Thanks for expressing an interest to join Achilles Australia in Sydney. This page provides details on how you can become a part of our club.
When and where do you train?
We hold weekly training sessions every Sunday, rain or shine. We meet on the steps of the Art Gallery of New South Wales at 8.00am.
Occasionally, we meet at Centennial Park as a result of road-closures for events in the CBD. Members will be advised when this is likely to happen.
How do I get to training?
Many of our volunteers drive and parking is available outside the Art Gallery, please ask us for a parking permit to display on your windscreen. These permits allow Achilles volunteers free parking for the duration of training.
How long is a training session?
We walk or run for about an hour in the Royal Botanical Gardens and The Domain. The distance, time and pace that you will run for will be dictated by the member with disability that you are assigned to.
What does training involve?
Able-bodied members are paired with members with a disability. We assign guides according to their interest and ability, so no-one need do more than they feel capable of. If there are no guides available to match the pace of a speedier member with a disability, that member will be happy to run/walk at the slower pace of any available guide. As one blind runner said, 'This is 100% better training than a treadmill, and 1000% more interesting'.
If there are more guides than people who need guiding, guides will typically join other groups for a run or a walk. We aim to make Achilles a social environment for our members to exercise in. So the more the merrier for most of our members.
After exercising, we meet back on the Gallery steps. We usually provide a cup of tea or coffee to enjoy while everyone has a social chat.
Am I guaranteed a run at training?
No. Your pace at training will be dictated by the members with disability that turn up on the day. If you want to run and there are members who also want to run we’ll try and pair you up. But that run could be a lot shorter and slower than you would normally do. So please don’t rely on our training sessions as one of your usual running days. Typically our runner volunteers treat it as a rest day.
What if I can’t run?
Whether you’re just not a runner or are a runner carrying an injury we still welcome you at Achilles. We have a number of members with a disability that don’t run and rely on our volunteers to assist them on going for a lovely walk instead.
Who are your members?
Our members (disabled and volunteers) range in age from 18 to 70+. We have anywhere from 10 to 30+ people attending our weekly Sunday sessions. People with disabilities who attend training may be vision-impaired, mobility handicapped etc. They walk, jog or run at various speeds.
Consequently, some of our volunteers need only walk along with a walker with a disability, while other volunteers may guide one of our running members with a disability.
We have several vision-impaired members who race regularly, have run ultramarathons or completed endurance events such as climbing Mt Kilimanjaro.
Do I have to come every weekend?
No. We welcome all levels of engagement from our volunteers and members. Whilst many of our volunteers and members turn up most Sundays we also have a large base of casual members who come less regularly.
While we have a roster for volunteer guides for our Sunday sessions, we do rely on others to show up. We have no way of knowing how many members with a disability will turn up at each session, and high attendance often means that we need more guides than those rostered.
So, if you would like to volunteer but can only attend irregularly and cannot commit to a roster, you will be very welcome (and needed).
What else does Achilles do?
Our members regularly participate in walking and running events such as City to Surf, half marathons, marathons and many community events. We also organise occasional bush walks. In addition to the weekly training sessions, we organise extra training runs at other mutually convenient times and locations, especially when major events are coming up.
Sometimes we arrange social events, such as breakfast after the run or dinner before an event if we're staying overnight.
How can I guide in an event?
Our number one goal in events is for our members to feel safe and have fun. This means that they need to be paired with experienced guides who know how to keep them safe in events. Hence it’s very unlikely that you will be a single guide in an event without having attended at least a few training session. Guides new to events or new to guiding will likely get the opportunity to guide in an event as part of a team with an experienced guide.
I can’t make training but can I still guide in an event?
As mentioned above our number one priority to our members is their safety and fun in events. In order to ensure this happens we need our volunteers to be experienced guides. That doesn’t mean you have to attend every training session but we need to know that you are capable of ensuring the safety of our members in events. So really we just need to get to know you a little.
What’s next?
As a starting point, why don't you come along on any Sunday morning at 8:00am? We meet at the steps of the NSW Art Gallery in the Domain. We are very easy to find - we wear bright yellow Achilles Australia tops.
Just ask for the person in charge of the volunteers on that morning, and he/she will assign you to accompany an experienced volunteer so you can learn firsthand what we do & how we do it.
Remember, if you come by car, do not feed the parking meter - we have parking permits which allow free parking.
Should you decide to become a member you will be put through a short hands-on training session on guiding a member with a disability.
