Lessons Learnt

Following on from the title of the previous support crew post, our second outing to look after our beloved walkers was a very different affair.  We'd spent a while working out what hadn't worked last time and deciding on the best ways to rectify it.  (Apologies that this post appears out of sequence, but I've only just got around to writing about the event - meanwhile, as you will have seen, some of our walkers have been out yet again for more training).

Packing the bus

Perhaps the most important innovation for the second support crew run was the use of giant plastic, stackable, boxes.  We can't really take credit for the idea - it was recommended during the preparation workshop by one of last year's teams.  It meant that, in contrast to our numerous assorted bags last time around, we had eight very organised containers. Each walker had their own personal kit box, packed by them, with all their essentials. We then had four more boxes containing:  cooking and cleaning equipment; pots, pans, crockery and cutlery; savoury/dried food; sweet food.  We also had our various cool-boxes containing drinks and fresh ingredients.

The contents for each of the boxes was agreed sometime in advance, so everyone then knew where to lay their hands on a specific item. One of the most useful aspects of this new approach is that it took much less time to unpack/pack the mini-bus at each stop. We could get everything out and ready to start preparing in a matter of minutes - a big contrast to the well-meaning shambles that we managed during our last training run.

Walkers at rest - first stop

Prior to our walkers arriving, we'd laid out rugs to keep their feet dry and then allocated each a chair next to their personal kit box.  Our makeshift kitchen (two gas rings this time - making all the difference) was ready to churn out a variety of meals after the walkers phoned in their orders a few minutes before arrival.

Another innovation was Becky's purchase of a new iPhone and obtaining a power splitter for the mini-bus to keep everything charged and running from the cigarette lighter socket. This meant for the vast majority of their walk, the support crew were able to find the walkers' location on our iPad - it really made a difference knowing where they were in relation to us at any point.  It helped us keep on time for things and, speaking personally, made me feel more connected to their experience.

We were also delighted to have our support crew up to full strength with the addition of Lottie.  She really made a difference, and for this walk we'd allocated different crew members different jobs.  Lotte's included timing every stop and this ensured everyone stayed focussed - of the five stops on the day, four lasted the allotted 20 minutes and only one ran over (for good reason) by an extra 3 minutes. Lotte's tracking also included projecting arrival times and the careful logging of each walker's food and liquid intake.

At the end of an eventful but rewarding day the crew agreed that our new found organisation had really made us much more effective at supporting our walkers.  A few minor tweaks and we will be ready to do it for real in July.

Postscript:

The only significant crisis during the day was that at one point, one of the support crew PUT THE PRINGLES AWAY INTO THE SWEET RATHER THAN SAVOURY FOOD BOX.

Now, I should confess that I might have developed a slight OCD perspective on the importance of packing these boxes in an orderly manner, but I'm sure you will agree with me that this would have been the thin end of the wedge.

IT WOULD HAVE STARTED WITH THE PRINGLES but, before you know it, our standards would have dropped irretrievably and we'd be STORING MARS BARS IN THE SAME BOX AS THE CUP-A-SOUPS and once that had happened, well, I can only imagine that we would be minutes away from complete anarchy. Soon enough I'd find A TUB OF MARGARINE STUFFED INSIDE A WELLY BOOT.  I shudder at the thought.

I'm not OCD about the boxes.  I'm NOT.  Well, maybe just a little bit ;-)