About Us
Mere Mountains was set up by Elspeth in 1991, and is owned and run by John and Elspeth Mason, who have been providing recreational outdoor activities and outdoor education courses in the Lakes for nearly 20 years. The organisation is constantly developing and in 2007 we were joined by Louise Braithwaite, who manages the ever increasing office administration. This year Vicky has joined the team to help both in the office and by leading activities outside. Steve Gray continues as our chief adventure sports instuctor.
Elspeth Mason BSc
PGCE LPIOL
Director and Principal Tutor
Louise Braithwaite Office Manager
Vicky Whibbley Tutor/Instructor
Steve Gray Chief Adventure Sports Instructor
Tom Sibbald Associate Specialist Tutor
Ross Wallace Associate Specialist Tutor
With such a wide range of courses on offer, we have some staff who specialise in schools courses and others who are management trainers or technical skills people. We have an established network of very highly qualified instructors, this enables us to ensure we always have people with the right skills for each type of activity or group.
We operate mainly from venues in the South Lakes area (Cumbria) and have use of a permanent waterfront base on Lake Windermere. For specific activities and programmes we use venues in the Yorkshire Dales or North Lancashire, and can arrange self-catering, YHA or B&B accommodation.
We are always seeking ways to reduce our impact on the environment both locally and globally. We are keen to run programmes that limit the amount of traveling to what is needed to meet the objectives of the programme. To this end we are developing woodland and Forest Schools programmes and 'on-site' activities, where we bring in the adventure which can include our 7m high mobile climbing wall.
We have an AALA License covering a wide range of adventurous activities including climbing, mountaineering, caving and watersports. For Outdoor Education and Training Programmes requiring additional staff we have an established network of experienced tutors who are inducted in our systems and whose competence conforms to AALA requirements.
We
run an extensive programme of professional development courses in the
quieter months, including Mountain Leader, Walking Group Leader, Single
Pitch Award Courses and a range of First Aid Qualifications including
6hr Appointed persons, 16hr Outdoor, and First Aid at Work courses (We
have HSE approval for First Aid at Work as Casualty Care First Aid
Training) In 2009 we will be offering the new IOL Facilitation
Skills Module and working with Tom Sibbald (L5 Coach) to offer BCU
courses, while continuing to work with
Ross Wallace (ex OB Training Manager) and others to deliver First Aid
and other
professional development courses.
Core
Staff Qualifications and
Experience:
John is one of the UK's most experienced Mountaineering
Instructors, he is
an MIC and trains and assesses MLT Mountain Leaders, Walking Group
Leaders and
Single Pitch (Climbing) Supervisors. He is a BCU
Level 3 Coach in
both Canoe and Inland Kayak and is a Foundation Safety and Rescue Test
Examiner. In
addition John holds qualifications in a wide range of other outdoor
activities
and is a technical expert for a number of Local Authority and
Charitable sector
organisations. He was a Mountain Rescue team member and deputy leader
for twelve years.
John has been involved in a variety of programmes of
professional
development, He is an experienced NVQ assessor and has been training
and
assessing on the University of Cumbria Graduate Apprentice Scheme.
He is also a Mentor and Assessor for APIOL and has been the Regional
Moderator
for the Northern Region since 2005
Elspeth has held qualifications in all the outdoor activities
we offer but
no-longer seeks to keep them all up to date. Still current as a BCU
Level 3
Coach and Foundation Safety and Rescue Test Examiner, RYA Rescue Boat
Driver, Mountain Leader
and Single Pitch Supervisor, and Mountain Rescue Team member.
Elspeth's main area of expertise is now in training and
professional
development, She has a L5 NVQ and Lancaster University Certificate in
Leadership and Management, is qualified to deliver MBTI and Lifo
psychometric
tests and has completed training in Counselling Skills (AQA
intermediate and
advanced). She is an NVQ Assessor and was the Internal Verifier for the
University of Cumbria Graduate Apprenticeship Programme
and for Adventure
Education Training NVQ Programmes
Between 2001 and 2005 Elspeth was involved in developing the
Institution for
Outdoor Learning Accredited Practitioner Qualification and in
developing the
Mentor and Assessor training for this. In 2005 Elspeth was appointed as
the
editor to set the agenda for the Institute for Outdoor Learning's
Professional
Development Magazine 'Horizons'.
Elspeth is also involved in First Aid Training, as an experienced first aider, mountain rescue team member and Graduate Biologist she is involved in delivering a wide range of first aid courses from AED training to paediatric first aid and is Director of Training for Casualty Care First Aid Training, a HSE approved First Aid at Work Training organisation.
Louise is skilled manager, before having children she managed both Windermere and Kendal WH Smiths shops. Louise is a qualified Counsellor and will be helping to develop future courses.
Vicky is an expereinced outdoor ed tutor and qualified instructor for most activities. Qualifications include Mountain Leader, Single Pitch Award, BCU L2 Coach Canoe, UKCC L1 , GNAS Archery Leader, She has worked in a number of outdoor centres in England and Scotland, and is currently working towards more advanced qualifications. She is a keen 'outdoorie', walking, climbing, canoeing, caving, skiiing and diving.
Steve is a keen caver and diver, a member of the Cave Rescue
Organisation and is
experienced and qualified in a number of outdoor activities including
Mountain
Leader, Single Pitch Award and Local Cave Leader. Steve has been
instructing and working at heights since leaving school (quite some
time now!).
He is also qualified as a steeple jack and rope access technician,
diver, he is currently working towards advanced qualifications in Caving and has completed his Cave Instructor Training.
Tom holds a range of qualifications including BCU Level 5 Coach in both Open Canoe and Inland Kayak. He has been involved in training and developing other instructors and coaches for several years. His passion is Open Canoeing and he trains and assesses BCU coaching awards. Tom is a technical advisor for Mere Mountains and a number of other local activity providers.
Ross is involved in a wide range of training and instructing across the outdoor learning field. He was previously national Training Manager for Outward Bound. Ross lectures part time on outdoor related courses for the University of Cumbria. He delivers a variety of professional development courses including First Aid.