So, here we are again - the second week that I am banging on about provision of adventurous activities at Dinas Rock - I wonder if next week will see cause to be writing yet another blog about other companies (and these have begun to get a little tiring, even for me,).
Some may be asking who am I to be writing about others in so damning a way? Or perhaps where is the legislation to deal with such issues? Or maybe even where are the other voices supporting my stance? Well, let me first describe the events of last Thursday and then I will go on to try to answer those questions.
So, the company of the previous weeks blog, Morfa Bay, were working in the area again. This time of course it was OK as they only brought along about 60 clients..... mmmmmm.....
The end of the day for us is pool jumping at Loonies Leap. We arrived at this location to find a group from Storey Arms OEC. This centre happens to be the premier centre in the Brecon Beacons National Park, or at least it is the most well known, being situated at the base of Pen Y Fan, the highest mountain in southern Britain and being owned by Cardiff City Council. It is the place where kids from all over South Wales go to experience adventure.
So, good for them, getting kids out into the wilds...
NO, NO, NO. Shame on them for being one of the only centres to still run deep water pool jumping and gorge walking activities without providing buoyancy for their clients. So, to clarify, we are a small business but we provide boots, full wetsuit, buoyancy and canoe helmets for all clients. Storey Arms ran a similar session to us for a group of children that were no older than 11 years, and were possibly younger, kitting clients in wellies, waterproofs and a climbing helmet.
At the pool jumping site the kids were told to remove all items of clothing except their bathing costumes, leaving these items on the bridge. They then walked barefoot(!!!) across gravel, climbed down a steep wall, walked across a small and rough weir and were placed inside a loop at the end of a safety rope and asked to jump into the pool. They had several jumps each and by the end of the session were visibly shaking with cold.
So, we have NO BODY PROTECTION, a group of young people waiting beside a drop into a deep water pool without any buoyancy (what if one of them fell into a group of others and 4 kids fell off the side, hitting their heads on the rocks as they entered the water?), RISK OF SAFETY ROPE SNAGGING WHILST THE CLIENT IS UNDER THE WATER and last but not least a risk of the client becoming severely cold. I am sorry, but this type of provision is simply no longer acceptable.
A blog of mine last year lead one of the heaviest users of the area to review their kit provision and at least now they issue buoyancy. I really should not have to be writing about an LEA in this manner.
So, onto the answers. I am nobody. I simply own a business that happens to provide gorge walking at Dinas Rock and I happen to run the sessions in a safe way. It costs me to provide the kit that I do as other providers can use the money saved in not doing so to promote their business through greater advertising exposure or simply to put the money in their pocket. I therefore have to work harder to gain my income. So, why shouldn't I shout about the shoddy experiences parents are paying good money for their kids to take part in, experiences that I can prove to be, at best, not best practice and, at worst, to be actually endangering the young people taking part.
The Adventure Activities Licensing Authority have no ability to overrule most 'technical advisors' guidance. Storey Arms will have risk assessed the pool jumping at Loonies Leap and it will be cleared as a safe way to operate by their technical advisor. AALA it seems are unable to force a change in operating procedure.
Many do agree with the main thrust of my blogs, maybe not with the style or the manner in which I choose on occasion to name and shame. So, these credible witnesses, these well qualified outdoor education specialists and centre managers, all of these have in the past supported the arguments that I have placed in an open forum here, at the Wales Outdoors Blog, and also arguments placed in global emails that I have circulated to all centres and adventure business over a period of the last ten years. The thing is, none will support me in the open because I choose a 'confrontational' style. The activity community is a small one and people really do have to work together. As I have only ever worked for an LEA on one occasion and as I choose to work with only a very select group of activity suppliers, then I do not need to make or keep friends in the activity community. I am a free agent and that enables me to have a free voice.
So, please Morfa Bay, please think about your impacts on activity locations rather than profit for your company - and also please ensure that groups going underground wear caving kit, not simply their summer beach clothing.....
And, please Storey Arms, at least make a decision to work towards living up to your reputation and start to provide your clients with reasonable kit for the activity, the obvious item here being BUOYANCY when in deep water.....
Comments