“Cobnor Activities Centre was established in 1979 and continues to offer a range of courses to give young people in the local area the opportunity to experience challenging outdoor activities, both water and land based,” explains Mark Murray-Brown, Centre Manager. “But we are receiving an increasing number of enquiries from businesses and organisations in the South of England looking to offer their staff ‘something different’ in the way of team-building, with an ever-diminishing budget. We realise that we are perfectly positioned to meet this increase in demand and we are able to offer a tailor-made day in an idyllic setting. Cobnor can offer groups, ranging from 8 to 100 people, a team-building experience that is affordable and fun as well as achieving the desired purpose of getting teams to work more effectively together.”

Companies and organisations work with the instructors at Cobnor to plan their bespoke day around a variety of activities, which could include: sailing, canoeing, kayaking, climbing, mountain biking, archery, low ropes, orienteering and raft building. There is also optional on-site catering and a residential block. Cobnor is served by good road and rail links to London, Surrey, Hampshire and Sussex.

After attending a corporate activities day last year, Vanessa Aquilina, a teacher from Bosham Primary School, said: “We had a fantastic corporate day at Cobnor. What a wonderful programme you put together for us! It was extremely well organised, and the lunch on the beach was superb. What a great way to spend a day … and team build with your colleagues at the same time.”

Should you wish to find out more about our team-building activities or make a booking, please call us on: 01243 572791 or email: sail@cobnor.com.

Sport England’s Chairman, Richard Lewis, handed over the cheque to Centre Manager Mark Murray-Brown (pictured left) who is going to put the fund towards a new safety boat.

In an interview with the Chichester Observer Mark said: “The funding was much needed.

“We have a wide range of young people at the centre and we are upgrading the facilities for them. This includes showers and toilets.

“Hopefully the work will be completed by Easter. We haven’t got quite enough safety cover to do all the range of boat activities so we are getting a five-and-a-half metre RIB.”

Cobnor Activities Centre was just one of 71 sports groups in the South East to benefit from the £135m Places People Play National Lottery-funded legacy programme to make the Olympics part of our local communities this year.

Mr Murray-Brown said: “We are looking forward to the Olympics.

“There are some positive schemes which include a day in July where everyone is encouraged to go afloat.

“We have a programme to involve adults with sailing and we will be starting up a range of programmes from Easter for mountain biking, climbing, canoeing and sailing.”

Sport England’s chairman Richard Lewis said: “For hundreds of clubs and tens of thousands of people, 2012 will be the year their local sports facilities got better.

“We’ve had unprecedented demand for this fund, which has really hit the mark with sports clubs in the southeast. It shows we’re offering the sporting legacy that people want.”

We’re really looking forward to the improvements and the arrival of the new powerboat, which will give a boost to our safety boat fleet and make learning to sail at Cobnor an even better experience.

Christmas is just around the corner and the Cobnor team, like you, plan ahead for the coming year so that we know what’s what. Now, you’ll find our new Course Programme online so whether you’re looking to brush up on your sailing skills or your New Year’s resolution will be to get outdoors more, take a look at our new brochure and see what tickles your fancy. Here are some of the highlights from the 2012 Course Programme to whet your appetite:

Holiday Activities

Throughout the Summer Holidays Cobnor Activities Centre offers a range of camps and activity weeks: Summer Camps, Expedition Camps, Residential Sailing Weeks and Multi-Activity Weeks. These fully supervised programmes are designed to help further the outdoor education and outdoor activity skills of children aged 8-16 years.

Children will not only get to enjoy their favourite activities, from canoeing and sailing to archery and mountain biking, but will also benefit from the expertise of our qualified instructors. They will have the opportunity to try new things and meet new people, away from home in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Our Expedition Camps, for 14-16 year olds, also include spending nights away from the Centre’s base and taking part in activities further afield. This encourages independence as well as focussed learning about the outdoors.

We are also offering Multi-Activity day programmes over the Easter Holidays and October Half Term.

Sailing

We offer a variety of sailing courses for you and your children, from the Youth Sailing Scheme to the Adult Sailing Scheme. Whether you are beginners or improvers, our qualified and experienced instructors will certainly maximise your confidence on the water and improve your sailing skills.

As a RYA recognised sailing centre, with a full fleet including Laser Picos, RS Fevas and Bosun Dinghies, we’ll make sure you gain experience in varying wind and sea conditions, as well as knowledge of the boats and your surroundings.

Paddlesports

Paddlesports offered at Cobnor Activities Centre include canoeing and kayaking. Our paddlesport fleet includes something for everyone, regardless of ability or level: open canoes, kayaks, sit-on kayaks and sea kayaks.

We now run informal sessions on a series of evenings and weekends with the option to complete your way through the Paddle Power or National Paddlesport Scheme.

