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peakactivities> who we are > some information about our staff & associates : Peak Activities' team of tutors is a unique long-established community of friendly, patient, experienced & well-qualified non-macho specialists.
Our full-time and part-time associates have been working really well together for many years - in most instances for over twenty years as a very cohesive team of very close friends. The team is highly skilled and sets itself some very high professional standards. This unusual group of specialists has proven again and again that they can run a wide range of safe, high quality training & sports activities to the highest possible safety and other ethical professional standards. Please scroll down this page for more details on key personnel... Peak Activities' friendly team of full time & part-time colleagues comprises Chartered Training Consultants, NGB qualified tutors & outdoor pursuits instructors. The team runs our open events for individuals and can be hired to design & run a wide range of tailored training and corporate hospitality events for corporate customers.Without a doubt, our unique team of enthusiasts is the secret of our success ! Our associates are patient, helpful & non-macho.
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See below for a list of all our current staff members. UK Senior Directors... Caroline E. Jennings BA PGCE. Dr. Iain Jennings BSc PGCE PhD FRGS, Chartered FCIPD Tony Kendall MIST MISM FRGS, Wing Commander Peter Daughtrey BSc PGCE Chartered MCIPD MRAeS RAF(retired) The UK Senior Associates Panel for this year includes... Dr. Andy MacLean BSc PGCE PhD, Dave Baines MIA CIC Angela Groves, Frank Kent, Dean Peck BSc MILAM Steve Charles BSc MILAM, Steve Brodie BA PGCE MIA, John Thomas BSc BA, Pete Brookes MIPS, Alan Robinson BSc MICE, Kim George BSc PGCE, Kevin Parker, Dave Herbert, Claire Lilley BA, Steve Pope BSc ChEng., Glenn Richardson David Farnes BDS, Eileen Farnes BDS Austria : Mitarbeiter / Senior Associates... Frau Ingrid Hochfilzer Fraulein Claudia Heid & colleagues... Quite a few of our team, including one of directors, are former clients who we just couldn't get rid of !
Our team includes teachers, dentists, doctors, former HSE factory inspectors, and folks from very varied backgrounds who all share a love of the Great Outdoors...and who've demonstrated an above average ability to work with the rest of our team. Some work with us full time all the year ...others on a part time or freelance basis. Sometimes there may be just three or four staff on duty. For other jobs we may field up to twenty long-serving, tried and proven associates. Our admin. office is staffed by a team of two full time and two part-time colleagues...all of whom are experienced instructors in their own right. If rave reviews in the press and on television are anything to go by, good staffing and our centre's policy of staff development have undoubtedly been the keys to our success and reputation for total reliability and safety being built up over the years. Coupled with good leadership, we feel the quality of our staffing is second to none. Delighted customers' comments and endorsements bear this out too. Please scroll down the page for more information on some of the individuals we're pleased to have in our fellowship.
Wing Commander Pete Daughtrey BSc PGCE MCIPD MRAeS RAF (Retired)Senior Training Consultant & Continuous Improvement
Pete is a long serving member of our team of trainers who has developed some sophisticated training resources with Iain which have been highly acclaimed by a wide range of our corporate training clients, including Rolls Royce, Reuters, Lucas, Powergen, TXU, and Eastern Group. Pete has also been actively involved in organising numerous highly acclaimed prestigious charity fund raising events. Pete is an experienced Chartered Trainer with a wealth of experience implementing and auditing schemes such as Investor in People and European Foundation for Quality Management. He retired from the RAF last year from his post as Divisional Commander (North) in charge of recruitment and training in the North of England and Scotland and Ireland.
- Pete is a qualified teacher and Chartered CIPD member who for several
- years worked as senior training officer at the new School of Aviation Medicine
- at Henlow, where he was involved with developing & teaching courses up
- to MSc level. In common with Iain. Peter is a Yorkshireman born in
- Rotherham and he has a wicked sense of humour. However, if he tells
- you he makes collectors' Teddy Bears he's not pulling your leg... he really
- is the Quality Director of "Holdingham Bears"...which makes designs and
- manufactures cuddly collectable bears of all shapes and sizes for serious
- bear collectors all over the world. Pete and Barabara have been all over
- Europe at the invitation of International Bear Exhibitions.
