Alert over teens' hills walk danger; CHALLENGE: Young people on award schemes ill-prepared, says ex-teacher.Byline: Tony Collins YOUNG people from the West Midlands West Midlands, former metropolitan county, central England. Created in the 1974 local government reorganization, the county embraced the Birmingham conurbation and comprised seven metropolitan districts: Walsall, Wolverhampton, Dudley, Sandwell, Birmingham, Solihull, have been warned of the dangers of pursuing their Duke of Edinburgh Noun 1. Duke of Edinburgh - Englishman and husband of Elizabeth II (born 1921) Philip, Prince Philip awards in the Shropshire hills following an increasing number of inadequately-prepared children becoming lost. The warning has been made by a retired teacher who runs an education centre on the picturesque Long Mynd The Long Mynd in Shropshire, England, is a part of the Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is 10 miles south of the county town Shrewsbury, and has an area of over 2200 hectares (5,436 acres or 8½ square miles). . Anne Oakes-Jones, who taught in schools across the West Midlands, said one group of 15-year-olds from Birmingham recently arrived in T-shirts despite several days of severe frost and snow showers.. She said: "It's a very different world out here and I am just concerned that young people aren't aware of the dangers and don't know where they are. "It has been an increasing trend over the last two or three years of more and more children getting lost." Anne, who runs the Threshold Centre at the northern end of the Long Mynd, near Picklescott, said they had an emerging pattern of children from the West Midlands visiting the Shropshire hills to do their Duke of Edinburgh totally unprepared. "They can't map-read but, even worse, they are inadequately clothed clothe tr.v. clothed or clad , cloth·ing, clothes 1. To put clothes on; dress. 2. To provide clothes for. 3. To cover as if with clothing. .. "We had one group of 15-year-olds recently from a school in the middle of Birmingham. We had had four days of severe frost and snow showers, and a keen wind, but these children were wearing T-shirts and no waterproof clothing, with one map among ten. "They were following the Shropshire Way but they were two miles off the path even though it is signposted. "They were lucky to find us. Increasing numbers are turning up at our education centre saying 'where are we?' "It gets up to 1,400 feet in the hills and the weather changes very quickly. We are getting very concerned for the safety of these kids.. "Fortunately, they usually end up with us and we then have to go out and find their teachers," she said. "There are dangers that I don't think people fully realise. "And it is no good relying on mobile phones because they don't work in these hills." She said that she used to run Duke of Edinburgh award schemes when she taught in the West Midlands but that children were better prepared then than they are now. Anne said hot weather could be just as much of a threat as the cold and rain. "The Air Ambulance air ambulance Emergency medicine A helicopter or, less commonly, a fixed wing aircraft, used to evacuate a person who requires immediate medical attention that cannot be provided at his/her current location has had to be called out in the past because of children walking around for hours in the heat getting lost." |
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