Les Preston - White Cliffs Group
All Ramblers groups need a plentiful supply of Walk Leaders to keep their walk programmes going successfully. Groups in Kent Area have an off-the-peg training package that they can run for their members when they need a fresh batch of enthusiastic new Walk Leaders.
Kent Area is made up of 13 Groups. Each Group generally puts on two walks per week, giving an average yearly total of over 1300 walks by Kent Area. Les Preston, the Area Vice-Chairman, realised that in order to keep a walking programme of that size going, new volunteer walk leaders would always be needed. He also knew that the best way to recruit new volunteers is by offering training and support. Leading a walk is more than just leading a walk - it involves planning the route (thinking about length and pace), doing a dummy run of the route, working out loo stops and lunchbreaks, knowing what to do in an emergency, utilising map and compass skills and most importantly, knowing whether walkers are welcome in the local pub!
Les devised a Map Reading and Navigation training programme for would-be Walk Leaders to cover the following topics:
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how to find a suitable walk (length, difficulty, parking)
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safety on the walk
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rights of way and the law
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navigation in the field (a practical five mile walk)
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map and compass skills
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pub diplomacy
However, this amount of information would require a weekend-long course – and volunteers are busy people. The solution was to send all the trainees a cd-rom (The Art of Outdoor Navigation by Martyn Hurn www.outdoornav.com) prior to the training, which covers all the theory on map reading and compass work. Trainees use this interactive learning tool at home in their own time prior to the training day, and the remainder of the training fits neatly into a comprehensive one-day course.
This course was originally developed so that White Cliffs Group could train up their own keen members. However, Les took the training package to Kent Area and suggested that the Area make it available to all 13 Groups. Groups simply “take away” the package and any experienced walk leaders can run the course for their own Group. Kent Area provided funds to purchase more cd-roms and a sum of £200 to any Group to run a course. The £200 budget helps to cover expenses like maps, photocopying, travel expenses, the training venue and refreshments. If there aren’t enough participants from one Group to justify running a course, Area encourages Groups to pool resources, perhaps by having three Groups run one course between them – a great way to foster Group co-operation.
It usually takes two days to organise the course as the organisers have to recce the practical walk beforehand, but the trainees only have to commit the one day plus the time spent using the cd-rom beforehand. All trainees receive a certificate of attendance and each course usually results in 15 newly trained up, enthusiastic new walk leaders all ready to get going!