Powerboating

Would you like to get behind the wheel of a powerboat and learn a new skill? Cobnor offers RYA Powerboat Level 2 for those aged 14 years onwards, a course which provides the skills and background knowledge essential for any competent powerboat driver.

We also offer the RYA Safety Boat Course, which introduces the techniques used in powerboats escorting racing fleets of dinghies and windsurfers, providing safety and rescue cover for training fleets and assisting in race management for those aged 16 and over.

VHF and First Aid

Cobnor Activities Centre offers RYA First Aid Certificates and RYA VHF Short Range Certificates, meaning you can gain working knowledge of first aid for people using small craft, support skippers and learn the procedures for operation of VHF short-range radio.

Saturday Sessions

New to Cobnor for 2012 are Saturday Sessions. These include our popular Informal Kayaking on a Saturday morning and an additional bi-weekly Informal Sailing session, designed to give you the opportunity to progress your skills, without the pressure and structure of a certificated course.

Why don’t you come along to try a new activity? Come once, or come along every week, to really brush up on your skills. As well as the Informal Sessions we are running a Saturday Afternoon Club for under 16s, which will run for 6 weeks and include multi-activities such as: sailing, kayaking, canoeing, mountain biking, climbing, archery and raft building.

Instructor Courses

Cobnor Activities Centre has all you need to become an RYA sailing instructor, a BCU paddlesport coach or a British Schools Cycling Association Mountain Bike Leader. A career in the outdoors is not only a lot of fun but it’s also extremely challenging and rewarding.

You should be competent in the discipline you are training for before you sign up for a course and once there you will be provided with practical experience as well as in-depth theory to allow you to succeed as an activity instructor at Cobnor and beyond.

Bespoke Bookings

Our bespoke bookings are designed to meet your exact outdoor activity requirements. We can offer bookings to school groups, community groups, corporate groups, birthday party groups, Hen and Stag groups and many others too. It really is up to you!

We can put together a package comprising any of the following activities:

• Sailing

• Kayaking

• Canoeing

• Climbing

• Mountain Biking

• Archery

• Low Ropes

• Problem Solving and Initiative Games

• Raft Building

Whether you want fun-packed team building or group chill-out time, contact us with your requirements or let us know the gist and we’ll put together the perfect activities schedule. You can stay in our newly refurbished accommodation over night or join us for the day, you can choose to self-cater or we’ll provide food for you; the beauty is in the flexibility!

Residential Facilities

Our residential facilities are ideal as a base as we are easily accessible from many areas along the South Coast, including Chichester and Portsmouth.

There are three residential options for you to choose from: Log Cabins, The Jubilee Building and Camping. Any of our residential facilities can be combined with a Bespoke Booking or rented as standalone accommodation.

We also have excellent educational and meeting room facilities, including two classrooms with full IT access and support.

Cobnor Chairboat

The Cobnor Chairboat is specially designed for wheelchair users and others with limited mobility so that getting out and about on the water is accessible to all, but it has much more than this to offer…

Our Chairboat offers a comfortable ride, no matter what your age or ability. It is ideal for those interested in nature and photography. It would even make the perfect vessel for a special occasion, such as showing off the bride and groom on their big day.

The boat is wide and stable as well as being closer to the water than traditional tour boats, allowing passengers to make the most of this Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

You can download the full 2012 Course Programme here. We look forward to seeing you soon!

Why not send them to Cobnor Activities Centre for some outdoor activities fun…

As our Summer Camps and Multi-Activity Weeks were a huge success once again this summer we thought we’d offer all of you outdoor activity fans something to get your teeth into this October Half Term. Not only are we introducing Daily Activities Week but we’re also offering a special Seal Watching Trip and Cream Tea. Are you hungry for it?

Daily Activities Week

We’re introducing a Daily Activities Week and this comprises different activities as taster sessions, from sailing to mountain biking, every weekday throughout Half Term. These new Daily Activities will run from Monday 24^th October until Friday 28^th October, 9.30-16.00. The programme is open to 10-16 year olds and each Activity Day is just £38 per person. You can book just one day or all five, the choice is yours.

The programme for the week is as follows:

Monday
AM: Climbing and Archery
PM: Mountain Biking

Tuesday

AM: Low Ropes and Raft Build
PM: Canoeing to Bosham

Wednesday

AM: Mountain biking and Archery
PM: Bosun Sailing

Thursday

AM: Climbing and Raft Building
PM: Sea Kayaking

Friday

AM: Orienteering and Archery
PM: Mountain Biking

Please not that appropriate safety equipment is provided for all activities but you will need to bring sensible footwear and clothing appropriate to conditions.

