The Walkabout Walking Club
Thursday, 13 August 2009
** Currently taking bookings for Walking In Spain **Walking with a group is a social "clubbable" activity with additional benefits.
Walking with a guided group is safer than going alone, you have the services of an expert leader who knows the area and there are also logistical and economic advantages. Sometimes, in some places, it's nice to walk alone; but for most people it's more enjoyable and rewarding to have companions to relax and maybe share a beer with when the days walk is done.
However in our experience the most valuable aspect of a walking club is the social element. Walking as a social activity unites individuals into a coherent group. The places where we walk, the effort required, sometimes the sense of adventure and purpose, the challenge and achievement of the walk are memorable experiences. These are shared and seldom forgotten, by the individuals in the group.
A group of walkers are sharing a task with a clear goal: which is to finish the walk safely together - as a group! Undertaking a task as a group is a primary social activity; the operation of people in cooperative groups has been of fundamental importance in the development of humanity. That in part is maybe why it feels good to walk in a group and why walkers having got together are well served by clubs that keep them together.
Walkabout Walking Club ensures you experience these benefits by providing two services.
Firstly - We are developing the club ethos as an ongoing service. Through the club we want to ensure your holiday is not an isolated experience. We want to enable you to maintain contact with your group if you wish and through the club make walking an integral part of your lifestyle.
Secondly - We get to know our clients well. This enables us to form walking groups of individuals of similar fitness and ambitions - or goals! We organise holidays where our members have said they want to go, at times convenient for them and at grades they are comfortable with. We have customised the holiday to meet our member's needs; the walking group is self selecting.
What is the Walkabout Walking Club? How does it work?
* The Walking Club is a service provided by the company for its clients. The club is specifically for people in the 50+ age group who are interested in joining guided group walking holidays and trips. We welcome everybody from beginners to veterans.
* We help members to identify their level of fitness and the grades of walks; Easy, Moderate or Hard; that suit them. At the moderate to hard level we also offer Adventure and Challenge walking for those who are interested.
* We are able to help interested members develop or improve their knowledge and understanding of topics that relate to enjoyment of walking such as navigation, personal fitness, mountain safety and first aid.
* The club acts as a focus around which people can form groups who walk together on a regular or occasional basis.
* The company provides the administrative set up to bring people of similar fitness and interest together and organise them into compatible walking groups.
* The company organises the holidays, trips and shared experiences that unite the individuals with one another and with the club. The company also collates member's interests and requirements as regards the location and logistics of walking holidays to make sure the holidays are where and when members want them to be.
What are the aims of the club?
* To develop an online walking club that will in reality function as an active and friendly social organisation and network.
* To provide members with enjoyable walking holidays in good company at a discounted price. Which we are able to offer because we operate as a club and build the economies we negotiate into the price for members.
* To get to know our members well, to find out from members - What level of walking they want; Where they'd like to go; When they'd like to go and What kind of group they want to join.
* To enable our members to undertake any walk that interests them. Provided in our expert opinion it's safe and provided we can identify a viable group.
* Walkabout also aims to inspire members with the ambition, confidence and contacts to do things and go places they'd never previously have dreamed about.
* We want members to book our holidays confident that Walkabout will meet their expectations and comfortable in the knowledge that they will be with an appropriate group which may include people they already know.
Walkabout Regional/Local Walking Clubs.
You will get the full benefit from your Walkabout holiday if it inspires you to become a regular walker or puts you in touch with people who you can get out with on a regular basis. With that in mind Walkabout will encourage and help members to form local walking clubs that will be part of a walkabout network. These local clubs will be dedicated to promoting walking as a convenient locally based activity. Through the clubs you will meet people in your home area who are interested in getting out walking on a regular basis both locally and further a field. The clubs will organise regular activities and will offer members:
* A programme of walks in the local urban and adjacent rural areas. Details of the walks will be included in detailed itineraries designed by Walkabout along with notes on times, distances and how to improve fitness. The walks will vary from short one hour routes to longer routes that can be enjoyed locally on a regular basis.
* Regular club meetings will organise purely social activities and also discussions led by guest speakers on topic of interest to club members.
* Discounts will be available to these clubs for all Walkabout walking holidays and we will also negotiate discounts with providers of clothing and equipment for club members.
If you are interested please "join us" and become a member.
There is no membership fee, simply click here and complete the "Join Us" panel on the home page. You will then receive confirmation and a password. This will admit you to the Club member’s page. On your first visit you will be asked to complete a form which gives us more information relevant your membership of the walking club. You only have to do this once, thereafter use the password to log in and access the club pages. These contain information about the club and details of Introductory Weekends, Special Offers, News, and Other Information.
It's useful for members to come on a "Walkabout introductory open weekend in Wales" if they can make it. The weekends are 'open' to people at any level of fitness and walking grade. The weekends provide the opportunity to sample our walks and to establish your fitness level and the walking grade that suits you before embarking on longer or more demanding more expensive holidays. (see Who goes? Fitness and Grades on our web site). Also by walking and socialising with our staff, leaders and your fellow walkers you will discover more about what the Walkabout Club can offer you.
Jim Lyon
Mountain Ventures Ltd t/a Walkabout Walking Holidays.
July 2009
Labels: walking club
