RHES Take the Leap of Faith

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RHES (Reaseheath Herpetological and Entomological Society) took the leap of faith organised by Reaseheath’s own Adventure Sports students in aid of North Wales Reptile and Raptor Sanctuary (NWRR). One of RHES’s aims is to support a related charity through their work. This year they are supporting NWRR and have already raised some money during the lambing weekends at the zoo.

Jamie Vince takes the leap of faith

Jamie Vince takes the leap of faith

The leap of faith took some serious courage! RHES members were challenged to climb the 45ft pole, clamber on to a platform and then leap into the air to hit a target without losing their nerve. The participating students who took the leap collected sponsorship and raised an incredible total of £273.83.

Many supporters turned out to cheer the group on along with the support and encouragement from the Adventure Sports students who were holding the ropes in which their harnesses were attached to. The brave fundraisers will be visiting NWRR later this month to present the charity with the money they have raised. The funds raised will help the charity do the amazing work they have been doing rescuing, rehabilitating and rehoming/releasing injured and neglected reptiles and birds of prey.

RHES members prepare themselves

RHES members prepare themselves

 

 

 

Well done to RHES and many thanks to the Adventure Sports students for their support.

 

 

 

 

 

RHES help monitor Britain’s rarest toad – the Natterjack Toad

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On the evening of May 7th after dusk RHES (Reaseheath Herpetological and Entomological Society) assisted the field studies centre in North Wales with a very important data collection survey to help us understand Britain’s rarest toad, the Natterjack Toad.

After a two hour classroom session learning about the history, ecology and behavior of the Natterjacks RHES headed out with trained volunteers to collect some important data which will help authorities understand this species better. The huge team of people managed to cover three sites where the toads are known to be present. All Natterjacks were collected weighed, measured and sexed before being released back into their breeding pools under a license as this species is protected by the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

On the night a successful 110 Natterjack toads were collected and processed a small number of Common Toads were relocated to another site to reduce competition for the Natterjack Toad.

During the evening RHES learnt some valuable fieldwork techniques and had a great time whilst collecting valuable data for one of our most threatened species.

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Falling for Adventure

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Adventure Sports degree students spent the day jumping off a rock face to practice taking ‘lead falls’ when climbing on ‘Trad’ routes.

Mountaineering Instructor, Simon Wells explained “Trad or traditional climbing is where the climber places removable pieces of metal in the natural cracks in the rock then attaches them to the specially made climbing rope. If the climber falls they fall as far as that piece of metal plus the amount of rope. It can be very scary!”

“The psychological pressure of the fear of falling is immense. When you are lead climbing on trad gear your mind may focus on your gear, worrying if it will hold a fall. You need to be focusing on the climb. But that fear can make your hands over grip then your movements become stiff and jerky and your climbing deteriorates. The pressure of the fear of falling can make it really hard to climb at the top of your game.”

“As you can see from the picture we put an orange rope above each climber, this was secured to the top of the crag and operated by an experienced climber. This allows the climber to ‘lead’ the climb placing pieces of gear. At each one they weigh it, then jump down a little way, then finally they take a full lead fall onto the gear.”

“It gave the climbers real confidence to know the gear they placed could really do the job. It also gave them the chance to practice falling and using the ‘land like a cat’ technique we taught during the indoor climbing module.”

When you trust your gear you can climb at a whole new level. But it is vitally important to learn in a safe way with an experienced instructor who can help you reduce the risk to an acceptable level, and use their coaching skills to get the most out of each fall.

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Searching for Narnia?

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While the rest of the country fights the winter weather Reaseheath Uniformed and Public services students put into practice the Search and Rescue skills they have developed with Matt Daily-Hunt, Lecturer and Search and Rescue Technician.

“Despite heavy snow and dense woodland the students acting as Search Controllers managed to co-ordinate their teams to search each block of forest. It made for realistic search conditions and tested the search teams ability to work in close woodland with heavy snow.” described Matt, “They managed to find the Missing Person, who was found in one of the remoter blocks that the Student Controllers sent their teams to last.”

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Award in Leadership

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Senior Instructor, Mike Ryder from Action Centres Whitemoor Lake assessed BTEC Adventure Sports Students for their Award in Assisting in Basic Expedition Leadership. Mike who did his BTEC in Adventure Sports used his experience of leading teams of Adventure Instructors to help the students develop their leadership skills.

Mike reckons that by coming to Reaseheath and grabbing all the extra courses on offer he had a huge head start in his career, getting to Senior Instructor at least five years earlier than his peers. The Award in Assisting in Basic Expedition Leadership is just one of 11 extra Adventure Sports Coaching courses that Reaseheath run. This week alone saw a Climbing Wall Award Assessment for 6 students, all of whom passed and a British Canoe Union Level 2 Coaching course.

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Climbing Success!

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As part of the Professional Courses at Reaseheath Adventure Sports 6 students passed their Climbing Wall Award assessment (CWA). Having already completed the two day training and been developing their group work skills it was a nervous day for the successful candidates, many of whom have gained work in Climbing Walls on the strength of their CWA.

