This evening, taking an idea from our Team Leader, and following some suggestions from our Deputy Team Leader, our Team Training Officer Alistair Greenough set an end of the teams year challenge for our members tonight at our Ladybridge Hall Base / HQ.

Upon arrival at 19.45hrs they were met by our four Land Rover Defender Mountain Rescue Ambulances, all parked up neatly, space apart, on the cobbled courtyard fronting our Base / HQ.

What then happened is best explained by Alistair Greenough’s own account of the proceedings;

“Team members assembled at our Ladybridge Hall base for the final formal team training session before Christmas.

All twenty two present were separated into 4x teams and allocated to a team land rover.

They were then challenged with different tasks against the clock ranging from rigging the vehicle to take a stretcher and loading a team member onto the stretcher, then into the vehicle, to working under a casualty shelter and having to apply different pieces of casualty care equipment.

Points were awarded for 1st to 4th position, with Alistair as the ‘task master’ and team member Mike Marsh acting as Judge / Inspector of their efforts.

At the end of the evening the scores were revealed and there were joint winners and runners up.

There definitely had been some dubious practices going on including the theft and hiding of different teams kit to sabotage them, to wrestling over a winch anchor.

All in all a bit of light hearted relief in the run up to Christmas.

Joint winners were the crews allocated to Bolton Mobile 1 and 2, not as knowledgeable, or perhaps not as cunning was Bolton Mobile 3’s crew in second place, with the Bolton Mobile 4 crew coming in last, but in their words;

“we did things correctly and didn’t cheat !”

All the teams were awarded a box of chocolates ‘anonymously’ donated (thanks to Team Treasurer Martin Banks for his kindness)

We then retired upstairs for hot dogs and mince pies, with thanks to Team Support Group members Iain Clarkson and Bob Melia for their culinary skills (Well boiling some hot dogs and slicing some bread, not forgetting taking the mince pies out of the cardboard box) “

All in the evening was judged a great success.

Nine other team members present, did not take part in this exercise (though they enjoyed the catering) instead dealing with some important team and MREW Party Leaders Course administrative matters, and making repairs to a damaged rear light cluster on our Incident Control Vehicle – all now as good as new thanks to he healing hands of our Equipment Officer – Vehicles Neil Aspinall, and his young apprentice, none other than our Deputy Team Leader Chris “what Volvo” Greenhalgh.

Next Wednesday evening, December 16th, will see all our members meet for the last ‘Team’ Wednesday of the year, when we enjoy a team Christmas Social at the Jolly Crofters Public House, Chorley Old Road, Horwich, kindly supported by the landlords Alan and Sharon Jones.