jane hoedemaeckers
branch network manager
jane.hoedemaeckers@mountainsafety.org.nz
msc manawatu win trustpower community award The Manawatu branch of the Mountain Safety Council have been promoting safe practices in land-based recreational, educational and adventure activities for a number of years. Each year the popular courses benefit a large number of people and help ensure that they enter the outdoors fully prepared. This year their efforts have been recognised by their local community who named the branch winners of the Education and Child Youth Development category at the local TrustPower awards. Over the past 12 months, more than 40 volunteer instructors have devoted a substantial amount of time to deliver courses and training to 1200 local people. This includes running the popular Bushcraft course 23 times, delivering the firearms safety course to more than 400 firearms licence applicants and training around 200 students on the bushcraft component of their Duke of Edinburgh programme. MSC Manawatu branch chairperson, Heather Grady, who was presented with the award said:
‘On average, our branch invests an astonishing 260 volunteer hours every month so that hundreds of others can acquire outdoor and leadership skills, safer knowledge of the outdoors and respect for the risks associated!’
the great adventure race to cure kids MSC Auckland branch delivered a navigation training day to adventure racers entering the Great Adventure Race to Cure Kids on Sunday 1 December at YMCA Camp Adair in the Hunua Ranges. In the morning, adventure racers attended a classroom based navigation training session which provided them skills in map grid references, navigating with and without a compass and route planning. These skills were then taken out on a field-based session in teams to practice navigating and team work assisted by an MSC instructor. Presenting the navigation training session was branch Chairman Trev Ridgway and Course Director Stacey Koppens. They were assisted by MSC Auckland volunteers John Wheatcroft, Pip Geary, Dirk van der Woerd, James Brown, David Robertson, Nigel Boyce, Trent Vannisselroy and Sam Culliford. All teams returned safely with their MSC instructor after 4.5 hours of on-track training followed by a debrief where they felt they gained valuable experience that they will use for race day.
heather grady wins msc volunteer award The Mountain Safety Council congratulates Heather Grady for winning this year’s MSC Volunteer Award at the Outdoors Awards 2013. Outdoors New Zealand hosted the event as part of the World Outdoors Summit at the Energy Events Centre in Rotorua last November. Heather has been an active member of the Manawatu branch since 2002, and is currently its chairperson. As well as leading the branch, Heather is an instructor in Bushcraft, Risk Management, and Outdoor First Aid. She spends much of her time running courses for young people working towards their Duke of Edinburgh Award. Heather says she has met thousands of teenagers through her work with MSC, adding that “Some of them have never been out in the bush before, and for them, having to use a long drop loo is challenging enough!”
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New Zealand Mountain Safety Council