AOAC Newsletter
 

Merry Christmas (or Happy Holidays!) one and all. Although life is still not 100% back to normal I'm hoping most of you have managed to get out and have plenty of outdoor adventures during 2021; it's been great to get back out on club trips and meet up with so many of you lovely people. Hopefully Omicron and subsequent variants will not have too big an impact on 2022 and we'll be able to do it all again. I personally am looking forward to welcoming in the New Year in the traditional AOAC style at Slapton Ley, and whether you are there or not, I wish you all a fabulous, outdoor-activity-filled 2022 with good health, peace and prosperity.

Message from the Chair – December 2021
I hope you have all been enjoying the many activities on offer during these colder times.  Great to see such a variety of events on offer even in the shortest days of the year including day events and longer residential trips. Let’s hope we can continue to have freedom to enjoy the outdoors through winter despite the doom and gloom of the media.

Please continue to follow the COVID-19 SOPs, including taking daily lateral flow tests when on AOAC residential trips so we can run events as safely as possible.

Thanks as always to everyone who has been involved both directly and indirectly in organising/leading/coaching activities. Also to the committee who have been working hard in a particularly challenging time recently trying to navigate through the ongoing pandemic. We have tried to keep a balance between different perspectives regarding testing/vaccinations on residential trips which invariably means there are disagreements given the different perspectives held within the Club (and across the world).
 
Thankyou to those who have contacted me/other committee members regarding your views. 

Please don’t hesitate to get in touch with me or any of the committee directly if you have any ideas/comments/suggestions about Club-related matters especially in regards to the hot topic of residential trips/COVID-19 as this helps us to make decisions going forwards. Our email contact details are on the website.

Also please have a think about whether you would like to be on the AOAC committee next year – there is an AGM in March where all committee posts are open for nominations.  

In particular we are looking for a treasurer as Alan has done 3 years and has to step down at the end of March 2022. Alan is happy to continue to help whoever is in post so you don’t need to be an accountant (though an understanding of spreadsheets/numbers is an advantage).

A reminder/in case you didn't know, all members are welcome to join a committee meeting to have your say/see what we get up to/how we make decisions. Next one is January 15th - details on the calendar. 

Have fun out there.       
                                      
Katie 
AOAC Chair 

Paddling News
 

Paddlesports Summer Planning Meeting Thurs 6th Jan 19:30 via Zoom
(link on calendar, no need to register)

Please join me at the annual meeting to plan summer (redefined as late March to early October) paddling activities. Including kayaking (all sorts), canoeing, coaching, CPD and other training courses. Please come with your ideas and feel free to buy yourself a drink or cake to bring (don't say the paddlesport coordinator never gives you anything.....) And please do contact me or one of the paddlesport deputies in advance if you have any ideas and want to talk through, or if you are unable to come to the meeting but are willing to lead/organise events. 

Thank you!

Elinor
[email protected]

Walking News
I hope folks have been able to enjoy some excellent walking in 2021. It’s always a joy to head out into nature, especially during the last year.

Multi-activity trips are some of my favourite club events and I was really pleased to be on the trip to North Wales last weekend. It was super to see people again after such a long time and to have groups out walking on all 4 days. Big thanks to Matt and Shauna for the superb organisation and delicious food.

For those with an interest in the winter mountains there are a couple of upcoming webinars from Mountaineering Scotland's Ben Gibson: Intro to winter skills and winter mountain safety skills, on the 6th and 10th Jan. More details can be found here

I hope we can look forward to a busy walking programme in 2022. It would be lovely to have more events on the calendar and the long evenings are of course ideal for planning. Me? I’ll be working on a multi-activity trip!

Happy holidays.

Andy
Walking Coordinator

North Wales Multi-Activity Weekend December 2021
A Thursday at the start of December isn’t the usual time to head off on an adventure, but that didn’t stop around forty Club members heading for the hills of North Wales.   This was the Pre-Christmas multi-activity weekend based out of the Rhyd-y-creuau Field Centre near Betws-y-Coed – a venue some of you may remember from previous years.  The Club had sole occupancy from the Thursday through to Sunday.  

First thoughts were ‘it is a bit of a long drive’ as we wound our way through the middle of Wales, and ‘you would be bloody mad to go out on that’ as we observed the engorged rivers tearing down the valleys. 

Finding the centre was remarkably easy; a group of cars piled high with kayaks was the beacon that guided us home whilst reminding us that paddlers are indeed a little bit mad...    

After what has seemed like an eternal social drought, it was wonderful to walk into the dining hall to see lots of familiar faces and to smell the delicious aroma wafting from the kitchen.  The kitchen crew were as delicious as the food they served.   

Thanks to Shauna for her relentless efforts in the kitchen and to Matt H and Phil H for having the idea and making it happen.  Residential trips are friendly with lots of time to do as much, or as little as you want.  Next year is starting off with the cloud of Omicron upon us, but keep a look out for camping trips and bunkhouse weekends on the calendar.  We might have to start getting some red coats for the organisers to wear… 

Pete R

Editors Note: I third, fourth or whatever, say thank you to Shauna for the amazing food (especially the gingerbread tiramisu), we were so well fed :)

If you have any interesting news/funny stories/free videos/tales of your favourite trips/tips that may help club members, in fact, anything that might be of interest/entertaining, to brighten up the next newsletter, please let me know at [email protected] . Thank you.

See you sometime soon.

Cathy x

Events

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