Frequently Asked Questions
Q. Are Trek Therapy walks FREE to attend?
A. Yes, all our walks are completely FREE to attend. Trek Therapy is a not-for-profit organisation and seeks to secure charitable funding grants to deliver our programmes of activities with our service users.
Q. Can I bring other people, my children or a dog on a Trek Therapy activity?
A,. Trek Therapy activities are exclusively for registered service users, aged 18 years and above only. There may be certain situations when Trek Therapy deliver family orientated sessions that include children and others. These sessions will be promoted as such with young people under the age of 18 years required to be accompanied by a consenting parent or carer.
Unfortunately we are unable to include dogs in our activities as they are not included in our public liability insurance and therefore cannot be contained in our risk assessments.
Q. How many people can attend a Trek Therapy walk?
A. Trek Therapy operate on a ratio of one leader to eight participants (1:8) in order to ensure effective group management, safe procedures and service user experience. Trek Therapy will never operate with less than two leaders, on any activity, even if we have less than eight participants. In addition we generally have at least one or more volunteer supporting our activities. Activities often include a mental health professional as part of its staff team ratios.
Q. Is transport provided for attendees on Trek Therapy activities?
A. Unfortunately Trek Therapy does not provide transport. We try to structure our activities, as much as possible, to be accessible through public transport links. We will always include information about our walks that include detailed information about the location and its local facilities. There may be occasions when we provide transport, but this will be communicated to service users during planning and booking stages with detailed information issued to participants prior to the activity.
Q. Does Trek Therapy provide mental health treatment services?
A. Trek Therapy is not a mental health treatment provider, although our team are all trained in mental health problems. Key members of our team are professional practitioners who work in the field of mental health and trauma informed practices so have experience in supporting and advising individuals regarding any concerns they may have in relation to their mental health. This includes information concerning signposting and onward referral to appropriate and specialist services. Information about help and support services can be found here.
Q. How does Trek Therapy support my mental health?
A. Trek Therapy provide guided walking and mindfulness structured activities aimed at encouraging participants to make improvements in maintaining or addressing their physical, mental and spiritual health. All Trek Therapy team members are trained to listen, without judgement, about any issues you may have. Key members of our team are professionally trained mental health practitioners so we are always available to provide appropriate advice and information concerning mental health issues.
Q. What professional outdoor qualifications do Trek Therapy leaders possess?
A. All our events have at least one qualified outdoor professional leading the walk. This will always be appropriate to the terrain and conditions and may include a Mountain Leader, Hill and Moorland Leader or a Lowland Leader Award holder. All our leaders are registered with the Mountain Training Association (MTA). All our Trek Therapy team members possess an up-to-date Rescue Emergency Care (REC) Outdoor First Aid certification. All our leaders and team members are trained in mental health problems and hold a mental health first aid qualification.
Q. Are Trek Therapy walks insured?
A. Yes. Trek Therapy have appropriate public liability insurance that covers all our walking activities. Our policies reflect the environments we operate in including lowland areas, hill and moorland and mountainous terrain. Trek Therapy policies are available upon request.
Q. How physically fit do I need to be to attend a Trek Therapy walk?
A. Please refer to our guidance descriptions about how our walks are graded (in our about us section) to assess your ability to attend the walks we offer. All we ask it that participants follow our recommendations to ensure they have a safe and enjoyable experience.
Q. Does Trek Therapy provide any equipment for those who have none?
A. Trek Therapy has information on our website about recommended kit that we ask participants to bring for all our walking activities. We are more than happy to provide advice and answer any questions you may have about kit or equipment. We aim to help as much as possible. Our leaders will always carry equipment to support our groups such as first aid equipment and group shelters.
Q. How do I book on to a Trek Therapy walk?
A. Please go to our forthcoming events section to learn more about future events and how to join. If you have a question about any of our walks, please use our contact form to make an enquiry.
Q. Do I have to inform anyone about any mental health issues I may have?
A. When booking on to any of our activities we ask our participants for certain health related information, when seeking consent to attend our walks. All information provided to Trek Therapy is managed and used and stored confidentially. Trek Therapy have appropriate safeguarding policies and procedures, and, in some cases, we may need to share information with relevant external agencies to safeguard our services users, or a third party. Trek Therapy treats the welfare of our service users as paramount and any information that needs to be shared with key agencies will be communicated to our service users as part of our procedures.
Q. Will I be expected to share information or talk about myself during activities?
A. Trek Therapy and its team will never expect anyone to share personal information about themselves during our activities unless it compromises the safety of any individual. We do, however, recognise and understand that walking stimulates a natural acceptance to be open and communicate with others. Trek Therapy creates a safe space that allows people to be open with each other as long as they comfortable to do so.
Q. What other opportunities may be available as part of the Trek Therapy offer?
A. When available, Trek Therapy may invite and encourage participants to attend enrichment activities and workshops, such as navigation and outdoors skills based sessions, mindfulness specific therapies, walk and talk themed sessions, nature engagement workshops, adventure activities, forest bathing, wild camping, wild cooking and conservation themed events. Information about any of these additional events will be made available on our website or communicated to the appropriate group and individuals directly.