With government rules, regulations and guidance changing regularly it can be difficult for clubs to keep up with what they are allowed to do. This article summarises the BMC’s understanding of the constraints on club meets and access to huts, based on information available at the time and date of publication. Please remember to check for local changes that may affect your club or hut.

First produced: 21 October 2020

This version: 4 April 2022, 18:30

With government rules, regulations and guidance changing regularly it can be difficult for clubs to keep up with what they are allowed to do.  This article summarises the BMC’s understanding of the constraints on club meets and access to huts, based on information available at the time and date of publication.  Please remember to check for local changes that may affect your club or hut.

There continues to be:

• Recommendation for using lateral flow tests before heading into environments where you may be indoors with other people, for clubs this may include social meets, hut meets and climbing wall meets.
• Wide encouragement for getting vaccinated, including the booster jab(s).
• Differences remain across the home nations so check what the situation is for where you are going.

General Considerations:

Please remember that legal minimums are just that – minimums.  Many organisations are asking their staff, volunteers and customers to go beyond these minimums, to provide both genuinely improved safety, and the reassurance that is essential for higher levels of use.  As with all other aspects of health and safety, people in any capacity are expected to take reasonable and appropriate steps to minimise their potential to harm those who may be affected by their acts or omissions.

As always, we have to stay within guidance and increasingly allow individuals to make their own choices.  Essentially indoor meets, outdoor meets and huts are operating as close to "normality" as the guidance allows if the club and their club members feel comfortable doing so, with common sense around mitigation procedures.  It is important for club committees to have conversations with their members to get their views on what they are comfortable with.

It is still sensible to encourage good hygiene (washing hands, sanitising etc.) and also, importantly, an open window policy in huts.  As we continue out of the pandemic there is a growing emphasis on personal assessments - those who are risk averse can always choose to avoid huts or busy meets, and those that are less concerned can join in with enhanced care.

Some parts of the country, with increasing infection rates, are asking visitors to consider their actions by delaying their visit, avoiding popular “honey-pot” areas and undertaking tests before departing from home.  Clubs may wish to support the local population in the areas they are visiting by adhering to the local requests to reduce transmission of the virus.

Specifics:

Huts – General

• Huts are permitted to open without a government-imposed capacity limit.
• Hut operators need to consider the risks from covid-19, in the same way that other risks are considered - through a risk assessment relevant to the property.
• Consider that some members may be cautious about attending a hut in large groups.  Hut operators need to consider the steps they can take to help members feel comfortable in returning to using huts.
• Click here for UK government advice and click here for Welsh government guidance for on keeping safe under current conditions.
• Click here for BMC guidance on the re-opening of huts. 

Huts – Wales-only

• Hut operators are required to undertake a specific assessment of the risk of exposure to coronavirus at the hut, and take appropriate steps to minimise those risks to all users of the hut (club members, visitors, volunteers, etc.).

Club Meets (Outdoor) – General

• Consider that some members may be cautious about meeting up in large groups.  Clubs may wish to use some of the steps contained in the guidance produced by the BMC to help members feel comfortable in returning to meets.
• Car sharing is permitted, but occupants may wish to consider wearing face coverings and keeping windows open for ventilation.
• There are no maximum limits due to covid-19 for clubs or club members meeting in the outdoors.
• Click here for UK government advice and click here for Welsh government guidance for on keeping safe under current conditions.

Club Meets (Indoor Climbing Wall) – General

• There are no limits to the number of people who can meet indoors, and so club meets are able to take place.  Walls may still have lower limits on the total number of people allowed in the building.
• Some walls may request a face covering to be worn, although not when climbing/exercising.
• However, it is important that clubs have contact with the climbing wall prior to visiting as a group to ensure compliance to the rules at that wall.

Scotland

For the current position in Scotland please go to the Mountaineering Scotland website.

Useful links

UK Government: Coronavirus
Welsh Government: Coronavirus
Sport England – FAQ on coronavirus restrictions
Sport Wales – coronavirus – essential information ENGLISH CYMRAEG

* Mountaineering activities include rock climbing (trad & sport), bouldering, hill /fell / mountain walking, scrambling.  It does not include mountain biking, caving, kayaking and other such activities that are outside of the direct remit of the BMC.

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