Students  studying for qualifications in Public Services have sampled real Army living on a ‘Look at Life’ residential visit to Halton Camp in Lancaster.

Nelson and Colne College Sixth Form is proud of its excellent Public Services department, which has a long-standing reputation for helping dedicated and motivated young people to access the public services, including the Police Force, Army and even the Royal Marines! It is a challenging course which requires a mixture of both academic and adventurous skills for success.

Braving bitter winter temperatures, Level 2 and 3 students took part in the visit to Halton Barracks, which is a recognised Army training camp. They spent 5 days participating in army activities including camouflage and concealment, paintballing, mountain biking, field craft and teambuilding.

The students had time to speak to serving soldiers about their careers and experience in the Army so that they could make an informed choice about their own future, and many students said the highlight of the week was the night exercise! During this activity, the students had to evade patrolling soldiers in order to obtain glow sticks that were scattered around a working area. They had to use all of the skills that they had been taught throughout the week in order to avoid capture and win for their section.

Level 3 Public Services student Liam Burnett attended the residential visit and said, “I have been on two Look at Life courses now and it has made me want to join up as a driver. The food is really good and I didn’t want to leave!”

Ashley Blakey, who is also on the Level 3 programme said, “I didn’t want to leave either! We were always active, taking part in exercises and the soldiers were always pushing us to do our best.”