Organising a visit to the Brecon Beacons

As a champion I am supporting Brecon Beacon National Park. Being a Champion for the Mosaic Project has brought many unforgettable memories. Appreciating natural beauty of this world in a small scope has been nothing but a pleasure. Despite the rain, fog or storm, nothing can strip away natures’ true beauty.

My first trip with Mosaic was with the Project Officer, Jasmin Chowdury and many Champions. Despite the continuous rain, it was a very adventurous journey. Since that trip, my aim has been to organise a day trip for my family and friends.

Jasmin (Project Officer), Sapna Chowdury and Fateha Ahmed (also Champions) supported me in organising this. We arranged a meeting on how to organise the trip for a large group. My aim was to take our family and friends to explore the National Park and share similar experiences like I did.

We all decided on the people we are going to invite and we came up with a figure of 68 people. We shared the duties out amongst us, which was:-

-booking a coach

-contacting and booking play activities for the children

-applying for the funds to cover the costs

The trip was set for November 30th 2014. The majority of our friends and families were very keen to visit Brecon Beacon.

On Sunday morning, 30th November; the weather was on our side, it was a beautiful, sunny and crisp morning. The coach driver was a lovely, cheerful lady. We started our trip with a delightful familiar crowd. Everything went accordingly; we dropped the children off to the activity centre and headed out to view the highlight of the day which was the waterfall! Sadly, we were all let down as the coach was too tall to drive under the bridge that we needed to pass to get there. We headed back to collect the children and drove nearby to a lakeside where we all had our lunch. After lunch, we went for a walk and explored the woodland areas for a short while.

For the rest of the afternoon, we lounged outside a café area with hot drinks whilst enjoying the enticing surrounding views.

The lessons I have learnt from this trip:

Is that the there was a demand for warm food especially due to the winter season, next time I will need to inquire more about halal and hot food.

Also, the huge disappointment of not seeing the waterfall, therefore I need better communication and feedback from coach companies, making sure that they check the chosen routes are accessible or not!

Always have a back-up plan to make up for any disruption of the day to make sure the visitors are fulfilled.

Lastly, it is also very helpful to receive help or guide in organising a trip from Champions who already have the experience.

My experience as a Champion, has been exciting and joyful. Having many opportunities to go away for weekends has been honourable and flexible. My weekend in Pembrokeshire was an eye opener; Pembrokeshire is blessed with many seaside settings and breath-taking sceneries. Both parks have given me images of remarkable beauty and many treasured memories. Capturing natures’ unique art coupled with good company has been wonderful.

Maleka Begum, Brecon Beacons Community Champion

Maleka is a Community Champion with our Mosaic project in Wales. The project is run in partnership with the three National Park Authorities in Wales and the YHA. It is funded by the Big Lottery People and Places programme.