Seal Watching Trip

Age Range: 8 onwards

Times: Monday 24^th October, 13:00 to 16:00 (approximate return)

Come and join us for the afternoon starting with a delicious cream tea in the surroundings of Chichester Harbour at 13.00 before boarding the Cobnor Chairboat at 14:00 to set sail, in search of our Harbour Seals.  There are currently 23-25 seals living in the Solent and they regularly visit Chichester Harbour, with 18 being the most recorded at any one time. We will visit the areas where they are sighted most and hopefully enjoy some fantastic views of these wonderful creatures. The boat will return to Cobnor at around 16:00.

Please note that spray top and bottoms are available, if required and lifejackets will be provided.

To book a place during our Daily Activities Week or for on the Seal Watching Trip please call: 01243 572791 or email: Sail@Cobnor.com.

This year is the 100th Anniversary of IWD and this year “sporting achievement by women and “access to sporting opportunities for women” are just two of the themes that have been explored by IWD conferences and events. At the moment, fewer women participate in sports and outdoor activities than man. Here are the facts:

• Only 13% of women take part in 30 minutes of sport three times a week compared to 20% of men.
• Only 30% of women take part in sport once a week whilst 37% do sport just once a month. Many would like to participate more but face barriers in becoming more active.

Our associates at British Cycling aim to increase sporting interest and availability to women’s by introducing:

The Women’s Network: In May, British Cycling will launch a unique network of local bike rides for women. It will make it easier for more women to get out on a casual group bike ride. The new network of women-only rides is all about bike riding for fun, in small sociable groups, on local, accessible routes. Local ride champions will help other women to enjoy the fun, fresh air and freedom offered by bikes rides. The first courses are in April. To find out more email womensnetwork@britishcycling.org.uk

Cycletta: Supported by Sky and British Cycling, Cycletta offers the opportunity for women to take part in a women-only ‘sportive’ – an event on closed roads. These first two events will combine a sportive with female focused entertainment and support including post-event massages. Cycletta North is in Cheshire on 26 June. Cycletta South is in London on 11 September. See www.cyletta.co.uk for more information.

Coaching and Leadership: British Cycling is committed to growing the number of female coaches, trainers and leaders at all levels. A recent call for women to train as ride leader tutors was oversubscribed.

Partnerships: British Cycling works closely with the Women’s Sport and Fitness Foundation and supports their work to encourage, enable and celebrate active women and girls. As the national governing body for cycling, British Cycling wants to work with range of partners who offer cycling opportunities, and create the conditions for more women and girls to get on their bikes.

British Cycling’s Go-Ride initiative: Go-Ride provides cycling opportunities for under-16s, including Go-Ride Racing events and holiday coaching sessions, all equally popular with girls and boys. At the elite end of the sport, British women are the best in the world.

Events: The British Cycling event calendar includes many races for women. Many grass-roots cycle races have races specifically for women riders – mountain biking events, for example, run women specific races in all age and ability categories. Cyclo-Cross, BMX and Cycle Speedway are equally open and accessible to women. Many Closed Circuit events include women-only races and there is a national series for Women Road Racers.

Get into Cycling: To find out more about racing, visit our comprehensive guide to the sport of cycling. For cycling newcomers, we’ve also got a guide to some of the cycling basics which will help get you up and rolling!

Join British Cycling: with an extensive range of benefits for all cyclists, from saving cash on kit and exclusive ticket deals through to legal and insurance cover and our new “Cycle Rescue” scheme (which will get you home should you experience a problem whilst out on your bike) this is the best all-round membership package for cyclists. Find out more about joining British Cycling.

British Cycling’s Recreation and Partnerships Director, Stewart Kellett said: “Almost three times as many men as women take part in regular recreational cycling and this gap is getting larger as male participation continues to increase. With the resources British Cycling has at its disposal and our track record of delivering successful recreational programmes such as Sky Ride (with principal partner Sky) we are more than hopeful that these initiatives can be a success. We have a great understanding of what works, how to respond to customers and how to help get new women into bike riding.”

To find out more about mountain biking at Cobnor Activities Centre and our involvement with British Cycling’s Go-Ride initiative, please contact sail@cobnor.com or visit: http://www.cobnor.com/scheduled-courses/ for details on our upcoming mountain biking courses.

After starting with a keynote speech on how activities centres should make sure their kit caters for users of all abilities, the rest of the day was split into practical activity workshops on topics such as: archery, kiting, first aid updates, risk assessment policy guidelines.

The Cobnor guys attended the off-road wheelchair workshop. This demonstrated a new design that allows wheelchair users to experience off-road fun, similar to mountain biking.

One practical activity was a balancing game on a giant see-saw, where the four bikes and four carers were asked to stand on the see-saw and balance it out. The key was for the team to communicate with each other so that they could move without unbalancing the see-saw – this was made even more difficult by the wet weather’s added slipperiness! Cobnor Activities Centre hopes to build one of these giant see-saws in the near future so that visitors to the Centre can take part in similar activities.

