Today saw the second of our four operational membership recruitment intake 2016 sessions taking place, since we opened for recruitment late last year.

From 32 persons who had completed an initial on line application form, twenty four had confirmed they would be attending our induction / first evening on Thursday 28th January 2016, and of the 24 expected 21 actually turned up.

By Friday 29th January, three of the twenty one had decided not to currently proceed with their intentions to join the team.

Come this morning, we were therefore expecting seventeen applicants to turn up at our Ladybridge Hall Base / HQ for the 09.00hrs start (for the mathematically inclined in our readership – yes you are right it should have been 18x, but one couldn’t attend, and given previous experience in the team was allowed to miss today by special arrangement)

Thirteen actually turned up, and spent the morning being given some stretcher awareness training and undergoing personal kit checks.

Mid day, in conditions that alternated between rain, hail, sleet and snow, with a bitterly cold wind, all 13x were transported to Hordern Stoops, and set off on a short moorland navigation course to Winter hill summit area , which despite its simplicity proved quite challenging for some!

All 13x ‘eventually’ arrived at Wards Reservoir car park, some realising that local moorland navigation on trackless tussocky moorland grass in challenging weather conditions perhaps meant a little more revision was needed in the basic skills of moorland navigation.

Next up was an introduction to carrying a loaded stretcher – thanks to team member Phil Horner for entrusting his ‘rescue’ to these newcomers, from the lower slopes of Winter Hill, with a passing snow shower and a bracingly cold wind adding to the fun.

All then transferred to Lower House at Rivington, where two exercises further tested the thirteen, whilst a hail shower and freezing rain made underfoot conditions a little interesting!

Returning to our Ladybridge Hall Base / HQ by 17.15hrs a debrief on the day followed, along with “what comes next.”

The thirteen were then invited to join us in cleaning our Base / HQ and the six team vehicles used in todays exercise.

In total fifteen operational call out list members supported today.

The following form a selection of written comments made by the thirteen applicants out today in regards to their Thursday evening, 28th January 2016 session;

• Very informative, didn’t realise just how much the team does, and I came out of the evening buzzing!
• A nice view of some of the types and variety of call outs the team does.
• Enjoyed meeting the team.
• Good powerpoints and good presentation skills.
• Really made me look forward to Saturday.
• Extremely interesting presentations, enjoyed the test (webmaster – navigation)
• Welcoming, informative and honest, a real open eyes session.
• Honest and impressive.
• Diane and Garry’s presentation.
• The history of Bolton MRT was intriguing.

The following form a selection of written comments made by the thirteen applicants out today in regards to today’s (Saturday 30th January) session;

• The sleet!
• Carrying an extremely lanky Bolton MRT member on the stretcher! (Webmaster – must be Phil Crook)
• The whole day was enjoyable.
• Navigation exercise was great.
• The team (Mountain Rescue ) / the team (Those being assessed)
• Understanding the specialised kit the team uses was very impressive.
• I liked the physical side and enjoyed working as a team to carry out tasks.
• It was amazing what we could do.
• I got to have some early understanding of the commitment needed and the importance of team work.
• Seeing the equipment in MRT use.

The following form a selection of written comments made by the thirteen applicants out today in regards to their overall impression of the sessions on Thursday evening and today;

• Got an understanding of the commitment required and how the team works, thank you to the team.
• Quite demanding physically but overall good fun.
• Excellent and well planned.
• Very well run and maintained, they take great care with safety and watching each other’s backs.
• Great fun, hard work but very enjoyable.
• Really useful, lets you get an idea of what you’ll be doing. Makes me really want to continue.
• Very enjoyable and an eye opener. Demonstration of equipment and use of it very interesting.
• Everyone was very supportive and a great sense of humour.
• Commitment, commitment and more commitment …….
• I’ve learnt a great deal about MRT and how you operate as a team. Thoroughly enjoyed my time.

All who attended on Saturday 30th January, plus the one who could not attend – so fourteen in total, have been invited to the third operational membership recruitment intake 2016 session, which is to take place on Wednesday evening 3rd February 2016, in the River Yarrow valley and Will Narr / Spitlers Edge area, and will include more moorland navigation, a long mountain rescue stretcher carry (for them at least!) all in the dark, and with a forecast of heavy rain, conditions could not be better for those who wish to join the team.