The WEA (Workers' Educational Associations) organise and advertise each year a series of short courses that allow members of the public to try, without commitment, new experiences which they may have been contemplating for many years but had not got around to pursuing. A selection of the types of course available may include gliding, cooking, astronomy, aromatherapy and Archery.

For the third year running, Trentham Archery Club ran an introduction to archery course for the Association. Two separate 3 hour courses were run with the number of participants limited to eight people per course to allow club coaches to spend a reasonable amount of time with each participant honing their newly learned skill.

The courses were held at the Randwick Archery Club range and consisted of approximately one hour's briefing on the sport, safety rules and fitting each member of the course out with bows and arrows which most suited them. The next two hours were spent on the range, shooting under the supervision of coaches Terry, Diane, Ferne, David and Cedric.

Each participant shot their first few arrows under a "one on one" basis under the control of a coach, then, as they became more confident, they shot as a group with the coaches observing and correcting faults in style and technique. By the end of the shooting session all initial awkwardness had vanished and the course members were shooting with increased confidence, with more arrows hitting the target than having to be picked up off the grass.

Each session concluded with a short de-briefing where participants were able to ask questions about the sport of archery. The weather was kind to us both days and course participants departed having enjoyed a new experience in life.