Oar-some Centre celebrates 25 years of helping to change young lives

YOUNG Bristol's Pooles Wharf Outdoor Activity Centre has just marked a quarter of a century of providing life-changing outdoor experiences to thousands of young people across Bristol.

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Since opening on July 4, 2000, the award-winning centre has grown to become one of Bristol’s premier providers of adventure activities, offering 16 water and land-based activities that support young people’s physical and mental wellbeing through free and low-cost outdoor experiences.

To mark the centre’s 25th anniversary, Young Bristol joined forces with law firm Burges Salmon in a 25 for 25 fundraising challenge, which saw more than 200 of the firm's employees challenge themselves to a 25-hour continuous canoe relay along the River Avon and Bristol Docks to raise money to support the future of the centre.

On Thursday and Friday, the fundraisers canoed back and forth from the firm's headquarters at One Glass Wharf to the Pooles Wharf Outdoor Activity Centre on the historic Harbourside.

Lee Williams, chief executive at Young Bristol, said: "To be celebrating a quarter of a century of Pooles Wharf Outdoor Activity Centre is incredible, and is a testament to the staff, volunteers, and young people past and present who have helped us get to this point.

"The centre has played a pivotal role in allowing us to offer outdoor physical activity to so many young people in the city, and to help with their development. To anyone who lives in the city, Pooles Wharf has become a landmark on the Harbourside and one that we are very proud of.