SEVERAL MONTHS BEFORE YOUR CAMP (usually!)

1) Receive phone call and agree to lead camp.

2) Find an assistant leader if this hasn’t already been done.

3) Get in touch with the local contact from the relevant canal society
                 -Introduce yourself
                 -Plan timing of site visit
                 -Ask what the work is.
                 -Say what you expect from them at the site visit
                (this is likely to include seeing the accommodation, shower facilities, relevant permissions for the work you are going to do etc.)
  -Establish regular contact – ONGOING!

4) Recruitment – STAGE 1
-Think about who might be willing to cook on your camp. Ask them!
  If you don’t know any cooks, ask around.
-Send an email or ring up people who’ve been on your camps
  before and ask them back
-Think ahead about van drivers/plant operators/instructors – ask a
  few people with WRG driver authorisation if they would like to
  come and join in the fun! Follow this up after your site visit when
  you know more accurately what plant/vehicles you will have on
  your camp.

5) Leadership team  - discuss with the other leader who will do what  - how you will work as a team. (This should help to avoid fall-outs!)
 

APPROXIMATELY 2 MONTHS BEFORE YOUR CAMP

1) Site visit
The site visit has several important purposes:
- Meeting the local canal society contact
- Seeing the site
- Seeing the accommodation
- Gaining a good understanding of the work to be carried out on your camp
Depending on the site/work, you may need more than one site visit.

Follow the link for a detailed plan of a site visit:

2) Recruitment – STAGE 2
Now you know what the work will be you can:
- Send another email to the group of people from ‘STAGE 1’ describing the work, the accommodation etc. and tell them how worthwhile it is and how much fun they are likely to have! Remind them that space is limited, so they should book on straight away!
- Make sure you will have enough plant operators and van/minibus drivers. If you’re worried, ask some more people.
- Ask someone who is an instructor on plant/vans if they would be able to come to the camp and do some training (even if it is just for a few days).
- Think about other specialist skills that will be useful/necessary on your camp and see if you can acquire a volunteer with those skills (e.g. bricklaying).
- Check that you have a cook.

3) Logistics
- Tell WRG logistics if you would like any specialist tools or plant.
- How will you get it to the camp?
- Arrange van and kit movements – make contact with the leaders of the previous camp and the next camp – work out who may be able to help with van movements.

4) Paperwork
Write the following documents (there are several examples on the WRG website and leaders’ CD):
- Method statements
- Risk assessments
- Directions to A+E – 2 versions: from site, from accommodation – make copies (it is a good idea to put copies in the following places: both first aid kits, both vans and in the project file with risk assessments etc.)
- Contact information for local GP, dentist and any minor injuries centre.
- Copies of permissions, project plans etc.
- Try making a schedule for the week’s work. (This will inevitably change but it is a good idea to think ahead!)
Keep all this information in a folder that you take to site every day.

5) Head office
- Contact them to check bookings. Ask them if they can send you an update every couple of weeks.
- Ask them to put a cap on numbers if necessary.
 

APPROXIMATELY 3 WEEKS BEFORE CAMP

1) Head office again
- Check bookings – find out who has booked on. Chase up people who’ve said they’re coming but haven’t booked on yet.
- Give them information for the joining instructions sent out to volunteers – What time do you want people to arrive at the camp? Give them your phone number: 1) So volunteers can contact you prior to the camp. 2) In case the camp ‘phone doesn’t turn up when you think it will!
- Check the directions they will send out are accurate!
 

APPROXIMATELY 2 WEEKS BEFORE CAMP

1) Contact your volunteers
Ring them up – talk to them about what the week will entail – ask them if they have any questions – be friendly! – thank them for booking on – advise them to get steel toe-capped safety boots.
Check the bookings for: birthdays during the camp, food allergies etc. (you may want to ask them about this in advance as your cook will need to know), people arriving by public transport (ask them where they will need picking up from and at what time).
 

DURING CAMP

General ongoing considerations:

1) Planning work
- Make your own timeline for the week’s work – this might include: a list of jobs, who might do them, when they will be done/when they need to be done, how long you expect each job to take etc.
- Check ordering of plant and materials – make sure you will have everything when you need it.
- Driver rotation – make sure it isn’t always the same person driving around in the van all day – try to give people experience and practice driving vans and plant.
- Job rotation – change who works with who – let people have a go at something new – give people experience and practice using their skills.
- Adjust your plans if you need to – sometimes jobs can take longer than you think they will – this is the nature of working with volunteers!

2) Health and Safety
- Monitor continuously – check for hazards/changing hazards, think of risks.
- Make sure each team has the appropriate safety briefing for the job they are doing – asking them to tell you what the risks are is a good way of ensuring they are making good judgements about what is safe and what is unsafe.
- If necessary, SUPERVISE a job.

3) Training
- Who will do the training?
- Who will be trained?
- When? – Try to plan this: e.g. train everyone to use the cement mixer at the beginning of the week and make sure they all do some…put aside a few hours where everyone has a go at operating the excavator…put aside a morning where 3 people are trained to drive the dumper (and then give them practice during the rest of the week).
- Try to make sure that everyone on the camp leaves with at least one new skill – they will feel they have achieved something and will be more likely to go on another camp.

4) Money/accounts
- Try to keep up with this throughout the week or you will have to spend hours on it at the end of the camp when you are tired…!

5) Tools
- Keep them clean (i.e. clean all tools at the end of every day)
- Decommission anything that is broken (and inform logistics – offer to replace it)

6) Take photos!
- Useful for the camp report, camp brochure and website
- If you have the means to do so, burn them onto CD and give one to all the volunteers when they leave.

7) People
- Remember they are all volunteers!
- Plan evening activities – ask them if there’s anything they’d like to do.
- Plan when you will eat (keep cook informed!)
- Remember to thank people for their work
- Think about how many hours you’re spending on site – too many for some people?
- Plan evening activities with input of volunteers – can include boat trip, bowling, cinema, pub, BBQ etc. Ask locals if you can borrow a BBQ. Ask them if they would like to come to your BBQ!
- Remember it is supposed to be a holiday too – try to make sure everyone is having a good time and will want to come back to another canal camp!

Follow the link for a day-by-day example of what you might need to remember/do during the week:
 

APPROXIMATELY 2 WEEKS AFTER CAMP

1) Send an email or a letter to everyone on the camp to thank them. Tell them to come to the bonfire bash.
2) Thank the locals.
 

APPROXIMATELY 1 MONTH BEFORE BONFIRE BASH

Email everyone again to remind them about the bonfire bash – get them to book on – basically stay in touch!

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Document created by Nina Whiteman, April 2006 after brainstorming at leader training weeked, March 2006.