Quote Originally Posted by Witton Park View Post

If someone wants to go and set up a Rope Access Business and they advertise that they got their Scout's Badge for Knots, then if anyone thinks that gives them credibility they are barking mad.
Exactly WP! Some people will always 'talk up' their qualifications for their own purposes.

To some people, (eg. me) the remit of the LIFR and FMR Level 2 courses is very clear. These are not qualifications for mountain guiding and have nothing to do with navigation, but are all to do with group management skills and coaching skills. The trainers on the courses were quite clear about this, not least that we were training for these on athletic tracks with athletics equipment. I can see Ian has a problem with the word 'Leadership' in the LIFR. This is a short course, yes, and a basic level. But I think it is 'leadership' because it's about leading a group through a structured training session based on running (as opposed to basketball, javelin, football, etc). Leadership in Running Fitness is a clear title - leading a group to get fitter for running.

People much more experienced than me may well have found the content of the LIFR and Level 2 too basic - this is a different issue of course - and in this case there are Level 3s to move onto. People like me wanting to coach runners to improve their running, well to be frank we need to start with the basics. And people like me who understand what these courses are for, we will never be using them to talk our way into mountain leadership jobs.