MRC Party leader training

Once again the Bolton team fully supported the MRC (England & Wales) national party leader training course, held over the weekend of 4th – 6th July at the excellent venue of Rishworth School, Ripponden, West Yorkshire. Our team leader, Garry Rhodes, training officer Ann Shaw, and Mike Marsh all acted as course instructors and group mentors. Chris Moody once again put all into his many roles as an exercise casualty in different scenarios – including “Claude”, the French Balloon pilot!. Stephanie Holt, Dave Sarti and Fred Taylor all successfully completed the weekend and are new party leaders for our team. Along with Calder Valley MRT and NEWSART, we also provided a team landrover and kit to the course, which attracted students from the Holme Valley, Calder Valley & Oldham Teams in England, from Wales came NEWSAR and Longtown, from Scotland, Tayside, and from the Republic of Ireland, SEMRA (who were made most welcome, given their long journey to the course venue!). Instructors came from the MRC, Bolton, Calder Valley, Llanberis (include SARDA Wales), Duddon/Furness and NEWSART. Another fantastic course – thanks to the organisational input of Peter Smith (of the MRC Training subcommittee). Peter Howells also attended as an MRC observer. Special thanks are due to the Dulverton Trust, who sponsored the course via the MRC and helped to keep the costs at an acceptable level for the participants. Once again, course members from all over the UK & Ireland were introduced to the early morning pub closing times in West Yorkshire – followed by a very generous Bolton team member sharing his whisky into the small hours with others who found sleep difficult – enough said! An excellent weekend.