Page 45 - Microsoft Word - Guiding light final version 0822 1306.doc

the provision of an excellent product either Company would have found more difficult to prove on its own.
‘I suppose it was inevitable that once the principles and routine had been established, the Corporate Body which was in charge of the running of the Parliament, would want to provide in-house guiding themselves. After five years of fruitful collaboration, the contract came to an end and the STGA/Mercat partnership itself became history. I think both organisations can look back to that time with pride and the certain knowledge that they were involved at a key time in bringing the knowledge of the building and its story to the people of Scotland. We told that story very well!’
Mary Kemp Clarke said the closeness of the STGA and Mercat Tours encouraged several Blue Badge guides to train as 'Mercateers'. ‘I did and found the experience invaluable, ‘ she said. ‘As the guiding experience was now moving into the experiential and more interactive forms of delivering commentaries, honing the story-telling skills with Mercat Tours was very useful, and even trickled into ways of training guides at times. The telling of a commentary in an equally informative AND entertaining way is crucial today and a given. I loved the role playing too which I also brought into my normal guiding. I thoroughly enjoyed working with Mercat during the day with their more historical tours and in the night with their more hysterical tours. Much fun for a few years.’
The parliament contract also led to the ending of a controversial policy that guides who were not native English speakers would not get offered English speaking work by the STGA booking service. The September 2005 edition of Guidelines reported that the board had not been entirely happy with the situation and the parliament contract had given it the opportunity to remedy it.
‘Quite a number of the guides who have qualified to guide at the parliament are not native English speakers,’ it said. ‘Their ability to guide in English has been assessed and, where it has been found suitable, they have been allowed to guide in English at the parliament.
Mary Kemp Clarke said this policy also spoke to the inclusivity of the association and 21st Century Scotland.
‘I giggle when I remember my dear friend Sergio la Spina taking on tours in the Parliament’ Mary recalled. He would begin as we all did with a 'Welcome to the Scottish parliament. My name is Sergio'. Sergio would often then say 'as you can probably tell by my accent, I am not originally from Edinburgh'. A few muted knowing glances, head nodding and whispered smiles ensued as the visitors agreed quietly with his statement. Sergio would then say, 'yes, I'm actually from Glasgow!'. A fabulous line and a bit of a laugh from all released any anxieties and made everyone very happy at the start of his tours.
The board felt that these guides should also be allowed to guide in English throughout Scotland and so they may in future be offered English speaking work by the STGA booking service. For others not qualified for the parliament the board offered them a new assessment costing £25 to have their ability to guide in English assessed. Guides who qualified in 2004 were assessed in English as well and also allowed to guide all over Scotland.
Coincidentally around the time of the formation of the new Scottish Parliament there were moves south of the border to reorganise Blue Badge guide training across the UK. In 1998 the English Tourist Board had threatened to replace the then current Blue Badge qualification, a move resisted by the Guild of Registered Tourist Guides (Guild) and the Association of Professional Tourist Guides (APTG), and the STGA. The ETB wanted to establish uniform standards at various NVQ levels, to accredit training courses and to run examinations and to make awards at various levels, including the Blue Badge.
In response the Guild of Registered Tourist Guides (Guild) and the Association of Professional Tourist Guides (APTG) set up the Tourist Guiding Foundation.
A working party was set up by the English Tourism Council (ETC) which included representation from the Foundation, Regional Tourist Boards in England as well as Wales, Northern Ireland and VisitScotland plus the Tourism Training Organisation, TTENTO Limited, and representatives from wider industry. The situation south· of the border was
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