Prototype Projects goes bushcraft wild

When we set about organising our first ever team away day, back in February, we thought we might get lucky with a nice warm day, rather than a wet one. We didn’t get our wish; it went slightly the other way. Yes, our away day was on the hottest recorded day in the UK, Tuesday 19th July 2022!

With sun lotion, hats and copious amounts of water in tow, we all headed over to Church Farm in Ardeley, a community interest not-for-profit social enterprise, for a day of organised bushcraft fun.

Our day started with tasty breakfast baps and a cuppa followed by an overview of the day from the Farm and a few words of encouragement from Justin Pringle, our MD. Ready for the day ahead, we loaded into the back of a tractor and headed into the fields for our first challenge.

Speedy potato picking

Little did we know that we’re pretty hot at picking potatoes because, in no time at all, we had cleared the ground and loaded up crates full of potatoes, small and large. If prizes could be awarded, Emily would have won the biggest potato prize. Our speed at picking should come as no surprise really, given we pride ourselves in fast turnaround!

The event organisers decided to utilise our keenness and tasked us with weeding a patch of an adjacent field. It must be said that while, perhaps, a third of the team ploughed their energies into the weeding task, others either took shelter from the sun or stood and envied the pigs basking in their mud bath.

With the potatoes picked and the weeds weeded, we jumped back into the tractor’s trailer and headed into the shaded woods to start our bushcraft activities. While we waited for everyone to find their way into the woods, the first of our team endured an unfriendly encounter with a wasp. There were to be seven stinging attacks throughout the day. Whether it was a rogue serial stinger or different members of a nest we’ll never know but they had a field day!!

Bushcraft adventures

During our three-hour bushcraft session, we learnt some key survival skills including how to tie knots with rope and willow, how to make tarpaulin shelters and how to safely shave wood to help build a fire.

Each team then worked to build their own shelters using the skills we had learned from bushcraft experts. Even though every team had the same materials, each design was unique, and the types of knots differed too.

The team, Norfolk In Good (yes, it was that kind of a day!), defied their self-chosen name and won the shelter building challenge.

The Day Release team won the next challenge by being the fastest to build a wooden structure to hold a pan of water and boil it over their raging campfire. Even on a hot day, there’s nothing quite so satisfying as building a fire!

All in all, the teams worked hard and forged cross-departmental bonds to help them complete these challenges.

After clearing away the bushcraft materials to ensure any simmering fires were safely burnt down, we jumped into the trailer once more and headed to the nearby pub for a long, cool drink and a tasty lunch.

The grand finale

It was then time for the final challenge, the egg launch.

Each team had identical kits of bamboo, string, straws, cups, tape, and more, to build a contraption that, with careful engineering, would fling their egg the furthest. It’s fair to say that by this point in the day, everyone was sweltering and not at the top of their game!

It was a tense launch for each team with varying degrees of success.

While there were no losers, the truth is that a couple of the teams failed to launch; one team launched but the egg dribbled backwards; and one team’s construction was not worthy of launch!

That left us with two competing teams: Norfolk In Good and Wendy’s Whipping Boys (such wild names!). The test shot for Wendy’s Whipping Boys hit the fence, but the actual, measured shot, was two metres behind Norfolk In Good. Perhaps they should have chosen ‘Folk In Good’ as their team name as they proved, once again, excellent teamwork and engineering prowess.

The losing teams – Spider Pigs, Vikki’s Vikings, Day Release, The Famous Five and, of course, Wendy’s Whipping Boys – would like to point out that all teams comprised five members, whereas Norfolk In Good had six. Just saying!

In all seriousness, congratulations to Norfolk In Good, our overall Bushcraft champions!

Every team was amazing throughout the day. They emanated our values, which, we’re sure, would have made Gary proud.

All in all, our first team away day was a huge success, and we can’t wait to do it all again (or something similar) next year.

We thank our customers for being so understanding while we shut up shop for the day. We do appreciate it!