Expedition Requirements

·        All Qualifying Ventures should have a clearly defined Aim which should be developed during training and preparation

·        Participants must be trained in the skills required to undertake their planned venture

·        Participants must undertake sufficient practice journeys to ensure that they are able to travel and explore safely and independently in their chosen environment

·        The Team should consist of between four and seven young people (except for methods of transport that require double occupancy where the maximum number may be increased to eight)

·        Ventures involve joint planning and preparation by all members of the Team

·        The journey may take place on land - by foot, cycle, horse, etc. or on water - by canoe, sail, rowing, boat etc.

·        On completion, Participants review the journey and give an account or presentation related to the Aim of the Qualifying Venture and reflecting the Aim of the Expeditions Section

·        All ventures must be supervised, and Qualifying Ventures assessed, by suitable adults

·        All relevant Operating Authority health and safety requirements must be met

Timescales for Qualifying Ventures:

·         Time associated with overnight accommodation and catering is additional to the minimum daytime hours of planned activity

·         The Team should plan how they propose to spend the daytime hours which should be a combination of journeying and exploring

·         On each day of the venture at least half of the minimum daytime hours should be spent journeying with appropriate rest breaks

·        The speed of journeying, the distance travelled and the time spent exploring should be determined by the Team.  This should be based on their experience during practice journeys in a similar environment

·        Teams may choose to use most of their planned hours in journeying with appropriate breaks, but must still make observations and recordings for their review and presentation

·        Such Teams undertaking foot ventures normally achieve total distances of Bronze: between 24 km and 32 km (15 to 20 miles), Silver: 48km and 59 km (30 to 37 miles) and Gold: between 80km and 96km (50 to 60 miles)

·        Advice for other modes of travel is given in the Expedition Guide and Programmes File

Journeying and Exploring should be based on:

·         Prior research and preparation to decide where and when the exploratory work can take place

·         Themes which are focused enough to be achievable in the time available

·         Ideas chosen by and matched to the capabilities and interests of the Participants

·         First hand observations to enable the Participants to make discoveries which are new to them

·         The recording of information based on actual observations

·         The presentation of findings once the journey and its review have been completed