By: Blonde Two

Our recent day at the launch of the new Ordnance Survey GetOutside Champions was great fun. We stayed at the Careys Manor Hotel in the New Forest and we were once again treated to a day full of meeting amazingly inspirational people. We felt privileged to be part of this exciting group of people.

We chatted a lot, we were photographed a lot, we were quizzed a lot, we drank a lot of coffee, we listened a lot, and a lot of people said: ‘aah I’m so pleased to finally meet the Two Blondes’!

We listened to OS explain to us that teenagers spend an average of 6 hours a day in front of a screen, that they will – for the first time ever – die 5 years earlier than their parents, and that 80% of adults do less than 10 minutes of continuous activity a day. These statistics are staggering and were a stark reminder of why OS are so keen to appoint Champions as their ‘face and voice’, encouraging and inspiring as many people as possible to Get Outside. We also listened to Sean Conway tell of his adventures around the UK, on foot, bike and in water.

During the evening we were treated to a talk from the one and only Ben Fogle who himself is a Champion and a constant inspiration to us all to Get Outside and do something active: either big or small.

The Two Blondes were proud to be sat at the ‘top table’ at dinner, and enjoyed listening to more stories from Ben and Sean along with the brilliant OS staff.

Although we had to be up early to head back to Devon, we did manage a delicious breakfast to set us up for the day ahead. We left the rest of the Champions to have a walk around the New Forest. We will definitely be back to explore another day.