Category: Spotlights

Overwhelmed by the cosmopolitan city life? Yearning for an island getaway but don’t have the luxury of time? Now you can paddle your way to the Southern Islands of Singapore! Why take a ferry there when you can team up with your colleagues and get to Lazarus Island, St. John Island or Kusu Island on a Dragon Boat?  Uncover the mysteries of the Southern Islands of Singapore and make your island getaway a unique and thrilling experience like no others!

As a competitive sport, Dragon Boating is considered one of the toughest sport as it is not only physically demanding but mentally challenging too. It is the only sport that requires the teamwork of 10 people practising the same paddling actions simultaneously! While it may be challenging competitively, it can also be a leisurely row of the boat at your own pace. At the same time, your fellow paddlers will learn to work together to make the boat move most efficiently! What can be better than having fun while fostering bonds at the same time?

Dragon Boating is also one of the oldest sports around. It has its roots in ancient China where it was once used for religious purposes as a way of appeasing the rain gods. Dragon Boat Races came about to commemorate an ancient warrior and poet name Qu Yuan. It has a history of over 2000 years!

On 17 October, 28 youths from Singapore Children’s Society Jurong Youth Centre gathered for a morning of exciting activities. They were part of the YouthGIG Concert Team involved in the concert at Shuqun Secondary School on 27 November. Along with a team from FOCUS Adventure and subsidiary company Camp Challenge, the team building event served to bring the youth closer and push them out of their comfort zones through a series of challenging activities.

Fortunately, the weather was favourable for conducting high elements. Most of the youth were excited and eager to challenge the high elements; however there were a few who were fearful and anxious. The youth were grouped into teams, and took turns attempting the different elements. Being their maiden experience, it proved to be a challenge for most, as they slowly grew accustomed to the climbing equipment and the various call signs.

Calling all professionals from the Education, Learning and Development as well as Outdoor Adventure field. FOCUS Adventure is proud to present the latest innovation in challenge ropes course technology – the Team Challenge Hourglass (TCH). The TCH is a 24 m high challenge tower consisting of 24 different challenges, and is designed to stimulate maximum participant engagement and learning. It operates on a continuous belay system, which is easy for participants to use and significantly enhances their safety.

FOCUS Adventure would like to invite Instructors, Trainers, Educators, Facilitators and anyone from the people development field to join the TCH accreditation programmes. These programmes will allow you to guide and lead your own groups on the TCH. There are two levels of certification programmes:

1. Team Challenge Hourglass Instructor Certification
This certification will provide participants with a standardized understanding of the essential skills needed to perform effectively as an instructor on the Team Challenge Hourglass (TCH), and allows instructors to guide groups on the TCH, under the supervision of a Certified TCH Supervisor.

2. Team Challenge Hourglass Supervisor Certification
This course is designed for experienced instructors who intend to lead groups on the TCH, and will equip participants with the knowledge and skills to safely supervise participants and lead other instructors on the TCH. This certification allows supervisors to lead groups and manage certified TCH instructors on the TCH.

In 2016, FOCUS Adventure has successfully re-oriented its business structure towards the social enterprise model and officially become a member of raiSE, the Centre for Social Enterprise.

FOCUS Adventure believes in the importance of giving back to the society by linking up between our corporate clients and beneficiaries. By identifying the needs of the beneficiaries, FOCUS Adventure provides a platform through programmes (The CSR Challenge!) and support through channeling of resources to meet those needs.

Social Mission

– To Facilitate CSR Programmes and Resources between Corporate and VWOs.

Four Key Commitments:

1.    To Facilitate CSR Programmes between Corporate Clients and VWOs.

2.    To Channel CSR Resources from Corporate Clients to Identified Needs of VWOs.

3.    To Identify, Engage and Develop Under-privileged Youths for Employment in FOCUS Adventure through Adventure Learning Methodology and the Alpha Challenge Scholarship, so as to bring about a Higher Self-esteem, Self-confidence and Self-reliance in the Individual.

4.    To Participate and Contribute in the Building of a Community, and the Spirit and Ethos of Social Enterprises in Singapore through Dialogue, Engagement and Process Facilitation.

On 24^th March 2016, as early as 0800 hrs, 1,300 staff from a global early education organisation arrived at FOCUS Adventure; on the sandy beach of the State of Fun, Sentosa for their Staff Day. This is the first time all six early childhood education brands from the organisation in Singapore came together.

It was an extremely hot day but the heat did not dry up the passion and enthusiasm of the fun loving staff who tried their hands on the “Sporty” and “Creative” activities such as building race cars out of limited cardboards and other resources, rowing in our unique dragon boats, kayaking and FOCUS Adventure’s latest activity; The Bubble Challenge!, just to name a few.

The main highlight was the Cardboard Race Car competition. A total of 92 teams raced in a unique relay, 2 “drivers” (2 members from each team) had to race while wearing their own custom built cardboard cars. The difficulty of the race was raised as the “drivers” were blindfolded and needed to be guided by another team member.

Unkown to the participants, their organisation was in the midst of setting a new Singapore Book of Records. 4 rounds of Heats and the Finals were conducted under the invigilation of the representative from Singapore Book of Records. Under the scorching hot sun, the fastest car emerged after 30 minutes of racing and a new Singapore Book of Records for the “Largest Wearable Cardboard Box Race” was set with a total of 282 people in 141 wearable cardboard cars.

Other highlights of the day included the generous prizes awarded to the best teams for the following activities;

The Sandcastle Challenge!
The Alpha Link Challenge!
The Trebuchet Challenge!
The Dodge Ball Challenge!