Simon Wells, who co-ordinates the Professional Program said, “We try to keep assessments as calm and relaxed as possible. Candidates bring enough stress of their own, even though all 6 candidates were strong and easily meet the CWA standard they all went away having learnt a little bit more about teaching climbing.”

“Unusually the group was all current Reaseheath students, normally we have a few former students and members of the public. We used Awesome Walls, Stockport for the assessment, with six of our students using the colleges 12m high lead wall would have been limiting their chance to show off their skills.”

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Olympian Kayaking

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Leo Hoare  from Getafix Coaching is working with Reaseheath Adventure Sports Students and members of the public to deliver the British Canoe Union Level 2 Coach training. Richard Hathway, Lecture in Adventure Sports and BCU tutor is working alongside Leo and says “It’s a real privilege to have a top coach like Leo running our courses, not only do our students get the BCU Level 2 at over 40% off, but they have one of the best trainers in the UK. Just to get on this course they have to have done their BCU 3 Star and Level 1 coaching course. Luckily for our students these are a standard part of our practical courses. Getting these opportunities for our students is what sets our Reaseheath Adventure Sports courses apart.”

Leo’s commitment to paddling and coaching runs through his life from competing at an Olympic level to instructing kayaking at the National Outdoor Centre, Plas Y Brenin he brings that passion to his courses.

Even the wild Welsh winter in his home by the River Dee didn’t stop him getting to Reaseheath “Yes, the road was closed due to snow drifts”, calmly explained Leo, “so I abandoned the trailer of kayaks in a drift, as I know Reaseheath has several fleets of boats. Lucky I was in a 4 x 4 and proper tyres so I could still get through to run these course.”

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Qualified for Adventure

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The last week of the winter term is packed full of extra extreme sports qualifications for Reaseheath Adventure Students.

The diploma courses and foundation degree’s are an important part of how we help you to succeed in the adventure industry. You need extra qualifications to run climbing, kayaking and canoeing sessions professionally. Reaseheath Adventure Sports is a regional centre for running these professional courses for the British Canoe Union, Mountain Training Board and other extreme sports. In just one week a BCU level 2 course is  running, as well as a Climbing Wall Award Training, a Climbing Wall Award Assessment and Single Pitch Award Training.

In the summer term Archery Leader, Bushcraft and Outdoor First Aid courses are running alongside BCU level 1’s, Climbing Wall Awards, Single Pitch Awards and Summer Mountain Leader training and assessment.

Simon Wells, who co-ordinates all these course and delivers the Mountain Training Board and First Aid commented, “ I don’t know of any other college who runs course’s on this scale, some places promise, then struggle to deliver, we are having to put on extra courses to meet demand from our students and the public. Our students can claim up to 60% funding for these courses, so not only more types of course, more often but also at a lower price.”

“You need these extra courses to work in the adventure industry,” explained Simon. “ That’s why we run them, we train you to climb, paddle and navigate as part of your course. Then when you have the necessary experience we run the extra course.”

“I can’t tell you which other local colleges send their staff to our courses, but you would be surprised at who learns alongside our students then goes back to their own college to teach it! Some local outdoor companies are almost totally staffed by our current and former students because of the huge extra programme of professional courses we run” Simon added.

If you want a list of courses we always welcome suitably experienced members of the public, but only Reaseheath students can claim the 60% funding.

Contact Simon on 01270 613218 or email simon.wells@reaseheath.ac.uk for more information on our professional qualifications.

Climbing

Climbing

Climbing

RHES take Advantage of Animal Management Trips Week

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During Animal Management trips week some of Reaseheath Herpetological and Entomological Society (RHES) took advantage of their trip to Birmingham Nature Centre and went behind the scenes at the herpetology department.

Adam Radovanovic the Curator of Herpetology at Birmingham Nature Centre took RHES through the exhibits and then the two off show houses. Adam explained about the valuable conservation work they were doing at Birmingham for a number of reptile species including the venomous Mexican Beaded Lizards (Heloderma horridum) and Madagascan Tree Boas (Sanzinia madagascariensis.

Students from RHES had the opportunity to ask Adam about the plans for the future and for the animals that they have at the Zoo. RHES left Birmingham Nature Centre so impressed that some members even picked up work experience forms. A great experience for our students to make connections and to see the real work going on behind the scenes at our zoological collections in the UK.

For more information on the Reaseheath Herpetological and Entomological Society visit their page on our website.

Practice Search Sweep of the Peak District

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Reaseheath lecturer Matt Daily-Hunt, who is a Search Technician with Staffordshire Search and Rescue, took the Level 3 Uniformed and Public Services students on practice Search Sweep of a remote moorland area today in preparation for a much bigger rescue exercise next week.

Matt has spent several sessions briefing and training the students in Search Skills as part of the build-up to the exercise.  Mick Keeling, former Warrant Officer and Simon Wells, Mountaineering Instructor assisted.

“This is what we are about at Reaseheath, our students are getting a real preparation for working in the Public and Uniformed services. From remote moorlands to our sailing trips over Easter we offer so much more”

“Next week, the students will be  Search Control for a much bigger incident with ‘causalities’ a communication HQ and all the aspects of a big rescue.” explained Matt.

Public Services Search Sweep

Public Services Search Sweep

Public Services Search Sweep

Public Services Search Sweep