Bushcraft Day 2018 – Living on the wild side!28 August 2018 Fourteen intrepid explorers trekked into the very wet and muddy woods and six hours later fourteen survival experts emerged! I know who I want in my camp if I’m ever lost in the wilderness and need to survive, the JIA Kids were awesome. Braced for a day in a swamp the torrential rain didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of our explorers, they were ready for the challenge of a day learning new skills, making new friends and exploring the ancient woodlands of Cornbury Park. We learnt how to build a good fire, starting with the importance of a sturdy base to the fire, building from small size sticks to larger sticks. We cooked our own lunch; the kids were enthusiastic and very good at it. It was very tasty and somehow so much more satisfying! We all learnt about what to prioritise in a survival situation, shelter first then fire and we learnt the rule of 3… You can survive 3 days without water and 3 weeks without food (please don’t try this at home)! We were taught how to make our own survival bracelets using Paracord, and learnt about all the uses we could put it to in a survival situation, and they looked great too! Near the end of the day everyone enjoyed “Hide and Stalk” in the woods; we camouflaged our faces using face paints and used all the natural resources the woods had to offer: wood, berries and bracken, to conceal ourselves during the game. Everyone joined in, it was great fun! Kate Green, Psychologist and Sunette Letley Specialist Paediatric Occupational Therapist, from the paediatric rheumatology team in Oxford joined us, they were great fun and up for whatever the day had to offer and fantastic for them to have the opportunity to interact with the young people outside of a hospital. I felt so privileged to spend the day with these fantastic, brave, funny kids, to hear them talking to each other about their experiences from the challenges of getting a diagnosis, to the procedures and operations they had since diagnosis, it was very humbling to hear them talking about things that no child should have to endure, bravery beyond belief! With special thanks to Lou Owen-Jones Photography, Lou gave up her time free of charge to come along for the day and take photographs, check out her site here. Tracy – NRAS Bring on Bushcraft2019! View photos