“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.

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.

We wanted to meet new people from the local area who work in all sectors so we sent Barry and Pete along to First Friday, Chichester, at the Ship Hotel. While there they met representatives from local security and design businesses who were interested in Cobnor Activities Centre as a venue for corporate activities days. They also met several individuals who were interested in kayaking, particularly the informal kayaking sessions held on Saturday mornings.

At First Friday the Cobnor boys met some people from The Aldingbourne Trust, who are committed to unlocking potential in people with learning difficulties, something that Cobnor Activities Centre is also passionate about.

Cobnor Activities Centre runs Opportunity Knocks every year, a mostly residential programme for people aged 14-40 with learning difficulties that includes activities such as: sailing, canoeing, rides in our Chairboat, orienteering, low ropes, local walks, fishing, circus skills, face painting, Cobnor Cabaret, art and drama workshops, cooking and a fancy dress disco.

We hope to be seeing more people from The Aldingbourne Trust at Cobnor Activities Centre in the future and we’re looking forward to the next networking event already!

Find out more about our scheduled courses and sessions here and for further details on Opportunity Knocks contact: sail@cobnor.com

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.

Cobnor Activities Centre is in the middle of a major building and re-furbishment project which will include ‘green energy’ solar heating for all the hot water and a ground source heat pump for space heating the new building. 

The project will transform Cobnor Activities Centre, which is used primarily by children and young people in our community for a whole variety of outdoor activities, including sailing, canoeing, mountain biking, rock climbing, orienteering, camping,  to name but a few.

We need now to equip the dormitories and the new multi-functional classroom for when Cobnor Activities Centre re-opens in April 2010.

We need 15 sets of bunk beds @ £182 each, 54 mattresses @ £48.50 each, 10 classroom tables @ £96 each, 40/50 classroom chairs @ £11.50 each, 20/30 laptop computers @ £350 each and a variety of curtains and blinds for the dormitories costing  about £5/6,000.

Please can you sponsor us by offering to fund the purchase of an item of equipment?

You can send your donation to: Barry Colgate at Flood Cottage, Bosham Lane, Bosham, West Sussex PO18 8HY. If you would like any further information please contact him on 01243 576750 or barry@colgates.biz . If you are a tax payer you can increase the value of your donation by completing and returning the Gift Aid form.