Experience

1650 words 8 minutes

Contents

Climbing & Ropes Experience

In 2009 I started to help with climbing and crate stacking sessions at my local Scout campsite and since then have worked hard to become a qualified climbing instructor and coach. I am now a Freelance Climbing Coach, provide the Indoor Climbing Assistant qualification, and inspect Activity PPE. I offer my experience to the Scouts in Leicestershire, providing training and permit assessments to climbing instructors. I continue to improve my coaching and instructor training experience so that I may be able to offer more (and better) instructor training courses in the future.

Qualifications

ERCA Generic Rescuer (09/2022, refreshed 01/2024)
ERCA High Ropes Course Instructor (09/2022, refreshed 01/2024)
PPE Inspection – Approved Competent Person (01/2020, 01/2023)
16-hour Outdoor Activity First Aid (since 2011, latest 12/2021)
Foundation Coach (Climbing) (04/2018)
Climbing Wall Development Instructor (06/2015)
Rock Climbing Instructor (10/2013)
Climbing Wall Instructor & Abseil Module (10/2012)

Freelance Climbing Coach in the Midlands (2012 onwards)

I lead sessions at various venues around Leicestershire and the Midlands including:

Beaudesert Activity Centre (2017): Delivering have-a-go climbing and abseiling sessions to young people in school groups and organised youth groups.
Beaumanor Hall (2017 onwards): Working with groups of children and adults to deliver team building, problem solving and challenge experiences in an outdoor setting. Activities include Climbing, Abseiling, High Ropes, Shelter Building, and Pioneering. Most groups are primary school age, with occasional older young people or adult groups.
Climb Leicester - The Tower (2013 onwards): Instructing groups and parties of varying ages and abilities as required, including introductory courses, learn to lead climb courses and NICAS Climbing levels 1–5. Also responsible for greeting customers, conducting competency tests for new members, and maintaining health and safety standards within the facility.
The Climbing Station (2012 onwards): Leading sessions of bouldering and top rope climbing with groups of children, young people, and adults. Between 2012 and 2016 I regularly led the kid’s clubs, teaching NICAS Climbing and Bouldering 1–3 and coaching bouldering. Until becoming Chief Instructor, I continued to supervise climbing parties, inductions, and other crash courses as needed. I now deliver occasional sessions as needed.
Leicester Outdoor Pursuits Centre (2017 onwards): Working with groups of any age to deliver challenge experiences including Climbing, Abseiling and High Ropes from no experience to regular centre users.
The Outdoor Education Company (2021 onwards): Leading a variety of activities for schools and corporate events, including mobile climbing wall and team building. I am also a team leader and driver, with overall responsibility at events, including training team members in setup and delivery of activities, and working with clients to make sure they’re getting the best experience.
The Peak Climbing School (2019 onwards): Focussing on giving small groups the skills necessary to become independent outdoor climbers. I develop the climber’s experience of top-rope climbing, lead climbing, bouldering, and abseiling, including anchor building for top-rope setups, seconding skills, trad and sport leading skills, and problem-solving tools. I also support the freelancer instructors and provide thorough examinations of the school’s climbing equipment.

Freelance PPE Inspector in the Midlands (2020 onwards)

I have always had an interest in climbing equipment. I did some in-house PPE inspection at The Climbing Station during my time as Chief Instructor, and in 2020 I took the Lyon Adventure Activities PPE Inspector Approved Competent Person course and have provided PPE inspection for climbing walls and activity centres in the Midlands since.

Provider & Course Director for Mountain Training (2019 onwards)

I have provided and delivered the Indoor Climbing Assistant scheme since it was introduced in 2019. I have run courses at a range of different centres including The Cragg Climbing Wall, The Foundry Climbing Centre, Nottingham Climbing Centre, Climb Leicester - The Tower, and The Warehouse Climbing Centre.

Lead Instructor at Climb Leicester (2018 onwards)

Along with assisting with the general running of the centre, I oversee NICAS Climbing and Bouldering, including inducting staff, teaching courses and coaching candidates. I also provide regular, thorough examinations of the centre’s climbing and route setting equipment.

Chief Instructor at The Climbing Station (2017-2018)

Coordinating instructed sessions and being responsible for running NICAS Climbing and Bouldering within the junior groups. Helping to ensure that the centre has adequate staff cover to run efficiently and that instructor lead sessions have the appropriate instructor ratios. Ensuring that instructing staff receive the appropriate training to do their job efficiently and that they adhere to the centre’s policies and procedures. Working with the directors and other staff to ensure the centre continues to develop both in reputation and enhanced turnover. Greeting customers, making bookings, and other general duties.

