We are always keen to encourage SHR members to support us by joining our enthusiastic band of walk leaders. This enables us to offer a wider range of walking opportunities and helps to keep group sizes to a manageable level.
If you are interested in becoming a walk leader for SHR please talk to any of our existing leaders to find out what is involved and/or contact our Walks Programme Coordinator by emailing walks.
In order to find out more about what is involved in walk leading, the Ramblers main website now holds a great deal of guidance, information and other documents which are accessible to anyone, see here.
Firstly the Walk Leader Handbook. This sets out eight guiding principles that will help you lead walks with confidence. It takes you through what a walk leader needs to consider when planning and leading a group walk and draws on best practice from within Ramblers.
Next, we invite you to contact our Walks Programme Coordinator to discuss what you would like to offer. You will need to be a Ramblers member and to have set up a My Ramblers Account. The Coordinator (Group Chair or Membership Secretary) can then get you registered as a volunteer on the Ramblers system. They will need your contact details and Ramblers membership number to do this. Once registered as a volunteer, you will have access to the Ramblers online training courses that will help you develop the skills needed to lead walks.
There are two (free) training courses that we recommend to all leaders. From May 2024 these are mandatory for new walk leaders. The first Walk Leadership Foundations course goes through the ethos of the Ramblers, how to choose a walk, matters to consider in planning and so forth. The second course, Preventing and Managing Incidents covers preparation (eg doing a recce, checking the weather forecast, packing a first aid kit), and what to do in the event of an incident. Each course can be undertaken in your own time and can be done and saved in sections along the way.
In person training
From time to time, Surrey Area Ramblers offer walk leader training courses that are open to all Ramblers members of Surrey groups like SHR. When available, details of these courses will be published on the Surrey Ramblers website. They are complemented by our own walk leading and navigation classes, details of which will be published in our email newsletters.
Other support
We can help by putting you in touch with a more experienced leader, who can serve as a buddy, and guide you through the early stages of leading walks. You might also begin by co-leading walks with another leader.
Choosing a route
You might choose to start by leading a walk close to home or one that you are familiar with. In addition, there are plenty of resources available online, including Ramblers Routes, and the National Trust
Digital Aids
Having digital route planning software on your laptop and mobile phone is invaluable in helping with route planning. There are many to choose between. Two of those that our leaders often use are OSmaps and Mapy.cz, both have to be paid for on subscription but are well worth investing in.