- As well as being an "Investor in People" Verifier and Assessor, Pete is also
- a fully qualified plumber ...which makes him quite a useful person to have in
- our team if the toilets need fixing !
Caroline Jennings BSc PGCESenior Director i/c Finance, HR & Rock Lea Operations
- "Fred" is one of our longest-serving team members & is now
- our Finance & Admin. Director as well as being a successful
- mum of two. Caroline joined the team after taking part in one
- of our hillcraft courses as a PE student in the early 80's.
- Fred quickly became one of our key personnel. Iain's in charge
- but nowadays he has Caroline's official permission to say so !
- Like many of the other tutors, Caroline is an experienced, fully DES
- DfEE qualified teacher who taught P.E. for many years at Lady Manners
- School in nearby Bakewell. Formerly a successful competition swimmer,
- she now enjoys walking her Pointer dogs with the kids in those rare
- moments when she's not busy looking after the rest of our team and
- sorting out all the VAT, PAYE and other adminstrative stuff !
- Caroline is an experienced outdoor pursuits first-aider - as are all
- our tutors who take people out into the hills !
- We all know that if we need a job doing well we let Caroline do it !
Caroline having fun with a recent visitor to our centre - tv celebrity Ian Wright up here filming with us for his latest Saturday night tv spectacular.
Tony Kendall MIST MISM FRGS
Senior Director
- Tony is one of our longest-serving
- colleagues ( 25+ yrs service ) & is our
- company's senior director with special
- responsibility for caving & potholing safety
- & Adventure Weekends Operations.
- A governor of a major red brick university,
- Tony is also a long-serving member of the
- Scouts Movement ..a holder of the
- Chief's Scout's prestigious "Medal Of Merit"
- as well as the "Silver Acorn" Award.
- Tony has often been featured in the press
- for his trips underground with us. He recently
- led a typical trip underground with Steve Bleach
- from the editorial staff of the Sunday Times - which
- was given a rave review in the Sunday Times
- Travel Section. This was no less than the third
- time that Tony's caving and other events have
- been given extensive write ups in the Sunday Times.
John Thomas - Senior Instructor
- John T. is one of Rock Lea's longest-serving
- colleagues ( 20+ yrs service ) & is one of our
senior staff with special responsibility for caving
& potholing safety\& the running of our popular
Adventure Weekends Operations. John started
off here as a customer way back in 1980 attending
one of Iain's rock climbing courses....and he's
been around ever since !
John has a wealth of experience as an accomplished
and very successful rock climbing instructor - and he
probably now has more hours of experience as a very
patient and knowledgeable abseiling instructor.- He's now retired from his long career as a Data
Processing Manager and IT Manager - working as a- highly qualified specialist designing and running huge
national networking solutions for a major UK employer.
John has a keen interest in diverse hobbies from steam
railways to archaeology and is also a skiing and snow
-boarding enthusiast. One of the quieter members of
our team - he posseses a very dry sense of humour.
Senior Associate & First Aid Examiner
Dr Andy McLean - Senior
Training Associate
Frank KentAssociate & Team Member
Dean Peck BSc MILAM
Senior Associate
- Dean is a graduate in Leisure & Amenities Management
- who is a long serving senior instructor. He's a qualified climbing
- instructor (SPA) and senior caving ( DCA ) instructor. Originally a
- surveyor by profession Dean is also a keen mountain biker with
- considerable experience in running a wide range of corporate
- management development & team building training programmes
- with Peak Activities Ltd's clients.
- He's a Sheffield United supporter too, but we try not to hold this
- against him - especially since he holds a karate Black Belt and teaches
- karate nobody argues about how good Sheffield United are when Dean
- is here !
