Successful First New to Caving Event
On 12th February, the first CNCC-supported event for caving novices took place.
This new initiative, sees the CNCC advertise a New to Caving event and recruit attendees on behalf of an organising club. Close to the time of the event, we simply hand over to the club, in this case the Craven Pothole Club, provide them with some optional training resources and any advice they need, and leave them to do the rest.
The CNCC brings to this arrangement a wide social media reach, in addition to our mailing lists, as well as a bespoke system on our website for advertising the sessions and allowing people to register for them. The host clubs bring the people-power, and hopefully the appetite to run these events to potentially recruit some new members.
This first event was designed to see if such a collaboration could be successful, which it certainly was!
We also know that many clubs who do not run novice events still get contacted regularly by people wanting to try caving. We hope that these events could prove a useful place where these people can be directed. To make this easier, we have set up a section on our website with useful resources and where upcoming events can be viewed:
https://cncc.org.uk/training/new-to-caving
This first event was fully subscribed (9 novices, 6 members) and went ahead at Long Churn Cave thanks to low water levels. Ian Patrick, CNCC Training Officer and Craven Pothole Club member reported on how things went (this is an abbreviated version of a more comprehensive report for the Craven Pothole Club newsletter):
"We all met at CPC HQ and spent some time looking at various aspects of caving such as conservation, access, regional councils, equipment etc. At lunchtime we got everyone sorted with kit and had a look around the kit store. With car sharing arranged, we headed to Selside and up the hill. An enthusiastic chat at Alum Pot made sure a trip to the bottom would be on any future caver’s list.
We headed in via Diccan crawl. Having a good number of club members meant that we could position members at strategic points to allow the rest of the group to move efficiently through to the Cheese Press. We split the group here, some going through and some going around, rejoining at the top of the Dolly Tubs pitch. After a teasing / inspiring chat about how good it is down there, we headed back up towards the infamous Plank Pool and Double Shuffle Pool, and out via Dr Bannister’s Handbasin.
A quick walk brought us to the start of Wilsons cave where much merriment was had by all who emerged from the damp exit. A quick clothing change and then back to CPC HQ for tea and medals. We had a chat about what next for those who had been suitably inspired.
This was a really interesting and enjoyable day which was made better and considerably more efficient by the valuable help from club members. Thanks to all involved."
With our first event now successfully ‘in the bag’, we would love to know if your club/group would like to host a further event later this year.
The CNCC will advertise your session, pitching at those considering caving as a hobby, rather than those wanting a one-off experience-day. We can use our online system to manage signups and collect any payment. This first session was free-of-charge, however, if the host would like to use the session to raise funds for good caving causes or to cover reasonable organising costs or gear hire, we can collect this on your behalf as part of signup.
Close to the event, we will hand over so the host can get in touch with attendees and communicate the logistics.
The CNCC can support these sessions with advice and educational materials. We aim to run our two-day New-to-SRT workshop at regular intervals, so if you have anyone keen to take things further, the next novice SRT workshop won't be far away. This can help remove the challenges of getting new cavers trained up on ropework skills.
If you would like to host a session, please get in touch with training@cncc.org.uk to discuss.
Thank you to Craven Pothole Club for getting the ball rolling!