As a group we spent 12 weeks exploring parts of Portsmouth Diverse City Trail to widen our knowledge of Portsmouth! Some highlights included Victoria park, Guildhall Square/Hive and John Pounds Centre.
We then reached our final aim which was to create 2 consecutive trails of our own; The Aquarium Trail and Spice Island trail.

Placement Objectives:
- To work with prominent creatives in Portsmouth on an ongoing project creating the Portsmouth Diverse City Trail, this will include writing, digitalising, social media use, and creating.
- To understand and advocate for the 17 Sustainable Goals as part of this project.
- To undertake training and create a vlog/presentation throughout the programme.
- To give PGS students experience in the wider community, working independently, taking their own initiative and responsibility.
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Hector - I very much enjoyed working on the Diverse City Trail, it was a nice change to get outside and into the fresh air. Furthermore, having not ever explored Portsmouth since I have been at school here from Year 7, it was very interesting to see what Portsmouth has to offer and also to be a part of sharing these opportunities with other people that may be in a similar situation to myself, or may have just not had the chance to experience them yet. I especially found it enjoyable to actively work on the projects instead of just doing it from a classroom, such as heading out into Portsmouth to walk the trails to get an idea of what they are like.

Alice - This CAW option was a really good opportunity to go out into the city and look at different places around the city that I may never have been to or have been to and didn't realise the opportunities and work that they did. This was a very unique experience for me since having been to this school since year 3 and thinking I knew quite a lot about Portsmouth when I only knew the basics. It was a great chance to work in teams along with Steve and Clair in order to create something that we were all passionate about. Going on the trails to experience what they were supposed to look like and do was a great chance to further improve our knowledge of the trails but also was a great afternoon out in the sun with a good hot chocolate at the end.

Liberty - I really enjoyed the opportunity to do something outside my school studies. I enjoyed the chance to work with different members of my year to achieve a shared goal. I found it interesting to learn about what Clair and Steve did, and found it inspiring to see what great work they’ve achieved within the community already. It was cool to be introduced to a new type of software, Thinglink, and to be shown how to use it. I also really enjoyed participating in a couple of the trails and getting outside into the fresh air. It was also nice to visit parts of my home city that I don’t go to very often, I especially liked going to the library and the Guildhall and hearing from the lady at the Hive.

Zack: Really enjoyed the programme over the last few months. In the first few weeks it was very insightful to be able to visit some areas of the city that I probably would never have visited. From the Cafe at Guildhall Square to the John Pounds centre. I developed more of an understanding of how the community projects around the city help many different people in their lives.
In the classroom it was interesting learning about how Seekers uses technology and interactive maps to make trails all around Portsmouth and it was enjoyable to have a go at making our own with the rest of the class and eventually coming out with something tangible to show for our effort.
Something I found was that in the early weeks when we were taking photos of the different locations around Portsmouth I felt like they did not get used to their maximum potential and it may have been useful if there was a clearer framework for how to quickly and efficiently make trails for areas around Portsmouth, however on the whole it was fascinating to see the different areas of Portsmouth.
Really enjoyed the programme and had some great experiences, while learning at the same time, thanks Clair and Steve!

Noah - The Portsmouth Diverse City Trail was an enjoyable experience that I am glad that I got the opportunity to take part in. We began by walking some of the routes that had been made to help people see all areas of Portsmouth and to help us gain inspiration. This was a very enjoyable experience. We were then given free reign to create whatever trail we wanted and we began planning. The group that I was in created a trail that was designed to help people experience all of the marine wildlife and ecosystem that is available in Portsmouth. I was very happy with the trail that we created but what I most enjoyed was the process of creating it.

Susie - I really enjoyed taking part in the Portsmouth Diverse City Trail as part of my CAW program. It gave us a wide variety of different activities to participate in each week that meant that there were different points of interest for everyone. At the start of the program we visited many different places around the city such as the Guildhall and the Library (speaking to the organisation Hive) as well as visiting Victoria Park. This was very interesting as I got to learn about the history of the city as well as find many different aspects of the city that I never knew were there. We also took part in some of the existing trails that have been made by Seekers to give us ideas of how we could make one ourselves to interest families in Portsmouth, specifically targeting our school. Our final task was to create our own trail in which my group were forming a trail to the Aquarium by taking in sites along the way that families could stop off at and see many different areas along the seafront. Clair and Steve were a huge help in this process as they taught us how to use new technology as well as inspiring us with new ideas.

Verity - The Portsmouth Diverse City Trail was a part of my CAW programme that I thoroughly enjoyed. It was a unique experience that enabled me to engage in a variety of activities by visiting various attractions around Portsmouth that I would have otherwise never have visited. A highlight for me was the visit to Guildhall Walk in which we got to experience the music exhibition as well as educating ourselves on the organisation Hive Portsmouth. We also had the opportunity to take part in an existing trail created by Clair and Steve, which involved the use of Braille to identify the code to achieve a hot drink courtesy of Casemates Studios. The Seekers Create trails then inspired us to invent one of our own, with the advice and inspiration of both Clair and Steve my group were able to come up with a trail that includes the use of digital QR codes to achieve letters. Each letter is then designed to educate you on a specific part of the Spice Island area such as the Hotwall Studios.

Bianka - As someone who is not local to Portsmouth, I really enjoyed taking part in the Diverse City Trail. I had the opportunity to discover new places whilst working alongside my peers and developing skills like teamwork along the way. Both Clair and Steve were really inspiring and taught us a lot about what they have achieved within the community and how we can do the same. I particularly liked visiting the different trails and completing research to help create our very own trail! Overall, I really valued the experience, thank you Clair and Steve!