On Friday 10 th August, we embarked upon our annual Turn Key away day for what was to be an experience never to forget. Planned to perfection by our lovely Business Support Executive, Kirsty, this year’s action-packed day of fun was at Nero Training near York, situated on the Ampleforth College estate.
After a shaky journey in which our old coach struggled to climb the steep North Yorkshire hills, we were split on our arrival into three teams – ‘Mustang’, ‘Sabre’ and ‘Panther’. As we gathered in our groups it became obvious that Team Panther – featuring (by random selection) some of Turn Key’s strongest, most active and most competitive members – was a clear favourite.
After an inspiring pep talk from Nik and Nero Training leader Neil – we headed outside to begin the day. An intense “warm-up†had us piggy backing each other, mastering the art of star jumps and jogging around an idyllic lake. We then commenced our first challenge, a time trial to dismantle, move and rebuild a canon with two (very heavy) tyres, an oil can and a giant log. We were instructed to do the same thing three times, using strategy to improve our times and delegating responsibilities based on strength, ability and capacity – a typical day in the office for us!
After a short lunch, we then completed the second round of challenges – building a catapult, passing a ball around a circle without our hands and, a highlight of the day for most of us, riding Segways – a special mention must go to Derrick and Christian who, despite being given firm reassurance that it was impossible, achieved some impressive falls.
The final challenge of the day saw us transform from creative professionals into soldiers of the British Army – our mission (and we chose to accept it) was to locate water and supplies needed by refugees across the lake. It was a race against time to orienteer through the forest to find the supplies, build a raft and successfully paddle it across the lake. Unaware of our scores from the previous tasks, each team was determined to be the first to get across.
Thanks to their athletic prowess, Team Panther were the first to reach the supplies and soon started work on building an interesting shaped raft. In second place, Mustang took their time and put together an incredible floating creation. Paul’s experience of watching Bear Grylls paid off as their raft triggered approving nods from the coaches as it entered the lake. The underdogs, Team Sabre, reached the supplies somewhat belatedly. With no knowledge of how to tie knots and limited resources available, they quickly hatched a plan to copy Mustang’s design and get it in the water as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, by the time the somewhat unsturdy raft was ready to depart, Panther had already reached the imaginary refugees and Mustang was half way there. But with admirable strength and heroic integrity, James and Phill mounted the strange contraption and paddled across the lake, with Nicole and Gina swimming alongside, pushing.
Cold and wet, we posed for our team photo with pride. Derrick may have turned blue in the lake, Christian may have had a disastrous fall and Nik’s hair may have fallen out of place for the first time in 13 years (according to Rich), but we felt good. So good in fact that finding a frog in the shower afterwards did not even dampen our spirits!
During a well-deserved three course meal at the nearby Fairfax Arms ,the  surprising results were announced along with the long awaited Turn Key Awards Ceremony. Congratulations to the winners, TEAM MUSTANG who consistently excelled in every task, meaning Panther’s victory at the raft challenge and Sabre’s unrivalled Segway performance were pipped to the post.
With aching muscles and happy memories made, we’re now back in the office working as one strong team and looking forward to next year’s away day already.