Learn the basics on how to guide here.
When and where do you train?
We hold weekly training sessions every Sunday, rain or shine. We meet on the steps of the Art Gallery of New South Wales at 8.00am.
Occasionally, we meet at Centennial Park as a result of road-closures for events in the CBD. Members will be advised when this is likely to happen.
How do I get to training?
Many of our volunteers drive and parking is available outside the Art Gallery, please ask us for a parking permit to display on your windscreen. These permits allow Achilles volunteers free parking for the duration of training.
How long is a training session?
We walk or run for about an hour in the Royal Botanical Gardens and The Domain. The distance, time and pace that you will run for will be dictated by the member with disability that you are assigned to.
What does training involve?
Able-bodied members are paired with members with a disability. We assign guides according to their interest and ability, so no-one need do more than they feel capable of. If there are no guides available to match the pace of a speedier member with a disability, that member will be happy to run/walk at the slower pace of any available guide. As one blind runner said, 'This is 100% better training than a treadmill, and 1000% more interesting'.
If there are more guides than people who need guiding, guides will typically join other groups for a run or a walk. We aim to make Achilles a social environment for our members to exercise in. So the more the merrier for most of our members.
After exercising, we meet back on the Gallery steps. We usually provide a cup of tea or coffee to enjoy while everyone has a social chat.
Am I guaranteed a run at training?
No. Your pace at training will be dictated by the members with disability that turn up on the day. If you want to run and there are members who also want to run we’ll try and pair you up. But that run could be a lot shorter and slower than you would normally do. So please don’t rely on our training sessions as one of your usual running days. Typically our runner volunteers treat it as a rest day.
What if I can’t run?
Whether you’re just not a runner or are a runner carrying an injury we still welcome you at Achilles. We have a number of members with a disability that don’t run and rely on our volunteers to assist them on going for a lovely walk instead.
Who are your members?
Our members (disabled and volunteers) range in age from 18 to 70+. We have anywhere from 10 to 30+ people attending our weekly Sunday sessions. People with disabilities who attend training may be vision-impaired, mobility handicapped etc. They walk, jog or run at various speeds.
Consequently, some of our volunteers need only walk along with a walker with a disability, while other volunteers may guide one of our running members with a disability.
We have several vision-impaired members who race regularly, have run ultramarathons or completed endurance events such as climbing Mt Kilimanjaro.
Do I have to come every weekend?
No. We welcome all levels of engagement from our volunteers and members. Whilst many of our volunteers and members turn up most Sundays we also have a large base of casual members who come less regularly.
While we have a roster for volunteer guides for our Sunday sessions, we do rely on others to show up. We have no way of knowing how many members with a disability will turn up at each session, and high attendance often means that we need more guides than those rostered.
So, if you would like to volunteer but can only attend irregularly and cannot commit to a roster, you will be very welcome (and needed).
What else does Achilles do?
Our members regularly participate in walking and running events such as City to Surf, half marathons, marathons and many community events. We also organise occasional bush walks. In addition to the weekly training sessions, we organise extra training runs at other mutually convenient times and locations, especially when major events are coming up.
Sometimes we arrange social events, such as breakfast after the run or dinner before an event if we're staying overnight.
How can I guide in an event?
Our number one goal in events is for our members to feel safe and have fun. This means that they need to be paired with experienced guides who know how to keep them safe in events. Hence it’s very unlikely that you will be a single guide in an event without having attended at least a few training session. Guides new to events or new to guiding will likely get the opportunity to guide in an event as part of a team with an experienced guide.
I can’t make training but can I still guide in an event?
As mentioned above our number one priority to our members is their safety and fun in events. In order to ensure this happens we need our volunteers to be experienced guides. That doesn’t mean you have to attend every training session but we need to know that you are capable of ensuring the safety of our members in events. So really we just need to get to know you a little.
What’s next?
As a starting point, why don't you come along on any Sunday morning at 8:00am? We meet at the steps of the NSW Art Gallery in the Domain. We are very easy to find - we wear bright yellow Achilles Australia tops.
Just ask for the person in charge of the volunteers on that morning, and he/she will assign you to accompany an experienced volunteer so you can learn firsthand what we do & how we do it.
Remember, if you come by car, do not feed the parking meter - we have parking permits which allow free parking.
Should you decide to become a member you will be put through a short hands-on training session on guiding a member with a disability.
Learn the basics on how to guide here.
