And Martin ends the list of walkers:)

Hello,

My name is Martin Vermanen , I’m 34 years old and I’m working for Arriva for almost 8 years.Netherlands. I’m a region controller Train in the last 2 years, therefore region controller bus all over the Netherland
My hobbies are playing Tennis, to race on my bike, go out with my boat and last but not least playing with my kids.

This is the first time I signed up for the Snowdon and I hope to see a lot of the nature in the UK and off course to have a lot of fun with my colleques.

Walking for charity and in this case the Ronald Mc Donald Hoeve gives me a extra motivation to get to the top of Snowdon.

Looking forward for the weekend.

Greetings from one of our hosts:)

Hi my name is Glyn and I work for Arriva as a Driving Instructor training drivers to pass there PCV test and also help reduce accidents. I did the Snowdon challenge last year and as I am in training for the Liverpool Triathlon this year I thought it best not to do it again in case it breaks up my training routine. But rest assured once you are on the Mountain I will be running along the roads in Wales for 10 miles

Last year I wanted to Fight Niels but thought it would be too easy. Maybe he could team up with Leo this year against me and that might be a better fight!

I have attached a photo of me taken a couple of years ago. I am the one with the long hair. You may have recognized me – I used to be one of the guys in the male dance group “the Chippendales”. I can still remember some of the routines so I might do a dance on Sunday night

My hobbies are keeping pet spiders, stamp collecting and building full size cars out of match sticks. If you have any questions to ask me please write them down slow as I can’t read very fast


I look forward to seeing you all on Friday – as I pick up my new glasses then!

And then there's me!

Hello everyone!

I'm Ana and I am one of the (only) two women from the Netherlands that are joining the Snowdon walk. I am Romanian and have been living in the Netherlands for almost 4 years now. I starting working in Arriva NL two and a half years ago and recently I moved to a job in Arriva Mainland Europe.

Having been all my life sorrounded by mountains, I am quite fond of them :) The only downside to this is...well...I didn't really choose the best country to live in from this point of view:) So I am trying to compensate by going in other places, better endowed by nature from this perspective! The Snowdon offers such a possibility. Add to that the fun of doing it with an interesting mix of colleagues and the goal to contribute to charity, and you've got yourself a well spent weekend!

Cheers to all and see you on the Snowdon!

And in order to avoid confusion and amazement...yes, I am that small:)

And we also have among us people who know what they're doing :)

Dydd Da! That translates as good day in Welsh. Or so it seems, I must rely on online translators, I have never been in Wales. Hence this will be my first-time climbing of the Snowdon. My high peak record is Mount Cotopaxi (5897 m), so I imagine this will be a walk in the park. Although then the english climate could provide the biggest challenge ... :)

I like to meet our international colleagues and I am absolutely looking forward to eat the fish and chips again!
Jacco

Greetings from the South :)

Hi everyone,

My name is José and I’m from Portugal. I’ve been working for Arriva TST since 1998.
This year will be my second time on Snowdon Mountain (It is a true mountain!) and on my memory still remains the fellowship from the last year’s walk.

On my free time, beyond chatting with Mr. Politiek, I like jogging as also hiking, canoeing and cycling.

Due to the financial crisis which is affecting Portugal, our charity support this year is going to our homeland. The institution chosen is The Food Bank in Setúbal, once 1/5 of the Portuguese population is now below the poverty limit. This is the minimum that we can do for these unfortunate people!
Keep feeding this idea.

See you in Snowdonia!

And a more unusual photo...

Guess who?


I am Rene Minck. Employee on the Health & Safety department of Arriva Netherlands. Primarily engaged in railway safety for Arriva Rail.
Some people say, "your job is your hobby, you're a workaholic."

Yet there are things I can not pass without letting go. The Snowdon Walk is one of them.
Beyond the challenge to reach the top, there is also the reason for the charity.

This year it is, as previously mentioned by others, the Ronald McDonald Hoeve in Beetsterzwaag.

A unique spot for children with physical disabilities. A wonderful place where these children, despite a disability, can enjoy vacation with the whole family.

It is the combination of the journey to the top and raising money for charity which makes it worthwhile.
That's what motivates you to the challenge.

