John Mulrooney - Eskdale, The Lake District, 1990

I was 22 years old and fed up, and my mum read an article in The Observer and paid for me to go to Eskdale as a private person, i.e., non sponsorship by a business and duly paid £525. I was the only person on my course ES2Y who actually paid themselves.
What an amazing time I had sleeping under a plastic sheet thinking about things I loved like mars bars and doing things completely out of my comfort zone like being in a team and not walking ahead of the group which I did at first.Doing the kayak challenge as a non swimmer was interesting. Zip wires outside fires singing dancing and having fun. My confidence and self-worth grew immensely, and I am now a very successful salesman and I have amassed 1 million pound sales so far this year alone the course helped me become who I am today without a doubt. We went to a school in Whitehaven and I met a typing lad called Michael I often think about him and hope he is doing ok.
The centre is superb and the tutors were fun, humorous, and very enthusiastic.
I would recommend this to anyone in a lull or needing to recharge.
It's worth every penny.
When I hear Kate Bush running up that hill, I am back with my friends and always shed a tear.