CMC Adventure Outdoor Education and Residential Centre Wales

CMC Adventure Outdoor Education and Residential Centre Wales provides a full-board residential outdoor education stay.

The residential centre has 11 bedrooms, dinning room, games room and large lounge set in 11 acres of woodland, walking distance from Llandanwg Beach.

We provide a program of adventure activities to suit the individual schools’ requirements.  Pitching each session to the students’ needs.  All activities use the natural environment. No man-made structures such as climbing towers etc.

ACTIVITIES AVAILABLE INCLUDE, BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO:

Rock Climbing and Abseiling

Gorge Walking

Kayaking

Open Canoeing

Stand Up Paddleboard (SUP)

Raft Building

Wilderness Skills

Sailing

Mountain Walking

Local Walk

Archery

Orienteering

Harlech Castle Visit

Initiative Challenges

Overnight Camp

Overnight Expedition

We have a Key Stage 2 Educational Resource available which you are welcome to use prior, during and after your stay.

We are lucky enough to be nestled in the beautiful Eryri National Park (Snowdonia), which means we a stones throw away from big mountains, real climbing crags, the local gorge as well as being based on the Artro estuary. This means that our groups get to max out their experience using nature as the foundation. Rock climbing up real slabs, kayaking in moving water, hiking to the top of Yr Wyddfa or Cnicht (and others) and then spending the night back at base in our 11 acres of woodland. With the Beach just a short walk from the Centre, many of our groups like to head off site in the evening, or just spend time exploring our grounds, which has a campfire spot and a view point that looks out across the bay – perfect for group photos at sunset! As we are quite remote, there’s very little light pollution which also means when it gets dark – look up! The stars are quite spectacular and something our inner-city groups rarely experience.

CMC stands for the Christian Mountain Centre. All of our staff are committed Christians which doesn’t mean our visiting groups need to be Christians at all, but it does mean we are more than happy to share some of our personal experiences, perhaps sharing a short testimony or thought for the day.

One quote that frequently gets passed on from Group Leaders is “There’s just something about this place…” which we can only put down to the dedicated Team that we have. Groups aren’t just another number on the calendar – Our Team is committed to learning names, getting to know learning styles and working with children to progress throughout their residential. We often hear feedback where children were nervous on day one, but because the Instructors worked with them, they were doing the big jump in the Gorge on day four! In short – we are big enough to deliver, but small enough to care.

Our Bryn-y-Moel site is set in 11 acres of woodland with a hard-court area, campfire area, woodland walks, and walking distance from the beach.

LOtC quality badge

AALA Licence

Institute of Outdoor Learning

Adventure Mark

RYA

Paddle Cymru

At present, our residential Centre sleeps 48 people in en-suite rooms ranging from 2-6 people in each. We have got an exciting development project in the works to redevelop our Centre at Pensarn Harbour, which will mean we can take larger groups. Whilst we aren’t taking bookings for this at the moment, we can add you to the waiting list!

We have 11 bedrooms ranging from 2-6 beds in each, a mix of single beds and bunkbeds. Every room has its own en-suite bathroom. This Centre has a large lounge, a games room and a dining room. It also has a drying room to dry out wet clothes. We have a disabled access room which includes a wet room en-suite. (There is also disabled access at Pensarn Harbour: ramps/disabled toilet/shower room.)

We will send all relevant risk assessments prior to the groups visit.

None

• Prices will be quoted depending upon requirements, length of stay and time of year.  Basic full activity stay range from £250 per person.
• Discounts – Winter & low season prices.
• 1 in 10 paying places are complimentary.

Groups can enquire/book by either phoning the office on 01341 241646, or by emailing office@cmcadventure.org.uk.

All of our staff hold a minimum of 16 hour appropriate First Aid qualification. We have full first aid kits on both sites and in all Centre vehicles. Our Instructors also carry first aid kits when on session.

We have a lounge, dining room, games room and drying room in the Centre on our Bryn-y-Moel site which are all free for groups to use as and when. Our Harbour site has changing huts, toilets and a large dining room/lounge for groups to use at any time. We have free WiFi across both sites, at least one member of staff on site throughout the night and a Duty Phone number which is held by a Senior member of staff at all times in case of any emergencies.

We provide full-board accommodation with breakfast, packed lunch and dinner, as well as a warm mug of hot chocolate to finish the day with.

We have a disabled access bedroom which includes a wet room en-suite. There is also disabled access at Pensarn Harbour: ramps/disabled toilet/shower room.

We are open from February through to November each year. Monday – Sunday.

“We had such a good week and all thanks to you and the staff at CMC. Your Instructors are excellent. They have a magical combination of letting the children have fun, forming great relationships with them, giving great positive vibes and at the same time keeping them completely safe. This enables us as a school staff to spend more time getting to know the children and building our relationships with them. Thank you!” – Ms V. Mercey, St Andrews Primary.

“As the Headteacher at St John’s, it has been my absolute privilege to bring our school to CMC for the last 15 years. It is like coming home! Over 450 children have benefitted in their physical and social development because of being with the staff and experiencing the outdoor world. CMC Staff always go the extra mile, I have looked at other residential providers but none of them can compete. The impact I’ve seen on children over these 5-day residentials is remarkable. It has made my heart equally full to see my staff blossom there too. There really is nowhere else for Cliviger to go.” – Mrs N. Healey.

“We switched to using CMC Adventure at Pensarn approximately 5 years ago. This has been one of the best decisions we have made and would absolutely recommend any school looking for high quality outdoor adventure to use this centre. Why CMC Adventure? Everything from the amazing experiences and high quality support the children get in every session, to the excellence of the equipment, resources and other gear the children use to the warm and welcoming family atmosphere that the centre has created – the whole package ensures that by the end of the week every child has made progress whether it be in their self-confidence or in a specific skill.” – Primary School Head Teacher

• Our Harbour site is situated on the Pensarn Railway Halt which is linked to the Birmingham / Shrewsbury line. This can make transport quite straight forward. We are only 1hr coach ride from Bangor Railway Stations with a journey from London Euston Station taking around 3 ½ hours.
• Alternatively, there is a local coach company ‘Caelloi Motors’ (Tel: 01758 612719 for a quote). They know our roads and have worked with us for many years.
• If driving, our post code will bring you straight to us – LL45 2HP for Pensarn Harbour and LL45 2HU for Bryn-y-Moel.

We have easy access to Harlech Castle and Llanfair Slate caverns which can provide additional value to any stay, providing historical and heritage aspects of education.

We are also located on an estuary where a water course can be studied from source to sea, with many interesting geological formations in the Rhinog Mountain range behind us.