Clubs, Huts, Meets and current Covid-19 Restrictions

Posted by Jane Thompson on 04/04/2022

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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Anonymous User
22/10/2020
Great article providing the rules that we must abide by to reduce the spread of Covid 19 in our area.
Thanks for sorting this out.
Anonymous User
02/12/2020
Hi guys

The guidance here about groups of 30 does is not the same as the 2/12 update saying only up to 6 - Can you de-conflict please?
Anonymous User
04/12/2020
"From Wednesday 2 December outdoor club meets (in mountaineering activities) will be able to resume for up to 30 people if the club is following the BMC guidance"

The BMC guidance link just takes you back to this page. Where can we find this information?
Anonymous User
04/12/2020
I think the BMC is completely out of touch, Ramblers groups in theory up to 30 are able to organise group walks, subject to strict risk assessment and management rules, they even have a bar code to log members on walks
Can the BMC get into the 21C and look at interests of all at this time . Not just those wanting to go vertical solo
22/12/2020
Comments about regs above, please see legislation.Gov.uk
Rule of six applies to most gatherings.
Organised sport is an exemption allowing you to go over this number, a rugby, hockey or football game for instance.
No one can have a gathering larger than 30.
Hence no organised sport over 30.
Compare our sport to touch rugby, an hour of coming in to close proximity with 20+other people.
The key is these gatherings are happening outside, where transmission has been shown to be low.
Our challenge is making the inside elements of what we do work. Car sharing, accommodation, parking, evening socialising and buying supplies in the area of a meet.
My intention is to increase the number of local day meets and scale back the longer distance trips.
Thankyou to the BMC for being clear with their guidelines.
Anonymous User
05/01/2021
Can you give guidance on solo/2 people hiking in local areas please? This article was updated today but focuses on groups/huts and climbing walls. Thanks a lot/
Anonymous User
26/03/2021
i attended the Webinair about hut openings and listened to Medical Guidance about 72hour gap between occupency. Did I miss something though as am hearing without this hut insurance will not honour a claim asgainst Covid? Suddenly guidance became insurance requirement.

Steve
Anonymous User
10/08/2021
Hi, will the 48hr guidance between hut bookings be removed, now that numerous households are allowed to stay at a hut? Surely the risk of having numerous households at the same time negates having 48hrs between bookings?

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