Just one excellent feature of the newly designed wheelchair is the rear axle, which allows the user to adjust the vertical position of the seat according to the terrain that he or she is faced with. For examples, when travelling downhill you would be able adjust the seat backwards to allow for a more comfortable ride.

As the off-road wheelchair is still a prototype the workshop allowed the designer to work with High Ashurst Outdoor Centre as well as the attending activities centres to generate useful feedback in order to develop the design. Cobnor Activities Centre looks forward to seeing the final design soon!

Seasonal cheer filled the fine country establishment and characters from Father Christmas and his wife to a Christmas pudding and Jesus Christ himself (and that was just the Murray-Browns) joined in the festivities. Appearances were also made by a wise(ish) man, some terribly attractive elves, a glamorous Christmas present, a snowman with a beard, and yes you’ve guessed it, those traditional Christmas tigers (?!).

The food was plentiful (especially for those who went for the gargantuan hock of ham) and delicious and the ale was flowing free. I even recall some not-so-tuneful renditions of Away in a Manger and All I Want for Christmas towards the end of the evening. It really was a typical Cobnor Activities Centre party and a jolly good time was had by all, see some of the evidence here and for more photos see www.facebook.com/CobnorActivitiesCentre.

We wish you all a Merry Christmas and we’ll see you ready for sailing, kayaking, mountain biking and more in 2011!

Pete Alner, Bryn Jones and Ben-Murray Brown (pictured left-right) set off for the South Downs on Friday morning and braved the steep snow banks. Our intrepid adventurers battled through freezing fog and white stuff that was 10” deep in places to test their outdoor adventure skills to the limit. Three men in their wet weather gear, which is usually reserved for sailing, took sledges and wakeboards and revelled in playing in the fluffy, cold mounds.  

Cobnor staff instruct all sorts of outdoor activities, from kayaking to mountain biking, under all sorts of weather conditions and this was excellent practice for more adverse times; it wasn’t just an excuse to play, honest!

Here’s the proof:

Last weekend, while the sun was high in the sky, two of the Cobnor Activities Centre team took a walk out to Cobnor Point to admire the wildlife that’s abundant in Chichester Harbour right now and take in the views. Their walk began on the public footpath leading down behind our residential centre and a stroll past bushes brimming with fruit and trees fragrant with apples was the perfect start to an autumnal walk.

Soon they were at the coastal path where to the right they could see rabbits bounding through the fields, a heron posing in the sun, a sparrow hopping between branches of prickly gorse and a bird of prey hovering above the long grass. Meanwhile, plenty of wildfowl – curlew, red shank, an oyster catcher, little egrets, sandpipers and grey plovers – were spotted digging around in the nutrient-rich mudflats. Overhead a squadron of Brent geese preparing for migration flew in neat formation out towards the Solent. Down on the shore our walkers discovered a treasure trove of shells, bracken, fallen leaves and seaweed of many colours – deep red kelp, chocolate brown popping weed and vibrant green blankets.

While sitting on the bench dedicated to Cobnor Activities Centre’s founder Martin Beale, the eye could see as far as the television transmitters on the Isle of Wight. In between, boats at East Head, the RNLI Station on Hayling Island, the old Air Traffic Control Tower on Thorney Island and The Spinnaker Tower at Gunwharf Quays were all clearly visible too.

There’s something for everyone at Cobnor Activities Centre, whether you enjoy sailing, kayaking or mountain biking, check out our Scheduled Courses list for details of courses coming up. Alternatively, feel free to walk along Cobnor’s public coastal footpath path, enjoy the birds and the view of the harbour, whatever the time of year.

It’s been decided that the South Downs will gain National Park status, which is great news seeing as it’s such a beautiful place to visit and a wonderful natural location for outdoor education. Cobnor is ideally located down on the South Coast, near Chichester, to take advantage of the South Downs and all it offers.

The Sussex Wildlife Trust Youth Council has organised a special event to mark the occasion of the South Downs becoming a National Park with a youth walk. They’re calling on all young people aged 10-18 years to join a five mile walk along the South Downs Way, where they’ll have the chance to discover a range of fascinating landscapes and wildlife and get involved in some outdoor education en route.

As we’ve a lot of 10-18 year olds from the local area visiting Cobnor Activities Centre to attend everything from Summer Camps to sailing lessons we thought you might be interested in joining in with the South Downs National Park celebrations. There are three walks to choose from:

• Western Sussex (near Amberley)
• Central Sussex (near Brighton)
• Eastern Sussex (Seven Sisters Country Park)

All walkers should register online by Sunday 27th June 2010. Under 16s should be accompanied by an adult or book onto a guided walk.

Find out more about orienteering, mountain biking and the other land-based offered by Cobnor Activities Centre here.