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What is a Club Training Officer?

We encourage all Clubs to appoint one of their members as a Club Training Officer as they are the means of communication around training opportunities, grants, events and workshops. They do not need to be a trainer, but have an interest in club training, to help share & access information, to determine the needs of the club and then with support facilitate training to focus on those needs. To support CTO's we offer a variety of workshops, meetings and resources. We have a mailing list and share details periodically highlighting the upcoming events.


Club Training Officer's Workshops

These can be run online, in person over one or two days or during the gatherings. Mountaineering Irelands Training Officer Jane Carney provides advice and support to club training officers and organises practical Club Training Officer workshops . 
Please see the events calendar or contact [email protected] for details.

Club Training Officer's (CTO's) Regional Meetings

For Regional Club Training Officers meetings we have a broad agenda, covering off topics such as;
Training in clubs, Mountaineering Ireland resources, training grants, encouraging new members, skills videos, meets and events, fostering independence in club members, what Mountaineering Ireland can do for you, open forum, insurance, leadership styles in the club setting, access and conservation, how can Mountaineering Ireland members get involved.

The typical format of these evening meetings are that they are usually arranged to take place in a hotel meeting room, with good access to transport routes. This is usually suggested and arranged by the club coordinator, and paid for by Mountaineering Ireland. Meetings usually start at 8pm and last for approximately 2 hours, but can run over time due to the many questions.

The idea is to contact the clubs in the target area and invite as many representatives as wish to come. This could target the Training Officers and Access and Conservation Officers, but extend to any interested club members. The primary focus is training, both formal and informal.

Please contact the training office, if you would like to organise a regional meeting in your area.

Club Environment Officer’s Workshop

Mountaineering Ireland encourages all affiliated clubs to appoint a Club Environmental Officer (CEO) to help raise environmental awareness within their club. CEOs don’t need lots of expertise, just enthusiasm and a bit of curiosity! As part of her role as Mountaineering Ireland’s Access and Conservation Officer, Helen Lawless, provides support and arranges workshops for MI’s expanding network of CEOs.

Several workshops are organised in different areas of the country each year. Helen will often run a CEO workshop at one of MI’s Events such as the Spring or Autumn Gathering. A typical workshop combines some time indoors but also plenty of time out on the hills focusing on the specific theme
of the workshop. Contact Helen ([email protected]) for details of upcoming workshops

National Guidelines

Good Practice Guidelines For Instructors & Leaders V6

Club Resources

Training Grants

Leadership within clubs is a subject that evokes many opinions and even some emotion. In this article, Mountaineering Ireland’s former Training Officer, Alun Richardson wants to challenge your perceptions of what a club leader is, leaders’ responsibilities and even whether ‘leader’ is the correct word.
He imagines a walk where all kinds of things go wrong and poses questions on what the correct course of action should have been for a leader. Pencils and paper at the ready….

Articles