing in a circle throwing a rugby ball to eachother playing one-knee-two-knee.

Week 2
The second week we spent living at Reece Halls which is a set of university living halls in Portsmouth for students but because it was the summer holidays, it meant that we were able to stay there. We each had our own room which was great, but I ended up sleeping in my friends room for the week anyway.
The rest of that day, we were in our groups and had a little survey to go and do around Portsmouth. But we didnt have a out original team leader, we had a different one because they other one had to go back to work unfortuantly, but this one was fab too! We all discovered that apart from 4 of us in our group, we all went to the same senior school including our team leader!

Throughout this week, each day we did a different thing.
The first day we went to the study centre which was next to Portsmouths football ground. Throughout the day we did three different activites with people from different companies. One of the activities was to go and look around Portsmouths football ground, Fratton Park, but instead of looking round, we just sat and watched the team train on the field which was great!
Another of the days we went to Portsmouth University where we did a day of team building activities with some of the students there.
In the evenings, we would either have chill out time in the living area and garden in the university halls or a small evening activity. One of the activities was first aid training and another was learning about STI's, but they were both done in a fun way. After we went out for dinner at a diferent restaurant every night which was really nice!

Week 3 and 4
The last two weeks were spent in the study centre where we worked as groups to organise a fundraising event for a charity of our choice. We had a few ideas such as a blind walk along the beach for Portsmouth's Blind Association but in the end we made contact with a curry restaurant where we held a curry night with a raffle where we raised around £500 for the Beneficial Foundation who give support to people with disabilities in leading a normal life and finding work.

This week was really interesting because where everyone was doing a different charity, we found out about so many different charities and the amazing things they do. Also throughout this week I made some new friends as I worked with people who I hadn't really spoken to originally in the last two weeks.

Graduation
If you complete the whole four weeks of NCS, you get to graduate with a certificate.
The graudation was great because it meant we got to dress up all fancy and meet up with everyone again and just have a really good night!

Overall the NCS was a great experience for me and I'm SO glad that I said yes to it!
You can get involved with your local NCS trips by just going to the NCS website!
If you have been on NCS trips, you are on one currently or you are going on one this summer, let me know how it goes in the comments! I'd love to know what you get up to in your local area with the NCS!

Don't be afraid,

Say Yes!

Yes #5: National Citizen Service

In my last few weeks of school, a man came in and talked to my year group about the National Citizen Service (NCS) and the opportunities they give teenagers.

The NCS gives 16-17 year olds an opportunity to build new work and life skills whilst taking on big challenges and and meeting lots of new friends.

They take you on a four week course where you will have two weeks away from home; one taking part in different challenges such as rock climbing and dragon boating and the second living in university halls and getting a taste of university life, and two weeks where you will take part in a team project to help your community.

During the four weeks, you take on new challenges and learn new skills, grow your confidence and your CV, make a difference in your community and make new friends. 

At the end of the four weeks, you graduate with a certificate.

NCS in 60 seconds

As soon as the course was explained to us, I knew I wanted to do it, so there and then, I went and spoke to the man, James Shannon, and signed up.

None of my friends wanted to do it, but that didn't bother me. After all the stuff I had already said yes to, this would be nothing too scary.

My experiences of the four weeks will be up soon!

Don't be afraid,

Say Yes!

Yes #4: Skiing in Saalbach, Austria

Before I had found out about the Caring Cancer Trust and got involved with their ski trips, going skiing is something I always wanted to do. It was one of them things on my bucket list.

My senior school did ski trips every year but we could just never really afford to go.
In year 9, a few of my friends went on the ski trip and I did want to go but I just knew we didn't have the money, but then I mentioned it to my mum when the opportunity to come up to go on the next trip and she offered to scrape some money together so that I could go, purely because I had never been abroad with the school and my sister went twice when she was in school so mum thought it was only fair.

 Unfortuantly, I was late to get a place so I was put on the waiting list and never did get a place on that trip, but it meant I was guarenteed a place on the trip in year 11, and so I went..

I was so so so nervous because as much as I knew some of the people going, I wouldn't say I was close friends with them and I never really spoke to them much and none of my own friends were going. It was possibly the biggest step out of my comfort zone I have ever taken!
When I got on the coach, I just sort of sat in a seat on my own because I didn't know anyone to sit next to. Not long after, the two girls, Megan and Jodie, I knew most on the trip got onto the coach and Megan had her sister with her, Rhiannon, a year 8 who also didn't know anyone on the trip apart from her sister so she sat next to me and Megan and Jodie sat on the other side of the isle. It took a while to get talking, but after an hour or so we couldn't stop. All three of them made me feel so comfortable!

It took twenty-something long hours on the coach with long chats, uncomfortableness and a lack of sleep before we arrived in Saalbach, Austria and were greeted by these stunning views!

When we arrived at our hotel, I found I was sharing a room with three other girls, Molly, Aimee and Rhia, three girls who I'd never really said more than a few words to but who all already knew each other.. But they made me feel so relaxed and at ease straight away and I ended up really enjoying sharing a room with them!
Althought I did feel bad because I always got the hot shower and they all managed to get the cold shower.. (everyone in the hotel showered as soon as we got back everyday so the hotel's hot water ran out SO quickly but I managed to time my showers just right and get the hot water, I was just super lucky I guess).

Over the week, I became friends with a lot more people on the trip and become really quite close with Molly (in the picture above) and Rhiannon. I ended up having such a good week with everyone despite being really nervous and not knowing any of them at the start!

The teachers who took us were absoloutely amazing, especially Miss Nineham. I had a few shakey moments throughout the trip, being ill, mild panic attacks on the slopes etc, but she stuck by me the whole time making sure I was okay and she was my rock through that week. I had a really close bond with her back at school after the trip too and I couldn't thank her enough for the amount she has helped me really.

One main story that really made me laugh throughout the week is that some how a rumour (which I really wish was true!) had got out that I was a professional snowboarder and I had won gold medals in world championships and things..
I remember telling one or two people that I had snowboarded the year before and I was going again the day after we got home, but somehow that esculated into this story and so many people were asking me all different questions about it and I really really don't know how it got so big!
It did make my week though, it was so funny!

As well as skiing, we got to go to different places in the evenings such as a party, a big massive (and I must say amazing!) swimming pool and to watch a game of professional ice hockey.
The ice hockey was actually really intersting! Even though I can't remember who was actually playing and who won.. haha! It's such an underated sport in the UK!

Overall, as much as I was nervous and scared at the start of the week, I had such a brilliant week and it was spent with brilliant people and I am SO glad that I stepped out of my comfort zone and I said yes and went on this trip because it was an amazing experience and it has built me up so much and gave me the confidence to do so much more on my own!
One thing I did learn was I am a dreadful skiier and ski boots are the worlds most uncomfiest things.. I'll stick to snowboarding from now on!

Are you ever too scared to do things or go places without your friends? Don't be! It's really not worth relying on other people to go with. You can still have an amazing time on your own and meeting new people!

Don't be afraid,

Say Yes!