And then there’s the picture of me….
Is it me? Is it me with my brothers? Or does it show the motivation?
Anyway, one of the people in the picture will reach the top.

Then there is a small addition to the story, the legend of Merlin:
When King Arthur was mortally wounded, he was taken away in a boat across a lake to Avalon. Avalon, a place ‘hidden in mists’ somewhere at the other side of the lake. It is told that this lake is at the foot of Mount Snowdon.

Frans & Niels are next! :)

Hello everyone, my name is Frans Kloosterman, I'm not employed by Arriva but i collaborated with Arriva with the project “Stop Vandalism”. I work as a manager in a youth justice facility. Last year I climbed the Snowdon and I am still enthusiastic. It is a whole climb and I am therefore already for a year to train this time with Jan Politiek. I fully support the Ronald McDonald Hoeve. I'm ready Ariiva Eurostars “Let's overcome the mountain”.

Greetings Frans

I’m Niels Minck. I’m 23 years old and live in Leeuwarden. Rene Minck is my dad, so that’s why I walk the Snowdon.
I work at a security company in Leeuwarden, called All Above Security. My hobbies are gaming, fitness and muay thai kickboxing.
This is the second year I’m participating in the Snowdon Walk. Last year there were nine persons in our team, this year there are 22 members in our team, so that’s really great. Climbing mount Snowdon is a really great experience and above all it’s a lot of fun.

Back to our walkers...

Hello,

My name is Inze van der Lei and I work for Arriva Group Internal Audit. In my spare time I am a volunteer for the Boy Scouts, I am a committee member and I help to organise a camp at Whitsun and a challenging hike in December. I love hiking and have hiked up quite a few mountains in the past, but so far Snowdon was still on my to do list.

I like the fact that we support the Ronald McDonald Hoeve, as it is important for everybody to be able to have some time off and relax in a suitable environment. I am lucky enough to be healthy and to be able to travel where I want, it is good to know that places like the Ronald McDonald Hoeve exist for the children who have special needs.

A view from the other side...

History

One fateful day – a colleague said to me I have been asked to organize a safety day at Green Lane depot in Liverpool. Helpful as ever I asked if she wanted me to help by giving a presentation about the work I was doing with Merseyside Police. Little did I realize then the horror that awaited me – Jan Politiek!

For a whilst I was locked away for my own safety (see picture above!)

Despite faking my own death and two years in the FBI whiteness relocation program I have not been able to escape him. Two years ago I came up with the idea of losing him on top of the highest mountain in Wales – third time lucky……..

The Present Day

We have a wonderful weekend planned with eating good food, plenty of drinking, wonderful sights and beautiful weather. Sounds good – well that is this weekend – don’t know what we are going to do when you all arrive!

Still reading? – OK lets be serious for a whilst. My name is Barry, and along with Mike and Glyn we will be looking after you all for the four days. I have worked for Arriva for 16 years, the last 10 years as an Operations Manager. I am currently working in Southport depot with Mike and Glyn. At present I am extremely overweight (but still very sexy!) and may have to wait at base camp this year as due to the pressures of work and home I have not been able to practice.
We are really pleased that you have taken the time out of your busy lives to come and visit Liverpool and undertake the Snowdon Challenge. We have a few things planned (god willing and weather permitting) to keep you busy. Apart from the Sunday it will be at a leisurely pace - unlike any schedule devised by Mr. Politiek. We have even built in some free time Monday morning for you to look around the shops in Liverpool city centre!

Glyn has said he is looking forward to having a fight with Leo Keuvelaar and will tie one arm behind his back to give Leo a chance

We hope you will enjoy your visit and we are looking forward to saying hello to a few old friends on Friday and saying goodbye to some new friends on Monday

See you all Friday the 1st of June 2012 – safe journey!

Just a bit more to go!

Th ewalkers are in the final stages of their preparations! In justa week's time we will be leaving towards THE MOUNTAIN! Everyone is filled with enthusiasm and preparing intensively from all points of view: making sure they are fit enough, making sure the walking shoes are ready and last but not least, raising money! So far, we have 1500 € gathered! That is half of our target sum for the year! There's one more week and we hope everyone will contribute to make it happen!

As a reward, hopefully at the end of our journey, we will all be able to admire something like this or even sunnier! (the photo below has been taken by Jan from the top in the hike in 2010)

Next in line is...Mark!

