At Pen Y Bryn Outdoor Learning CIC, we pride ourselves on the passion and dedication of our team. Recently we’ve been thrilled to celebrate the remarkable achievements of one of our own, Rachael, who has recently achieved two qualifications in the outdoors: the Mountain Training Lowland Leader certification and the Royal Lifesaving Society Open Water Lifeguard Qualification. These accomplishments mark a significant milestone in her journey, enabling her to offer our community new, exciting, and safe outdoor experiences.
The Mountain Training Lowland Leader certification is no small feat. It required extensive training, logging 20 walks of over 4 hours in the forests, coastline and lowlands of North Wales, then attending a two-day training course detailing navigation and leadership. Following this, she spent two days on assessment in the pouring rain in Llanberis!
The certification permits Rachael to lead groups of walkers through lowland terrain, ensuring their safety while sharing her passion for nature and exploration. She will also be able to join our team of instructors to assist with Duke of Edinburgh expeditions.
To support her learning, Rachael has also achieved a qualification in outdoor first aid, mental health first aid and safeguarding, as well as having a level 3 qualification in counselling skills and theory.
Rachael has been able to undertake these qualifications as she applied to become a volunteer Walk Leader with the charity Wellness Walks. Wellness walks provides a range of walks across the UK in the wonder of nature that are totally free to participants – they intend for as many people as possible to be able to benefit from safe, supported walks that leave them feeling better than they were before. All of their walks are led by leaders who aren’t just qualified in keeping you physically safe – but are also trained to support your mental wellbeing, to facilitate conversations, listen and empower the attendees. Rachael was trained by International Mountain Leader and founder of Wellness Walks, Kelvyn James.
Rachael has also been funded by The Outdoor Partnership to achieve the Open Water Lifeguard qualification, enabling her to add lake and river swims to her walks for those wanting to access wild swimming in Eryri safely. She was trained by Adam and Stacy at ASB Training, who are both lifeguards and NHS paramedics.
Rachael will be offering a series of free-of-charge wild swims to parents of disabled children this summer, with dates to be released soon.
Stay tuned for more information on what Rachael will be offering, and in the meantime you can check out the walk she’s leading this week at https://wellnesswalks.org.uk/walks/cwm-idwal-walk/
Congratulations again to Rachael on her incredible achievement. We’re incredibly excited for her, on a personal level as well as how this is going to enrich Pen Y Bryn’s services even further.
