Ulster Volunteers Continue to Be Upskilled

Today volunteers from across Ireland gave up their Saturday to attend courses to provide them with additional skills to help progress the sport of cycling. Belfast played host to two very different full day courses which were well attended.
Off Road Commissaire Course
The Park Avenue Hotel was the venue for the Off Road Commissaire course hosted by the National MTB Commission. There was a good turn-out of Ulster volunteers as well as some from the South. The course was taken by Colin Clewes who flew in from England last night. We caught up with them just as they were sitting down to do their exam. The results of this will be known in a couple of weeks.

In talking to the participants prior to that the general consensus was that the course was well organised and the facilities in the hotel were excellent. Colin Clewes presented the information in a way which was both informative but entertaining allowing the participants to relax and enjoy the course.

Paul Cassidy of Emyvale said, "I decided to come on this course to learn more about off road events. Emyvale have secured land which is suitable for developing off road trails for youth riders and we want to get into this area of development. We belive that it is a fun way for kids to enjoy cycling. I learned a lot at this course so even if I don't pass I now have a good working knowledge of off road organisation which will help our club going forward."

Cycling Ulster would like to thank all those who travelled to the course today and gave up their time. This shows real dedication from our volunteers.

We would also like to thank Sean Herlihy and the MTB Commission who funded the entire course.

Colin Clewes has always been a great supporter of Cycling in Ireland and has never refused to come over to deliver these courses when he has been asked. We are very grateful to him.

Paul Watson of the College of Commissaires went beyond the call of duty this weekend when he offered his services as a facilitator. He collected Colin from the airport on Friday night and accompanied him to Andy Yoong's film "Break the Cycle". He then arrived at the hotel early this morning to make sure everything was in order and remained on hand all day. We would like to thank Paul for giving up so much time to help out.

Safeguarding Tutor Course
Volunteers and employees from several sports including cycling were represented at the SNI/NSPCC Safeguarding Tutor Assimilation course held in the NSPCC offices today. The course was delivered by SNI's Robin Gregg and Dr Olive Brown with the hard working Paul Stephenson CPSU/NSPCC in attendance for additional advice and support. The course was very comprehensive and well delivered. By the end of the day all attendees were acknowledged as Safeguarding Tutors which will allow them to deliver SNI/NSPCC approved Safeguarding courses to their clubs. Patrick McAleavey, Cycling Ulster's Lead Safeguarding Officer and I took the plunge for Cycling Ulster. "It was a nerve racking experience standing up to give presentations for assessment but it was definitely worthwhile," said Patrick. "This will now allow Marian and myself to facilitate clubs which cannot get access to courses in their area."

Report and Pics Marian Lamb Club Development Officer