Last weekend we brought 23 military teenagers ‘all together’ for adventure weekend in Rutland. All of them have parents serving in the British Armed Forces. The weekend is part of our All Together deployment programme.

Travelling from Army and RAF bases across Lincolnshire, Leicester and beyond, the teens gathered at Fenland Adventures in Empingham.  They enjoyed a fun weekend of archery, crate stacking, climbing, bushcraft, giant go-karting and chatting around the campfire.

Many of the teens had never met each other before and took the opportunity to turn off their phones and make new friends.

 The ‘All Together’ deployment programme, which is all about connecting young people in the forces community who share similar experiences.  These experiences include having a parent deployed and having to move house and school because of their parent’s military career.

13 year old Freddie said, “I had a great time, the best thing was building and driving the giant Go-Kart!” 13 year old Alyssa added “It’s been lots of fun!”

Louise, Fetigan, founder of Little Troopers, said: “Little Troopers supports all children who have a parent serving in the British Armed Forces because life can be very different for young people growing up in the forces community. Our All Together programme is all about recognising this and bringing these young people together for a fun experience. These weekends have a really positive impact on the wellbeing of the young people attending. None of them wanted to leave and they were all connecting with each other online – after we returned their phones! Thank you to Fenland Adventures for hosting us.”

Thank you

The All Together residential weekends have been made possible thanks to funding from the Veterans Foundation, Greenwich Hospital, HDH Wills, Henry Sale Foundation and The Prince of Wales Charitable Fund. In addition to running teen residential weekends, the programme includes adventure days and online workshops for younger military children.

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