Team Imeson has to be one of the most unique teams around.
I have worked with many different types of teams of people and ones that do not have the same goal. As ‘Team Imeson’ is mainly family we have a great start on the team building part and the goal is one that we all had ambition to make it happen. However i do not think that every family would want to take on what we have achieved?
I have tried to write short descriptions on the roles we took. I could of written a lot more, but feel the story is best told over a drink. There will be a few short videos to follow. I have watched the trailer which filled me with fear of the extent of the ‘epic expedition’.
The following three pictures are of the locations of the climbs and walks.
The above picture is of The Yorkshire Three Peaks route,
Laura:
The “epic expedition team” has to thank our driver Laura. She is only 21 and has been driving three years and owns a small affordable family car, VW Polo.
Picture of Laura Imeson stood at the top of Snowdon in July 2019
She drove over 1800 miles in 10 days, visited 8 towns/cities starting in Liverpool ending up in Blackpool via… Chester, Ben Nevis, lake District, Yorkshire Dales (Ingleton) and on many different types of roads. Including the hill ranges over Scarfell Pike near Windermere. She learnt all about “average speed cameras” “white van drivers” and braking distances on mountains!
I sat as a passenger and never went for the handbrake once I even spelt. Listen to her music and now recognise Jungle music..lol.
I think she should look at a career change and become a “Raleigh Driver” or long distance lorry driver. She did love the driving even if we stunk the car out with walking clothes and boots.
Well done Laura.
Ollie
Ollie arrived in Liverpool ahead of both Laura and I as he caught the 1200 from Euston. His reasoning for timing was to check-In the reasonable priced hotel and then find a suitable place for a haircut.
Picture of Ollie carri g out the splits on to of Snowdonia
His approach to organising the important parts of the trip and “forward thinking” followed with a similar pattern throughout the expedition. There was a daily theme usually around when we are going to eat or which route UP we took. Joking apart this made the days easier to follow and less stressful, other than the worry of how UP was the route!.
Ollie also took control of the social media and hopefully kept everyone up to date and amused. Please keep looking in here as he is putting a couple of videos of the trip together which he will upload to You Tube once completed.
His role was important, with his confidence on both the map reading and timings of where we should be, by when became better. Plus his constant checking I was okay and even pulling me up part of Scarfell Pike. His approach got us through the extremely challenging Yorkshire Three Peaks in less time than allowed. Even though we could of given up several times. It’s a tough challenge.
All in all Ollie is a great team player and leader, add his skills with his sister. I personally think we could take on a bigger trip and one that takes us across a greater geographical challenge.
If you wish to follow Ollie’s life search his name on Instagram.
The Home Team.
Emma:
Emma, from the initial day of reading Ollies letter she has stepped up and helped with so many elements. I will struggle to mention them all. She is a brilliant wife, mum and most importantly our boss.
This list is only part of the stuff she has supported us with.
1) Putting up with the amount of time apart we have had. I did quite a bit of weekend training and then the trip.
2) Helping promote our epic trip and reminding us to do the same. A great driving source.
3) Help with gathering raffle prizes for our Bingo and Pub quizzes.
4) The help with the washing and the packing of our kit including washing the mountain of stuff on our return. Ollie doesn’t live in Devon which has meant making sure his walking kit was fit for purpose. Plus my blindness men’t packing stuff in separate colour coded bags.
Pat (mother-in-law)
Pat, has supported us in many ways including helping with financing the food part of the trip. Promoting the epic expedition through her great circle of friends.
Home Contacts;
Caroline Channing and Mark Williams
Part of my risk assessment included the awfully ”what iff” problem. Ie “What Iff” we had an accident on one of the mountains or a road traffic accident.
Both Caroline and Mark agreed to monitor the tracking devices and be prepared for a phone call if something went wrong.
Thankfully nothing did, but the role like all in Team Imeson was an important one. We were so grateful of the all the supportive people watching our backs.
Our Social Medial Support
We had over 400 people watching Facebook, 130 followers on Instagram and over 1000 hits in our web page all saying positive things. It was appreciated and we hope that you will continue to stay interested in the future trips and expeditions.
I hope I have not offended anyone or missed anyone out. My next few posts will be related to the different types of accommodation and the future ”follow on” activities from this expedition. Starting with a presentation to some of the sponsors.
Once again thank you for reading and supporting #TeamImeson.
#TeamRNIB.
Blind Man Roy 