Renegades: Putting the Awe in Autumn

Renegades put the Awe in Autumn!

The nights may be drawing in, but out come the waterproofs, torches and firepits as the Renegades put the awe into autumn with five mad, creative and varied sessions a week.

Group Leader Gareth Miller says, “Even without a home we have managed to keep activities going four nights a week plus canoeing on Sunday mornings. Thanks to grants, we have event tents to keep us dry and kadai firepits to keep us warm… and the kids love it because it feels like camp.

“We have been also been taking the children on night walks – often in the rain – with dog mascot, German Shepherd Dixie, on protection duty. Other activity nights have included carpentry, cookery and art.

“The art nights have been a lot of fun, getting the children to try charcoal drawing, painting, photography and even 3D computer design. The most interesting and revealing thing was to stand them at an easel and give them just ten seconds to draw each other and then move round to the next easel and do the same thing in five seconds. It gets their back brain working – they have no time to be self-conscious or try too hard. It frees their arms and their brains to just capture what they see,” says Gareth, who is himself an artist.

One benefit of it getting darker much earlier is that sessions often finish with a look up into the night sky. Gareth continues, “There’s nothing quite like showing young people how to use a telescope, and then watch their reaction when they see – with their naked eyes – Jupiter bright and shiny in an inky black sky for the first time.” Home-made tortillas, cooked over a firepit, keep the children both messily floured and fed! Says Gareth, “One special joy for me is watching the children confidently and competently handle the carpentry tools. We’ve got them making wooden utensils and proper furniture and a special mention must go to Ben who is making a coracle from scratch, including routing, sawing, chiselling, sanding and even steam bending.”

The Renegades would still like a home. We are looking for an existing building with external space (we can refurbish), or a field where we can put up a green, off-grid building. If you have any suggestions, please get in touch.

The Renegades is a Registered Charity. Membership costs £10 a month. Please contact Gareth Miller on 07801 862550 or Damian Dixon on 07484 130189 for further information. Vanda Rumney

Photo: Art nights joins the growing and varied list of activities

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