| Notes from a member
of the Lockerbrook Committee: Weekend January 9-10 ‘99 |
| I have been a member of the committee now for almost a year. My involvement with Lockerbrook prior to this has been as a Group leader taking excited elfins on, for some, their first weekend away from home. Lockerbrook astounded me the first time I visited there, back in April 92. The setting and the view were quite remarkable. I have never lost that sense of awe as I drive up the track and even this weekend found myself stopping the car to ponder the view. Being a committee member has enabled me to continue my involvement with the folk despite having to stop my group work due to work and study commitments. I was slightly daunted at the prospect of becoming secretary, but have found it very rewarding, I enjoy being part of a decision making team and have learnt a lot more about Lockerbrook in the process. This weekend of 9-10 January 99. was to be another ordinary working/committee weekend or so I thought! Gill informed us that the weather was not suitable to do any of the outdoor maintenance and instead, as a management team we would be trying out their extensive problem-solving activities. I am a keen team player and did not find the prospect too daunting until I realized some of the activities required a degree of physical activity. Having a limiting back injury this caused me some concern but I was reassured by Gill that all of the activities were suitable for people of all abilities. We began with an indoor activity. I am normally quite assertive but this activity really tested my spatial awareness and to a small degree my mathematical problem solving ,so I was happy to take on a more passive role. |
We did not complete the task 100% successfully, but we learnt more about ourselves as a team, i.e. who the natural leaders were, but we also learnt that we did not communicate effectively as a group. The outdoor activities were very challenging and required a real team effort to successfully complete, I found them very difficult as my back injury meant I had lost all confidence in my physical ability to take part, let alone succeed. Teamwork was vital here; we had a number of fit and confident members and a couple less able and me absolutely terrified. Gill helped us understand that as a team we had to be aware of how every team member was feeling, what we were individually capable of and that problem solving does not only mean getting from A to B as quickly as possible but in a way that all the team felt safe and confidant. We did succeed after a lot of trials and the team functioned well, I was encouraged and supported and helped and I made it! I realized, as Graham pointed out this could have been a ‘life and death’ situation, problem solving in teams cannot be underestimated, in a real life situation, had I not had the help and encouragement to continue the outcome would have been very different. We all thoroughly enjoyed the two days of quite hard team work but not only did it provide us with a personal sense of achievement it helped us as a management team learn a little more about each other. These activities would be of benefit to many groups from pioneers through to adult leaders. Come and give them a try I’m glad I I did. Jo Zasada Secretary Lockerbrook Management Committee. |
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