Prizes were also awarded to the Top 5 teams with the Best Cardboard Race Car Design and Fastest in completing the Cardboard Race Car.

The Staff Day ended successfully with the Singapore Book of Records Award being presented to the group’s CEO!

More information on the Singapore Book of Records awarded to our client can be found in the following link: http://singaporerecords.com/largest-wearable-cardboard-box-race/

On 22^nd May 2016, a total of 15 FOCUS Adventure partners, 20 Chinese Development Assistance Council (CDAC) staff, 40 Bank of China (BOC) volunteers collaborated together to give 260 beneficiaries (from 2 years old to 76 years old) across 70 families, a day of fun and importantly, quality family time. This Family Bonding Day is part of FOCUS Adventure’s ongoing CSR efforts to strengthen family relationships through our experiential activities. For many of the families, it was their first time visiting Sentosa together. Through our customised incredible race, they experienced the essence of family bonds and cross family collaboration.

The event was graced by Miss Low Yen Ling, Parliamentary Secretary for the Ministry of Education Ministry of Trade and Industry. Miss Low joined in the families during the race as they participated together in the team challenges. It was very heartwarming to see the families constantly encouraging each other as they face certain difficulties during the challenges. In fact, the children were often the ones leading their parents in overcoming those challenges, and were a source of motivation for them. The ethos of family spirit was reflected and constantly built up throughout the whole programme, which resulted in stronger bonds for all families.

Camp Simba is a 3-day-2-night camp for the children of cancer patients. Since it was conceived in 2009, this annual camp has been a huge success and is now an integral part of SingHealth and HCA Hospice Care’s annual programmes for their patients’ children. On top of that, three follow-up reunions are scheduled after the official camp, where Facilitators and children meet up once again for 1-day retreats, offering year-long support for the children.

For the 2nd year running, FOCUS Adventure is very proud to be given the opportunity to contribute, through the sponsorship of our site and facilities in Sentosa. On the 1st day of Camp Simba 2016, approximately 60 children and 40 student Facilitators gathered at our Learning Facility for a day of exciting activities. In the morning portion, the children went through a series of ice-breaking activities in the function rooms, and the atmosphere was lively and energetic. In the afternoon portion, the children were given a hands on experience on kayaking and rafting. Guided and led by their student Facilitators, the children worked as a TEAM to paddle their kayaks or rafts and move forward on the sea. It  was definitely a good experience for many of them, on top of that a rare opportunity where they are able to experience such water sports.

On 22nd July 2016, approximately 165 participants from MSD Pharma (Singapore) Pte Ltd and 60 elderly from SASCO Senior Citizens’ Home spent an afternoon together in Sentosa’s S.E.A Aquarium. It was part of MSD Singapore’s IT Bonding and Volunteering Day, in which the participants went through a fun-filled teambuilding session in the morning, followed by the volunteering segment in the afternoon.

The participants are split into groups of 2 or 3, accompanying the elderly into S.E.A. Aquarium. Each elderly was given a colorful passport which contains photos of the diverse species of marine animals that S.E.A Aquarium has. Whenever they spot and identify a marine animal, the participants will use an ink chop to indicate on their passport. This makes the whole session more engaging for the elderly, and they get to know the names of the marine animal as well.

Most of the elderly had difficulties in walking and had to be in wheelchairs. Throughout the whole session, the participants were more cautious and took the extra effort to make sure the elderly were well taken care of. Through this form of interaction, they showed a different side of them which fellow colleagues will not be able to see during normal work circumstances. Even though some of the participants had difficulties in  communicating with the elderly due to language barriers, they were able to adapt quickly and communicate via hand gestures and body movement, which the elderly can see and understand. It was indeed a very heartwarming sight to witness.

All in all, it was a fruitful day for both the elderly and the participants. For many of the elderly, it was their first time in S.E.A Aquarium, and being up close to so many species of marine animals was definitely an eye-opener and a good experience for them.  For the participants, it was a meaningful day away from their daily work routines. Albeit short, the time spent with the elderly is memorable and the takeaways are vast.

Around 40 participants comprising of clients and their loved ones travelled down to Sentosa, The State of Fun on 23^rd October 2016 to participate in the PokeGO Party, hosted by the combined effort of FOCUS Adventure and Outdoor Adventures.

With their own strategies in mind, participants went out in different directions after the briefing in a bid to win top prizes for the Highest Combat Power Pokemon caught during the party, as well as the “Most Liked” Instagram photos with the hash tags #FOCUSAdventure and #PokeGOParty.

Participants were spoilt of choice for Pokestops to go to as the FOCUS Adventure and Outdoor Adventures facilitators continuously placed lures at all Pokestops along the entire stretch of beach from 11am to 3pm. Visitors were also invited to join in the fun of catching Pokemons too.

By 2.30pm, most of the participants were already heading back to the end point to register their catch of the day with most looking tired, but satisfied. While the scores were being tabulated, participants enjoyed a trip back to their childhood as episodes of Pokemon were screened in our function room, starting from the very first season.

By the end of the party, FOCUS Adventure and Outdoor adventures gave out $260 worth of ITunes and Google play gift cards, and free Sailing sessions to 5 eventual winners and we congratulate them once more.

Participants also got to try their hands on our newest activities such as the Combat Laser Guns, Archery Tag and Bubble Soccer. It was indeed a pleasant sight watching the families and friends try out the activities and having fun.

We sincerely thank all the participants for joining in the fun and allowing us to spread the spirit of team and family bonding, especially to new friends that we met for the first time. We look forward to seeing you at the next event.