Jamie and Lorraine beat fears to reach new heights

Jamie and Lorraine have recently achieved a rather lofty goal together: they overcame their fears and challenged themselves to tackle Go Ape (a woodland high ropes adventure course) for the very first time!

Jamie and Lorraine were supported on this outing by Fran and Michelle from our Support at Home team in Nottinghamshire. Fran says: “Jamie and Lorraine live in the same building and are very good friends. It was initially Jamie who really wanted to try Go Ape, but when Lorraine heard about it she was very keen too. We planned it all very carefully to make sure it would be safe. The Go Ape team were so supportive – it was really helpful that they suggested we book at a certain time of day to get a quieter slot. That meant we didn’t have to worry about holding any more confident people up on course.

“I thought it would be best for there to be two support staff so Jamie and Lorraine could be supported individually whilst we were on the course, so Michelle came along too. We got there a bit early so I asked if Jamie and Lorraine wanted to go and have a look round the course to see what they would be doing. Jamie was really worried about how high it was when he saw the course – he was already incredibly nervous and seeing the course for real made him even more anxious. I explained to him that he really didn’t have to do it if he didn’t want to, but he was just so determined that he was going to conquer his fear and do it.

“The Go Ape team were really good with the safety briefing and we made certain that Jamie and Lorraine both understood all the rules. Only one adult is allowed on a crossing, so that meant Michelle and I had to encourage them from the platform, whilst the Go Ape instructors provided advice and encouragement from the ground.

“I was so proud of Jamie – when he stepped out onto the first crossing he was absolutely terrified, but he was so adamant that he was going to do it that, with lots of support and cheerleading from the rest of us, he very carefully made his way over. Lorraine needed a little bit of encouragement too but we all made our way around the first course together – I was so, so proud of them both for conquering their fears and achieving something they’d been wanting to do for such a long time.

“Once we’d completed the first course, which is Level One, Lorraine and I went and did Level Two – which is more wobbly than Level One – and Jamie decided he would like to do Level One again, but by himself this time. It’s just such an incredible achievement, for both of them, but especially Jamie given how nervous he was. Once he got more confident, he had a brilliant time – and thought it was hilarious when he landed on his feet after one zip wire and I, um, didn’t and had rather a muddy landing instead!”

I think it says it all that as soon as we got back in the car Jamie and Lorraine were straight onto Google wanting to book to come back again! We all had such a fantastic time, and it was so lovely to see them not only achieve their goals but have such a brilliant time too. We’re arranging to go back again next spring and I think we’ll all be really looking forward to it.

Deputy Manager Catia says: “It’s always wonderful to see the people we support achieve their goals and Jamie was just over the moon that he’d got over his fear and completed the course not once, but twice. It took a lot of careful planning, but we knew how much Jamie and Lorraine wanted to do it. It was just perfect – they did so well and we’re all so chuffed for them that they not only achieved their goals but had a really fantastic time too. Very well done Jamie and Lorraine!”