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training manager. Having taken over from Ros as training manager in 2007 I embarked on a consolidation process.
‘Ros had been a real ground breaker and visionary and the training had developed organically, driven by opportunities. The Green and Yellow Badge Qualifications were still fairly new and the Blue Badge Course was developing rapidly. It was time to separate the roles of Training Manager and Blue Badge Course Director, which Ros had performed simultaneously over a number of years prior to 2007. ‘I drafted a Scotland-wide modular guide training system with progression opportunities between the levels of qualifications. My dream was to have a regular schedule of regionally based and Scotland-wide co-ordinated Green Badge Courses in sync with the Blue Badge Course.
‘The modular guide training system compared the yellow, green and blue badge qualification and benchmarked them on the then new EN15565 Training Standard and the SCQF (Scottish Certification and Qualification Framework). ‘We also approached the Scottish Qualification Authority and were told that the tourist guide qualification, with less than 200 graduates per year, is a niche qualification and not worth investing £10,000 in getting SQA accredited. We were advised to become a self-accrediting body, which we could now do based on EN15565, the European Standard for the Training and Qualification of Tourist Guides.
In 2016 Mary Kemp Clarke resigned as Blue Badge Guide Course Leader and Anne Robertson and Alison Reid took up the mantle as joint course directors for the new 2016-2018 course.
‘After my time as training manager the Blue Badge Course was one of the first courses to also obtain WFTGA accreditation as an additional seal of quality,’ Mary said. ‘Even though the modular guide training system wasn’t implemented at the time, it might yet be revived in some shape or form here in Scotland. Meanwhile, I have shared the modular training system paper with many colleagues world-wide and it is currently being considered by the Danish Tourist Guide Association.’ Viola also oversaw the recruitment and assessment for Green and Blue Badge Courses and responded to enquiries for Yellow Badge Courses. ‘I’m very proud of the first and so far only ‘rainbow graduation’ ceremony at the Scottish Parliament in 2008 – graduates of all badges were present or acknowledged, if they couldn’t travel the distance,’ Viola said. ‘Having worked as a guide for City Sightseeing Glasgow whilst I was training to become a Blue Badge Guide, I was able to encourage the company to consider Yellow Badge Training. City Sightseeing Glasgow still is one of STGA’s long-standing Yellow Badge partners.
‘During my time as Training Manager,’ she continued ‘we enhanced the recruitment process for the Blue Badge Course by devising a structured
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