Hackney boat team visit Nepal

Youths raised cash themselves for expedition.

A GROUP of young people from Laburnum Boat Club in Hackney have earned themselves a rest after returning from an activity-laden expedition to Nepal.

The youngsters planned and organised the trip themselves, including raising the necessary funding by taking part a 47 mile sponsored kayak around London.

The once-in-a-lifetime trip was aimed at helping the youths develop personal and social skills and saw the group work alongside local people to build four toilets in a remote hillside village.

They took time out to enjoy themselves too, including a kayaking excursion on the country’s holiest river, the Kali Gandaki.

Their respite was short lived however, and they are now busy putting together a presentation to inspire other youth clubs and schools to take a leap into the unknown.

Jim Armstrong the Co-ordinator of Laburnum Boat Club said: “This has been an amazing opportunity for a group of local young people to broaden their horizons.

“It has shown them a culture outside of Hackney, they have had to work hard but have made a big achievement and have come back even more motivated and enthusiastic than before.”