Hello,

My name is Mark Postma, a former employee of Arriva Netherlands. I am 26 years old and worked as a Region Controller in the bus concession Achterhoek / Rivierenland. Although I decided to switch to a position outside Arriva recently, I am looking forward to challenge my first Snowdon Walk.

This trip will be a journey for both the Arriva team and the charity involved (Ronald Mac Donalds House). There are multiple reasons to join this event. By doing so, I hope the Arriva team contributes to the awareness of the Ronald Mac Donalds House in Zwaagwesteinde. Secund, hopefully the Arriva team raise a certain amount of money for those people facing a daily battle against their health, their physical harm and all the additional complications in their daily lifes.

Let’s do it!

Today we have two: Lydia & Farid!:)

Hello,

My name is Lydia Glasbergen and I’m working for Arriva Netherlands. I’m a depot manager and the last five years, I worked all over the country. I met a lot of people and that’s one of the main reason why I signed up for the Snowdown Walk, to meet colleagues from other countries en of course visit this beautiful part of the UK .

And for charity I walk one step faster!

Looking forward to getting to know the UK by foot!

Hello,

My name is Farid Saaidi and I am 23 years old. I am a fourth year student International Hospitality Management and I live together with my fiancé in an apartment in Leeuwarden, the Netherlands.

The father of my fiancé is Rene Minck, an employee of Arriva. He was talking about the Snowdon walk last year and he made me really excited. Unfortunately I could not join last year’s walk however, I could not let this opportunity pass me by this year!

I am participating for my mother and little sister. My sister was born with down syndrome and had multiple complications when she was born. She had to stay in the hospital for several weeks because she needed heart surgery. In this period, my mother could stay in the Ronald Macdonald of Groningen so she did not have to drive every day from Leeuwarden. She was very grateful she could stay in that house. During her period there, she met parents that experienced the same circumstances as her. She could talk to them about her experiences and how they coped with their situation.

To give something back to the Ronald Macdonald foundation, I want to participate in this walk and raise money for them so other parents can stay by the sides of their children. Because every child needs their parents.

The next one is Jan!:)

Hello,
I'm Jan Politiek, adviser on Safety & Security for Arriva Netherlands.

The purpose of the Snowdon Walk 2012:
The goal is to work together as Arriva Eurostars (Colleagues & relationships ArrivaNetherlands) to contribute to a great institution like the Ronald McDonald House in Beesterzwaag. This institution enables you to feel at home, even in harsh conditions. (http://www.kinderfonds.nl/centraal/item/ronald_mcdonald_hoeve)

Arriva Eurostars team composition:
It exists of colleagues from Netherlands Arriva Bus and Train and relations of Arriva Netherlands: There are twelve (!) persons who have signed up for this unique walk.

Something about the Snowdon Mountain:
• 1085 meters high
• Consists of rocks (no trees)
• Often climbed for various charities

"According to the legend, Snowdon is the current residence of Merlin (Myrddin Emrys), the famous magician of the Arthurian legend. Merlin sleeps, together with a large number of warriors, deep in the bowels of the mountain. If Albion (now Great Britain) needs him he will awaken and safe it"

Snowdon Mountain: It's a real mountain!

And for our Dutch audience:

Hallo,
Ik ben Jan Politiek, werkzaam bij Arriva Nederland als adviseur Integrale Veiligheid.

Doel van de Snowdon Walk 2012:
Het doel is om samen, als Arriva Eurostars (Collega’s & relaties Arriva Nederland), een klein beetje te kunnen bijdragen aan een super instelling als de Ronald McDonald Hoeve in Beesterzwaag. Deze instelling maakt het mogelijk, niet altijd in makkelijke situaties, dat je je toch nog een “beetje”thuis mag voelen. (http://www.kinderfonds.nl/centraal/item/ronald_mcdonald_hoeve)

Samenstelling team Arriva Euro Stars:
Het betreft collega’s van Arriva Nederland Bus en Trein en relaties van Arriva Nederland: Er zijn maar liefst twaalf (!) personen die zich hebben aangemeld voor deze unieke walk voor het goed doel!