- Dean holds a PGCE Primary School teaching qualification and he is
- an experienced primary school teacher too. Dean worked full time at
- Rock Lea for many years and is now one of our valued panel of ad hoc
- part time freelance tutors. He works as a specialist in IT Pedagogy and
- teaches Primary and Secondary School Teachers how to use interactive
- whiteboards and other impressive modern training aids.
Angela Groves
- Angela is a one of our long serving instructresses with a wide range
- of interests including developmental training. A former housing
- officer in East Anglia with a great sense of humour - she has worked
- recently on HR projects with the army in Bosnia and elsewhere.
- A great listener, Angela is a wonderful person to have in support on
- any corporate event or any training programme. She's a member of our
- team for narly 20 years and she's also the Godmother of James and
- Elizabeth, Angela loves walking and rambling in the Peak District.
Steve Charles - Senior Associate
Steve Charles BSc PGCE MILAM Senior Associate
- Steve is a part-time instructor & tutor and a good solid friend who we've been
- delighted to have been associated with us since 1984 - first as one of our highly
- qualified and very experienced watersports instructors - and in recent years as
- one of our senior training and coaching specialists. Steve works as a Senior
- Lecturer in a local College of Furthere and Higher Education...specialising in
Business Studies and Outdoor Education.- Steve brings a broad range of skills and expertise to our training and sports
events ..and his genial and patient manner is appreciated by his customers
and colleagues alike.
Glenn Richardson - Associate
Glenn Richardson AssociateGlenn is our newest part-time instructor & tutor who
joined our instruction team as a trainee in 2007 having
enjoyed various trips underground with Tony Kendall.
Glenn runs his own successful electrical switchgear
manufacturing company in Leicestershire and is hoping
to qualify as one of our DCA approved caving instructors
later in 2008. He holds a Rescue & Emergency Care
First Aid Certificate and has completed various in-house
induction training modules with remarkable enthusiasm
and impressive aptitude. Glenn has established himself
as a very reliable & personable backup cave assisting
our more senior qualified potholing and caving instructors
such as John, Tony and Andy.
- Steve was for many years the Head of Centre at Nottingham Education
- Department's Hagg Farm Outdoor Education & Environmental Centre
- on the flanks of nearby Bleaklow and Kinder Scout, so he knows the
- joys of instructing and managing a centre in the Dark Peak really well.
- He's currently enjoying teaching outdoor pursuits in the mountains of New Zealand.
- As someone who has helped us with our own centre's staff development
- and SPA training in the past, we are pleased that Steve returns to the Peak
- District from time to time as one of our panel of senior associates and consultants
- helping other organisations to make the most of their training investments.
- Our guests enjoy Steve gentle and sensitive approach - and his very dry
- Northumbrian sense of humour. Steve is a keen paddler and climber and
- has developed in recent years a specialist interest in outdoor environmental
- education for disadvantaged youngsters. Steve is actively involved helping
- run development training courses for a national charity and is currently
- developing teacher-training courses in New Zealand.
...
- Senior Associate
- Dave is one of the many very experienced
- and highly qualified people who works
- alongside us from time to time on an ad hoc
- freelance basis. Dave is an expert caving instructor
- who as a CIC holder assesses and trains other
- caving & potholing instructors and mine leaders.
- He is also a very experienced & senior mountaineering
- instructor (MIA) and is a keen canadian canoe tutor.
- Dave is an accomplished cartographer and orienteering
- enthusiast too.
- Like many of our senior associates, Dave has worked for many
- years in the outdoor training and education profession. He was
- for many years the chief instructor and manager of a well-known
- Christian outdoor training centre in the Peak District. A devout
- Christian, Dave is a great joy to work with and over the years
- he's won the respect of everyone he's come into contact with here
- at Rock Lea.
