Sunday Catch Up

As it was half term this week, Gary’s had the week off school too! (From his mentoring at Basildon Academies, the After School Club and the BTEC Sports class). However, of course Gary has used this free time productively to attend meetings and catch up with admin work in the office.

Tuesday and Thursday were both busy nights in the pools, as students were preparing for their weekend dives. Although on Wednesday, Carol and Steve went to Stoney Cove to complete Steve’s rescue course! Well done to Steve on completing and Carol for her first full certification!

On Thursday afternoon, Gary met with Jim Messenger, who is head of Essex County Council’s Sportivate programme. This is a programme that was born out of the Olympic legacy, with the idea of getting non-active people into sports. This was a very productive meeting, bringing Gary up to speed on new paperwork, but it was also lovely to see Jim again, as he has been a great supporter of Orca for many years!

On Friday, Dave Chapman and Gary travelled to Colchester to Bourne Mill, which follows on from a trip Dave made a few weeks ago. Dave previously spoke to the house manager on the subject of diving in the millpond to clear up the rubbish. The National Trust agreed this would be a good idea, and Dave then got in touch with Gary. So on Friday, Gary and Dave went to Bourne Mill for a preliminary meeting to discuss dates and exactly what the National Trust would like us to do. So on Sunday 21^st June, a team of divers from Orca will descend into the depths of the millpond to clear and survey the topography. This will commence at 11am and finish around 2pm, so anyone wishing to be a part of this or just want to have a look around, please do get in touch with the centre!

This weekend we have been down to Nemes, with the dive team headed by Rhonda over the two days, who was joined by Gill, Joe and Richard on Saturday and Carol and Steve joined on Sunday. After a successful weekend, congratulations to Brenna, Josh, Ben and Dan for completing their open water, and Dan who also completed his dry suit course! Carol also said it was a very warm 16°C in the water that weekend, so no hoods or gloves for the first time this year!