2nd Ahoghill Company Section leaders Jonathan McCartney, Ryan Young and Thomas Clarke attended an Expedition & Outdoor Leadership training course in Newcastle, County Down.
The training weekend was held in Greenhill YMCA centre, situated on the slopes of Slieve Donard. The course would teach participants all they would need in order to train and supervise expeditions in normal country terrain. Meaning boys would be able to achieve their Bronze and Silver Duke of Edinburgh awards through 2nd Ahoghill.
The leaders arrived at Greenhill on Friday night and after being registered, shared a time of devotions with the other officers. After introducing themselves, the course leaders gave a brief overview of what lay ahead during the weekend.
Friday night focused mainly on the legislation and regulations involved in planning an expedition. A series of presentations covered topics such as Child Protection, Health & Safety, Team Management, Land Access and the Leave No Trace principles. Fortunately these talks were broken up with a hands on discussion about clothing and kit, as well as a short interlude for supper. The night’s training session was closed in prayer, and the leaders retired to their accommodation to get some sleep.
On Saturday morning we finished the last of our training presentations before splitting into groups to carry out a route card exercise. This involved planning the route we would be hiking later in the day, using our map and compass skills. After completing our route cards, the groups were transported by minibus to Trassey Track about 4 miles east of the YMCA center.
Each group had a slightly different route, but they all involved hiking around Luke’s Mountain before entering Tullymore Forest Park and making our way back to Greenhill. The rain, which had started as a mild drizzle, steadily increased as the day went on; however this gave us a good opportunity to test our boots and waterproofs. During the hike, each group member had the opportunity to take compass bearings and lead the group during several legs of the route.
On arrival at Greenhill that evening, we discovered the site allocated for our tents was waterlogged. The course leaders hesitantly decided we would be unable to camp overnight as planned. With no alternate accommodation, the remainder of the training schedule was postponed and the participants were allowed to go home.
A follow up hike was organised to address the areas of training that hadn’t been covered.