We live in our Adventure Park!
Global Goals World Cup caught up with Becca Todd; founder and Director of Team Brave, who is delivering some of our free online Global Goals World Cup training directly from her adventure park in Chile!
Becca and her husband Gus took the decision to actually move in to live in the park when faced with a severe Chilean lockdown, and here they share with us some of their unique quarantine experiences of being in isolation in an adventure park.
Brave Park kickstarted a few months ago and has gone from strength to strength. Becca and Gus moved out to Chile from the UK in November to embark on new projects together and to experience a new way of life. Becca’s dream has always been to have her own adventure playground, with the objective of helping people gain confidence- and with Gus’ engineering skills- they make the perfect team to make things happen!
In just a few weeks they’d cleared a forest in the back of their friend’s land, and designed and built (by hand!) a huge range of exciting adventurous challenges for kids to try. Together they sawed wood to build the treehouse, dug holes to bury the seesaw, balanced on tightropes to test the assault course, and bashed bamboos to create paths for a labyrinth!
Their aim was to offer the community a new outdoor concept to get kids active and pushing their comfort zones; and therefore enhancing confidence and self-esteem, as well as reaping the physical health benefits of sports and the outdoors. It was a totally new idea in Chile- so people took a while to warm to the idea.
The first few weeks were quite slow as could be expected. Becca and Gus stuck by their idea, and their combined passion and enthusiasm eventually resulted in action packed summercamps for kids, and several outreach projects to more vulnerable groups. Sadly, like many charities and businesses across the world, Brave Park has now been forced to close indefinitely due to Corona Virus.
Isolation is a pretty crazy experience for a hyperactive extrovert. Becca can usually be found doing millions of activities per day; constantly moving, playing, training and with a creative brain that’s like a firework show of ideas! She loves people, coaching kids, being active and feeling free.
When Chile went into total “don’t leave your house” lockdown, Becca & Gus had a choice- to stay in a house, or to move into Brave Park. It was a “no-brainer” really for the outdoorsy couple. So they packed up “Chinita” (translated: “ladybird”) their bright red mini pod caravan that Gus constructed for travelling & exploring Chile’s incredible landscapes –and moved in!
The first week of quarantine the couple had dedicated to building a roundhouse to prepare for rainy days with the kids (no one likes a soggy marshmallow!)- so this fortunately became a perfect base camp! With the prospect of no kids for the foreseeable future, the roundhouse became their living and dining area- allowing for campfire cooking and chilling under starry skies.
Gus is a man who loves a project. He’s an innovator, an engineer and an inventor. Day 2 of Brave Park living and he’d set-up a hot shower using heat from the fire to heat a tank of water which then fed into a pipe that hangs over a wooden shelter and creates a shower feel through funneling water through a plastic drinks bottle with holes in. Luxury glamping! Gus has also used the last few weeks to build a bike ramp for the pumptrack, create a new zipwire so that kids can do races, seed the park with grass and build a new “jail” for our forest games. He can’t wait to see the kids’ delighted faces when they come back!
Becca misses the kids every day. She also misses her friends and family back home, and being free to move and be active. Becca founded Brave to help people with their confidence through sport- as she truly believes that sport has the power to transform lives like nothing else can. With Brave projects totally on standby in both the UK & Chile- Becca decided to innovate and adapt to the new situation by going virtual. She now sends a free video challenge available to kids and families all over the world to try everyday. They’re all accessible on the Team Brave instagram, facebook, youtube pages- as well as via the website.
Becca says that it in doing the challenges, it also helps her own confidence and feelings of self-worth; as she feels like she is doing something helpful for the world during these tough times. If she can make even just a few kids smile; then the day has been worthwhile. She also reflected that the time in isolation has been a goo d learning experience for her too; having to adapt to structureless days without other people. Having to find new ways to exercise and keep active and motivated. Trying new campfire recipes. She’s even started drawing a book for kids about their time in the park!
Becca also collaborates with GGWCUP and contributes regularly with live training sessions: “Feel-good Football Fitness”. These are based around the sessions that Team Brave deliver back in Bristol, England- about creating a fun, friendly environment to learn football and connect with likeminded people with a common goal of improving confidence and enhancing mental health. The training sessions are available via the Global Goals World Cup Clubhouse page. Becca goes live every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday in English, and Mondays in Spanish. Why not tune in and have some fun?!
To hear more about Becca & Gus’ adventures and how their quarantine develops- keep an eye out for our next blogpost. You can also stay after her live training sessions this Friday and Sunday if you have any questions; or drop her an email - Becca will answer from her treehouse!
Extra …
Becca have created most of the many free games and drills on the GG Impact Games website (that will soon be added to the Clubhouse). She is an Eir Coach and you can follow her on Instagram @team_brave_x - Instagram @becca.todd4.
Becca is doing the Brave Training in the Clubhouse - in both Spanish and English. Find the start times in the Clubhouse calendar and just bring a ball.
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