Meet Carlisle schoolchildren putting lockdown woes behind them

Watch as our reporter Fiona Marley Paterson meets the Carlisle schoolchildren putting the woes of lockdown behind them.

Primary school pupils from Carlisle have been pushing their limits in the outdoors around Ullswater.

The Outward Bound Trust says the activities build confidence and mental resilience in children and that's needed now more than ever.

Anxiety in particular is thought to be affecting more children across the country than it was before the pandemic.

A walk up the 388-metre-high Hallin Fell near Ullswater was a world away from the days of lockdown and not seeing friends for these nine and 10-year-olds from Brook Street Primary School in Carlisle.Head Teacher Jonathan Bursnall told ITV Border, "Anxiety is probably the one that's most come to the fore recently. Some children are struggling to engage with school and attend school, they feel an enormity of things that they don't have any control over."Ten-year-old Oliver McDonald says lockdown has left him not liking being in a "crowd of other people" and that feeling is now "ten times worse".

Classmate Yzge Tasim, also 10, adds, "Because we had to stay in our houses and not go outside. So I couldn't have any exercise."

But Oliver says, "It's a better experience, out here at Outward Bound, because I can overcome that and find better ways."A report by the Prince's Trust suggests 51% of Britain's young people feel less confident about their future than before the pandemic. 40% feel less in control of their lives.

So in these activities, the young people take control of a scary situation, supported by their peers, building confidence and the resilience to deal with those feelings in future in other walks of life.

As well as walking, they've been ghyll scrambling, canoeing and rock climbing. Rock climbing was the activity that most found scary.

Nine-year-old Lennon Binghim told ITV Border, "the scariest bit was probably the rock climbing. Normally, if I don't do something, I'm scared. I just feel bad about myself because I know I could've done it. I'm scared of heights, so I didn't look down, and I took a deep breath and just carried on." 

That's how the Outward Bound Centre says these children learn to face the things that scare them through outdoor activities.

Oliver McDonald explains how it worked for him, saying, "To me, it wasn't embarrassing because that was my first time. If it's scary and if you don't like something, it might be the only time you ever get to do it in your whole life.

"So you may as well enjoy it, have a good laugh about it, while you can do it and you have the opportunities."The activity most of the young people really enjoyed was canoeing, in which teams raced each other across Ullswater.

Mr McDonald says, "People were screaming, thinking they were going to fall off. The instructors made it look scary, but they made it so it was perfectly safe."

Paul Marshalsea, Head of Education Business Development at the Outward Bound Trust explains how these managed scary experiences are conducted: "If you think about Ullswater Lake, it's a big lake, 11 miles long.

"There's going to be different temperatures, it can be cold. People are going to be frustrated because some people are going to paddle harder. Some people aren't. Some people will stop paddling.

"And so there'll be a little bit of conversation, a bit of friction between people. And for us, that's what we want them to be doing, because they're breaking down barriers and making connections."

Those connections build a network of people around that young person that they can go to for help if struggling with their mental health.

Mr Marshalsea, goes on, "And now they're going to be walking up over a mountain and this is where that resilience really comes. The muscles in your legs will start to hurt and you'll think, 'Oh, I can never do this' and there might be a tear.

"So it helps them acknowledge different people are experiencing different things. And by building those relationships and connecting, they're able to help and support each other over that."Head Teacher Mr Bursnall told ITV Border he's seen that in action over the days the children have spent at the centre, saying, "You know, you learn a lot about yourself when you are cold and wet and a lot about yourself when you're halfway up a mountain. You learn a lot about your friends when you're halfway up a mountain with them as well."