Renegades: The Renegades go to the Pitts

The Renegades go to the Pitts!

To mark the end of the school summer holidays, the Renegades Youth Club organised two funfilled day trips for its young members – two totally different days that typify the range of activities on offer at the club.

The first was a long-cherished ambition to take the children to the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford. Founded in 1884, it is an Aladdin’s cave packed beautifully and almost to the ceiling with the most weird and wonderful array of more than 500,000 objects from all over the world, and from all periods of human existence. They also visited the Oxford Natural History Museum.

“Museums are usually the beacon of a ‘no touching’ policy, but not the Oxford Natural History! You are actively encouraged to touch any number of items on open display. Touching something allows you to engage with it on a level that just looking can never fill. The kids absolutely loved being able to actually stroke a taxidermy bear and fox – despite double checking that it was really allowed!”, says Group Leader Gareth Miller.

“Visiting the two different museums – both free and in such beautiful buildings – in close proximity was a real treat and we shall definitely go again.”

As John, one of the members, said, “It was cool! There were skeletons of whole dinosaurs, lots of historic facts about boats and pet-able animals! I feel like any historical thing you are interested in, from the Cambrian explosion to the birth of Jesus, you’ll probably find it in the two museums.” The second day trip was to the West Wittering beach on a dry but windy Wednesday. In addition to the usual sandcastle building and paddling, some of the children went off metal detecting in the sand. “They found a really old, rusted anchor chain and very sadly a lot of buried portable barbecues, which we cleared. We also made an enormous sandcastle before it was reclaimed by the sea. “As some of the children had forgotten their packed lunches, we also cooked some camping food – chilli con carne, Moroccan chick pea curry and chocolate sponge – and ate together in the dunes. It was magical,” recalls Gareth. The Renegades continues to need 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 ideas or thoughts, 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: Cooking at West Wittering beach

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