MORE WALKS LEADERS NEEDED
Eve Norton – with
help now from Jean Todd – is doing a tremendous job in
producing, every four months, an exciting programme of varied
walks - long, short, “in between”; some local, some further
afield; some easy, others a bit more challenging. To keep this
up, with the objective of providing a varied choice of walks
every Wednesday and Sunday throughout the year, is no mean task
and is only likely to be achievable in the long term if we can
recruit more volunteers from amongst the membership to lead
walks.
At the request of the committee, I have been talking to a number
of people recently on walks to try to encourage them to “take
the plunge”. From responses I have received I sense that whilst
there is in general a willingness to help in this way, there is
a certain lack of confidence regarding what might be involved.
My advice is,
until you give it a go, you won’t know what a satisfying and
rewarding experience leading a group walk can be. And there’s
plenty of help available out there! My suggestion would be, for
a first-timer, choose a walk from one of the group’s own
Rambling for Pleasure books. These are always very popular, and
the books are well-recognised as being exceptionally well
written and the routes easy to follow. If you still feel
hesitant about your initial venture – or are perhaps a little
nervous about going out on your own to check-out your chosen
walk – there are plenty of experienced leaders who have said
they would be happy to accompany you initially. We could make
sure this happens and - if you want - make sure someone who
knows the route well, is with you on the big day as well!
So you wouldn’t be on your own. Why not give it a try? We’re waiting to hear from you
David Bailey February 2011