- Company Director & Company Secretary
* Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development
Registered Training and Development Consultant
- A fully qualified & experienced teacher and lecturer as well
- as a busy and active training specialist, Iain is a graduate of the
- University of Liverpool and holds postgraduate degrees including
- a Science Faculty Doctorate from the University of Edinburgh. He is
- one of the founding fathers of the company and has been the Head
- of Rock Lea and senior manager of Peak Activities Ltd for over twenty
- years. Iain is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and is a
- Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development
- Training and is a Registered CIPD Consultant too. Iain has taught
- full time at the universities of Sheffield (Geography Dept ), Edinburgh
- ( Forestry & Natural Resources Management ) and at various schools
- in Edinburgh and NE Derbyshire. He has taught as a Visiting Lecturer
- at The Universiteit van Amsterdam and for UNESCO in Murcia.
- Iain has worked successfully for over 25 years arranging tailored
- events for people at all levels from organisations large and small.
- He has frequently designed and run sophisticated programmes for
- board members of many UK and overseas blue chip companies... and
- has often been featured on BBC and ITV television & radio programmes
- from the 1980's to the present time. Iain's work has recieved glowing
- praise for over two decades from CEO's of many well known UK and
- German organisations who, to Iain's surprise, often treat him as an
- equal when it comes to discussing Training and Development issues.
- A graduate geologist and a geomorpohologist and a glaciologist amongst
- other things, Iain has been on the boards of several charities - and has
- been a Member of the Council of both the British Schools Exploring Society
- and the RGS Young Explorers Trust...having led and taken part in numerous
- expeditions to the glaciers & mountains of Iceland and Arctic Norway and
- Arctic Sweden. Iain has often appeared on television and radio and has
- often been involved in broadcasting - working behind as well as in front
- of the microphones and cameras. One of Iain's films was broadcast as a
- 40 minutes "Horizon" porgramme by the BBC many years ago and recent
- projects with the BBC include acting as safety officer and locations manager
- for films involving Ian Wright, Damion Johnson and other celebrities.
- As a big fat Yorkshireman, Iain has few airs and graces and so he's equally
- at home arranging low key events for small groups with much simpler &
- modest requirements such as Stag Groups and Hen parties. He treats all
- his assignments with great care and attention and takes a great pride in
- making sure jobs go well for our customers.
- Like many of our team of tutors, Iain combines teaching and coaching
- skills with training qualifications and is a very experienced and fully
- qualified climbing and abseiling instructor. He enjoys nothing better
- than going out with groups and getting his hands dirty away from the
- office paperwork !
If you've called our offices you'll know Iain loves answering the phones and talking with clients and prospects alike. He never forgets that in a small firm like ours "MD" often stands for "minibus driver" too and is firmly committed to making sure everyone involved in the firm he established is safe and has fun. Iain takes great pleasure from receiving personal letters of thanks from delighted customers and one of the reasons why this website is called " iain.co.uk " is because he likes it that all our customers work closely with him when booking and planning their events with us. A Yorkshireman from Rotherham, Iain is very open and direct...and is well respected for his analytical and training delivery skills and his desire to make every event at Rock Lea as successful and as safe as it possibly can be. Iain was very actively involved in the 1990's in the movement to improve safety at outdoor centres for young people... and served on the task force of the English Tourist Board's Activity Centres Advisory Committee, where he officially represented a large percentage of the UK's outdoor centres in discussions with government agencies including the DFES and ETB and the giving of evidence to a select committee of the House of Commons which led to the setting up of AALA and the 1996 Young People's Safety regulations. When he's not working Iain enjoys spending time with his wife and children and skiing and simply enjoying being in the mountains in his home-from-home in the Austrian Tyrol...which is where he keeps dragging various members of the team off to with his family for all sorts of adventures. Almost all of the pictures on this website were supplied by Iain - who is our centre's most avid photographer.
Tutors Cheryl , Alan, Caroline, Iain, John, Stuart & Ed Silva slaving over some red hot concepts en route to the Dolomites at the Zugspitzeblick. Who said staff meetings had to be hard work ?
MAIN INDEX.... Alphabetical Index... The range of sports activities on offer with Peak Activities... Tailored training for groups and corporate activities... Corporate clients list...and customers endorsements...
Please phone us today on 01433-650345 to discuss any specific requirements you may have in mind...
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