Peterborough Ramblers needs your help

By Barry Creamer

One of the aims of Peterborough Ramblers is the constant development and expansion of our Thursday and Sunday Walks Programme and of our list of Walk Leaders, in order to ensure that we don’t depend on the same leaders too often, and we are always finding new walks to explore.

As a result of this aim, we wish to encourage our regular walkers to become Novice Leaders through a process of mentoring, buddy support and of course appropriate training.

We also wish to encourage our existing Leaders to introduce a few new walks into their repertoire, as well as reintroducing old favourites that we haven’t walked for a while.

In order to achieve these ends, your ideas and suggestions are requested.  In fact, more than that, your ideas and suggestion are utterly essential to make this happen.

Walk Leaders Focus

Recently the General Council of the Ramblers, highlighted concerns regarding a potential issue with Walk Leaders – namely the retention of existing walk leaders and the induction of new Leaders into our merry band.

Indeed. I think it should be said at once that the strength of Peterborough Ramblers is the level of active membership.  But we should also remember that what binds all of us, as members of the group together, is the Walk Leaders.

Ramblers’ GB already provides educational and training events via online Team/Zoom meeting programme.  These are informative and practical and are highly recommended – and this means that for anyone thinking of being a walk leader, there is plenty of support and help available from the start.  As a new walk leader you are not just pitched in – you are given all the support and guidance that you need and want.

And so, your Committee is planning to focus on supporting the Ramblers’ Walk Leaders aims and objectives.  As a group we will continue to encourage and support all our Walk Leaders as well as seeking to recruit additional Leaders to strengthen the Group’s core purpose of providing walks of interest for our members.

But if we really can expand the number of Walk Leaders there will be benefits for everyone in the group, including such possible new ventures as the introduction of additional members’ favourite walks, as well as an increased level of support for Sunday and Thursday walks.

So what we are doing now is requesting ideas, suggestions and practical elements in order for us to achieve our aims of expanding the number of walks and of increasing the number of Walk Leaders, while of course giving our full support for our walks coordinators Stan and Jean.

If you would like to explore the possibility of becoming an occasional Walk Leader, please do get in touch with Barry Creamer on acbcann@gmail.com

And please do remember, without our walk leaders, there is no Peterborough Ramblers, so I really do hope you might consider volunteering, even if for only one walk a year.