Volunteer Climbing Experience (2009 onwards)

Volunteer Climbing Assessor for Leicestershire Scouts (2016 onwards): I assess candidates for single pitch climbing and abseiling permits.
Volunteer Climbing Manager at Fox Coverts Campsite (2012 onwards): I manage the climbing team at Fox Coverts Scout Campsite, where I run climbing and abseiling sessions for groups, and train new instructors from any experience up to Scout/Guide qualified level.
Volunteer Climbing Instructor for Leicestershire Scouts (2009 onwards): I lead and supervise groups climbing and abseiling on artificial walls & towers, and on natural rock.

Volunteering & Youth Experience

Queen’s Scout Award Coordinator for Leicestershire Scouts (2015 to 2019)

I supported the administration of the Queen’s Scout Award for Leicestershire Scouts. Advising members, leaders and commissioners about the award and helping to ensure that candidates meet the strict standards. Since finishing the role I continue to provide advice and support to members.

County Scout Network Commissioner for Leicestershire Scouts (2012 to 2016)

After 18 months as a Network Leader, I took the step up to Commissioner where I managed the other Network Leaders and supported the Network Chairman. I attended County Scout Executive meetings and worked to grow and develop Scout Network in the county by creating new opportunities for young people to engage with Scout Network.

County Scout Network Leader at Hinckley Unit (2011 to 2012)

I set up the Scout Network in Hinckley Area, forming links with local groups and Explorer units, and supported members to deliver their programme.

Assistant & Scout Leader at 1st Sapcote Scouts (2009 to 2012)

During my time as a Leader with 1st Sapcote Scouts, I completed my leader training and achieved the Wood Badge. I helped to grow the section from a minimum of 2 scouts up to 9 scouts at the start of 2012. The section continues to grow under new leadership.

Assistant Youth Work Leader at Leicestershire Youth Service (2005 to 2011)

I supported Youth Councils with both administrative tasks (taking notes, circulating papers, etc.) and supported the Youth Workers in facilitating meetings and activities. I worked closely with the young people to enable them to maintain their sections on The Jitty website by training them to use the content management tools.

Senior Sessional Support Worker at Connexions Leicester Shire (2004 to 2006)

A part-time job where I supported and led groups of young people to carry out various activities including attending meetings.

Youth Democracy in Leicestershire (2001 to 2011)

From 2001 through 2011 I was heavily involved in Youth Democracy in Leicestershire through volunteering with the County Youth Council for Leicestershire (CYCLe) and Connexions Leicester Shire’s Youth Executive, which later became part-time paid work.

Programming Experience

I have been involved in web development since arriving at university in 2003, I have worked with several programming languages and I have a working knowledge of Unix systems. I have most recently worked with Ruby on Rails, PostgreSQL and Nginx. Before that I was working with PHP (Laravel Framework) and MySQL. I prefer to plan and build back end systems, allowing others to design and craft the front end.

Technical Skills

RESTful API Design
Test Driven Development
PHP & Laravel Framework
Ruby on Rails
PostgreSQL & MySQL
Nginx, Apache & Lighttpd
Linux (CentOS & Debian)
Ansible
Mac OS X
Sidekiq (Workers)
JavaScript
Git (GitHub & Bitbucket)

API Engineer & Tech Team Lead at CrowdLab (2013 & 2014 to 2016)

Initially migrating the CrowdLab API from CodeIgniter (PHP) & MySQL to Ruby on Rails & PostgreSQL; designing and implementing new features from the API / Database point of view, while also considering the wider reaching effects of elements. I facilitated the implementation and continued use of Scrum within CrowdLab. I became an interface between the Market Research and the Technical teams.

My responsibilities gradually expanded from leading (in 2014) to managing (from late 2015) the development team at CrowdLab. This change in role resulted in me managing the team’s overall workload and ensuring that deadlines were met, conducting interviews with prospective team members, reviewing staff performance and recommending salary changes to the Managing Director.

Programmer at Bulb Studios (2012 to 2013)

I developed APIs and back-end systems to support mobile applications and client facing websites. I worked with front end developers, mobile developers and designers to ensure a joined-up approach to project work. I liaised with external companies regarding hardware requirements and managed a varying number of servers hosting the company’s projects.

Graduate Developer at Cuttlefish (2005 to 2012)

I worked on a range of projects including implementing designs, building page structures, creating databases, writing APIs, and working with a wide variety of data sources. I helped Cuttlefish to develop their in-house CMSs and Frameworks, adding new and extending existing features, with a focus on enabling new ways of reading data in and sharing data out. I supported the projects I had developed after launch and regularly recommended improvements.

Developer at Churchhill Systems Ltd (Summer 2005)

A summer job where I developed and maintained a few internal MS Access databases, and some improvements to their website.