Iets over de Snowdon Mountain:
1085 meter hoog
Bestaande uit rotsen (geen bomen)
Dagelijks wordt deze berg beklommen voor diverse goede doelen

“Volgens de legende is Snowdon de huidige verblijfplaats van Merlin (Emrys Myrddin), de bekende magiër uit de Arthur legende. Merlin slaapt, samen met een groot aantal krijgers, diep in het binnenste van de berg. Als Albion (nu Groot Brittannië)hem nodig heeft zal hij ontwaken en tot redding zijn”

And the walkers are...

So that everyone gets to see who are actually the people that are participating in the event, we are beginning a series of introductory posts - each walker has written a bit about themselves. And the first one is...Leo! (not DiCaprio but even better!:))

Hello,

I am Leo Keuvelaar and my work is my passion. For 36 years I am practicing aikido and I have the greatest aikido club in Holland. As you can see my I am recognized by the sport government of Holland and we have received out “Fight Right” recognition. People who practice in our dojo’s know that we are well educated to give people aikido lessons.

I am also teacher at a school in den Brielle. One day in the week I give transport and logistics lessons. A lot of my business customers are schools and for me it is important to know what is happening in schools and what is happening with teachers and students.

Most part of the week I am busy with my other passion, my business. I have my business, Keuze education institute KOI, for 12 years and developed from a simple self-defense course to a business with 5 trainers with education areas as:
Aggression management, Communication, Safety problems, different training courses for teachers and also students, Teambuilding etc.

As you can image I am always working but when your work is your passion you don’t get tired.

Because I have a very “physical” life I am grateful every day that I am not sick like the people we are walking for. So with this we can also do something for them. Every year we also organize in my club sessions to make money for charity goals . When you are busy with this charity you realize that you must be grateful that you are healthy. It looks so normal but in real life there are a lot of people suffering from all kinds of deceases.
So let’s do it !!!!

Not to lose track of what is important

In the first post, we mentioned that, as much fun as hiking is, there is a greater point to why we are doing this and why we encourage more and more people to join us. This is mainly the charity event that changes every year but for which we raise money among our colleagues, friends and family.

In 2011 the walk on Snowdon raised money for the NSPCC and the Multiple Sclerosis Trust. Besides the money that was raised via the subscription fee from the walkers themselves, the Dutch team (composed only of 4 men then) managed to raise an extra 1000€ for the cause! Thank you all for the generosity and the contribution!

This year we set our aim even higher as there are 11 of us walking! The charity that we are now sponsoring is the fund for disabled children Ronald McDonalds Hoeve: http://www.kinderfonds.nl/hoeve/ Should you want to find out more about it or join us, leave us a comment!

The Very Beginning

As mentioned in the previous post, the participation of people from the Netherlands in the walk started due to the professional relationship (that also evolved into a nice friendship) between two employees of Arriva in the two countries, namely Jan Politiek (NL) and Barry Dobson (North West).

Jan is a Safety & Security Advisor in Arriva NL, dealing with all matters on the two topics, mainly in the bus business. Barry is a depot manager in Arriva North West and has helped Jan implement some of the UK ways of working also in the NL.

The exchange in experience between the two, has led to several professional initiatives being successfully carried out and even further exported to Portugal. Below, some photos from an action carried out in Liverpool, in which the Dutch team participated in order to learn and bring back home!

How it started

With an initiative from Arriva North West - yes, the public transport company:)

The employees there started this initiative - every year in the beginning of June teams would be formed and they would go climbing the highest mountain of Wales! The subscription fee (which is around 30 pounds) would go to a specified charity cause. In addition to this, every employee was encouraged to raise extra money among their own acquaintances for the same charity event.

In 2010, the Netherlands joined the initiative. Due to the collaboration between Arriva NL and Arriva North West on the topic of safety, the Safety Dept of the company in the Netherlands found out about the event and decided to go hiking too! In that year, only one person Jan Politiek went for it! In 2011 the team expanded - 3 people from the NL participated and 2 from Arriva Portugal. And in 2012 we are proud to say that we are 12 people from the NL and 7 from Portugal! The best part about it? It stopped being an Arriva event. Among the members of our 2012 team we have people that work in other companies or that are still studying. A great mix that will for sure make a great experience out of the Snowdon walk!:)