Pre-walking our routes not only makes the leader look incredibly assured and confident on the day (well, it helps!), it's also that we do sometimes find paths that are blocked or changed, meaning re-routes are required. If you do find an issue with a path when pre-walking, please report it, so something can be done about it. Here are the guidlines on how to do this - or you can just complete this report form - if the problem is in South Glos they've got a more dynamic online form.

Does this work? Yes! Richard H reported a footbridge that was missing, and next time he went back to the area they'd actioned it and put in this new one.

Walk Leaders are Always Needed and Helped

More than anything else, the growing numbers in the Brunel Group are due to the number and variety of great walks that we offer our members. (Helped by the fact that we're friendly with it!)

We rely entirely upon group members offering to lead walks. This page aims to provide as much help as possible for walk leaders, whether prospective or established.

We are always keen to have new walk leaders come forward and if you are not yet fully confident, we do provide regular walk leader training events, or can find someone experienced to help you. Routes can be based upon your own knowledge, a study of the map or from a book (we can lend you one - see the Resources panel).

To volunteer a walk or just to find out more about what is involved, contact Mel.

Some Guidelines to Help You

All walk leaders should read the Brunel Group's Walk Leaders' Instructions.

The RA has also produced some useful information that you might want to look at.

What's needed for the Programme

Programmes are published at the end of every December, April and August, covering the following 4 months. It's worth starting thinking about your plans 6 or so weeks before publication, as this means you'll be ready to provide all the details needed for the programme (you don't need to have everything sorted at this point, just the key details). When thinking about the date for your walk, remember to allow time to go and do your pre-walk!

Details that are needed for the programme:

• walk grading and distance - see the programme pages for gradings, but if you want a sanity check, ask an experienced walk leader or the Programme Secretary
• meeting point and departure time - if it's not one of the normal places listed on the programme page, then it's very helpful to provide a weblink to a map and/or a map reference
• a description of where the walk will take place and broadly what's involved - it helps people decide if it's the right walk for them and means less people are likely to need to ring you
• your contact phone number - it may be worth giving your mobile for use on the day, as well as a home number for in advance