Hello, Pete!
Glad to see you stepping into the Pprune pond; I've been swimming around in PPrune since Capt. Sully, that former GLIDING INSTRUCTOR, landed his Airbus Glider in the Hudson River.....
There are two camps here: those with time to spare, and those with money to spare. The more forward looking gliding clubs can usually make an arrangement to suit those impatient types who don't have the time to spare; Shenington and Lasham and other places will be able to tailor accelerated courses with dedicated instructors to enable the latter to progress quickly.
Weather permitting, of course. Having mentioned the weather, however, we fly gliders up the wire in wind conditions when sensible little Cessnas stay on the ground.
Glider pilots do not pretend to fly for travel or business purposes; we do it for fun. And on another thread here, there are some AMAZING videos which show just how much fun we have! I recollect the thread is called "Whats happened to me?" or some such name. The videos show a 747 captain's glider flying along a shoreline, and climbing in a competition.
However, not everyone who takes up gliding achieves these standards: it is still a lot of fun getting away from a 1,200' wire launch, cost at our club only £8 for members! climbing under a nice fat cumulus to 5,000', throwing in a couple of loops or spins, and generally just messing around.
And yakking in the bar when all the toys are put away.
It's not for everyone.