Registered Charity No. 508739
The Leicestershire Youth Exploration Group (LYEG) undertook its first expedition in 1966 and owes its origins to the City of Leicester Duke of Edinburgh's Award Committee and the Education Department. It subsequently evolved into a self-sufficient organisation, was awarded charitable trust status in 1978, and has since become a member of the Young Explorers' Trust developing strong links with the Commonwealth Youth Exchange Council.
The objectives of the group as set out in the constitution, are:
1) The advancement of the education of boys and girls and young persons in Leicestershire in subjects relating to the study of the environment.
2) Helping and educating boys and girls and young persons in Leicestershire by means of recreation and leisure time activities of an enterprising or exploratory nature so as to develop their physical, mental and spiritual capacities that they may grow to full maturity as individuals and members of society and their conditions of life may be improved.
In practice, LYEG seeks to achieve these objectives by providing the young people of Leicestershire with the opportunity to participate in expeditions to a variety of destinations.
The aim of each expedition is to enrich the young persons' understanding of themselves, others and their environment. This is achieved through the experience of working in teams, exploration and endeavour, friendship and shared activities with the people of the communities that are visited. In addition, each young person carries out a study of their choice in an area such as natural history, geology, agriculture or cultural studies, and is given the opportunity to undertake certain elements of the Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme.
A common theme of the expeditions is the establishment and maintenance of links with the communities visited. This has led to "formal" exchanges with groups from Kenya and Trinidad and Tobago, but there have also been a number of "informal" reciprocal visits by individuals and small groups.
Young people from Leicestershire, who will be aged 16-21 at the time of the expedition, are invited to apply. The demand for places is usually high and a selection process, consisting of a series of interviews and a final selection weekend is employed.
Each member of the expedition, including the leaders, must provide a contribution towards the overall cost by the payment of a subscription, with the difference being made up of grants, donations and fund raising. Participation in the fund raising events is a condition of acceptance on the expedition.
A full training programme (consisting of evening meetings, residential weekends and day trips) is provided in order to prepare the group for the expedition. As well as enabling the young people to build up endurance and acquire the necessary skills and knowledge, the programme is designed to further group relationships and develop team work.
Following each expedition, a comprehensive report and a slide/tape documentary are produced. It is also common for the leaders and young people to give illustrated lectures to a wide variety of sponsors, groups and societies.
LYEG's expeditions to date include:
Faroe Islands, Norway, Nova Scotia, Orkney, Andorra, Jamaica, Yugoslavia, Morocco, Trinidad & Tobago
Copyright of LYEG 1999 Webpage design by Katy Hulland