NWSMP Day 1

This weekend I'm on the National Water Safety Management Programme (Levels 1-3) - I'm guessing they didn't have any marketing people work on that oh so catchy name.....

The course is taking part at the Water Park Adventure Centre on Coniston - what an utterly fantastic venue, privately funded by Eric Wright Trust it's on a par with both of the National Centres I've been to, in times of imposed politically motivated austerity it's great to see altruistic social endeavour done so very very well.

I've never been a huge fan of the water, but it's one of the most dangerously things I deal with - so I've forced myself to learn, participate and slowly come to enjoy it as a venue and a challenge, and this course is a culmination of that process - moving from participant to organiser, from keeping myself safe to keeping others safe. Of course many of the risk assessment, group management and coaching skills are directly transferable, so today (Levels 1&2) which covered these and finished with planning and implementing group river crossings was still inside my comfort zone - tomorrow however we head first to the sea and then back to the lake to do in water rescues. With the water at a chilly 8°C and a frost forecast for tomorrow it promises to be well into Type 2 territory.