It's a bitterly cold Dorset morning and 19-year-old Gary Stephens is busy chopping wood and sharing a joke with friends. That might sound unremarkable but this is real progress for Gary.
Normally, at this time of day he would be in bed or watching TV. "I don't really do anything," says Gary, who has only attended college for a few weeks since he left school nearly three years ago. "I just hang out or go skating."
But this week is different. Gary is among a group of 16- to 19-year-olds from Buckinghamshire who are spending the half-term week taking part in a residential scheme at the Ancient Technology Centre in Dorset. The 11 young people are having to sleep inside an earth house, contend without running water and cook their food over an open fire. This is Neolithic living in all its uncomfortable glory.
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