Let’s Go Belay and Boulder Together
Club Rules
We are proud of ourselves and each other
It’s the shared aim of all our members to create a welcoming, supportive and respectful environment for each other.
Climbing is a challenge. You will push yourself in many ways, especially against your fear of heights and fear of falling. You’ll develop strength, balance and new skills. Bit by bit, you’ll achieve more than you thought you could. You deserve to be proud of your achievements and feel supported and encouraged along the way. And you should be able to do this in an environment that recognises and accepts you for who you are – a space which supports you to express your gender identity and sexual orientation in a way you find comfortable.
Be generous in supporting and encouraging other members as they push themselves and develop new skills, in the same way that you would like to be supported and encouraged yourself. See the best in everyone’s efforts, remembering that you have faced similar challenges. When people feel safe to share their personal selves with you please treat this information with the respect they show in sharing it.
Prospective members
We want any LGBTQ+ person who as interested in climbing and can physically travel to our sessions to be able to try it. Unusually for a climbing club, this means we teach tying-in and belaying.
We ask every prospective member to complete an application form when they first climb with us, after which they’re welcome to climb with us for up to three months before becoming a full member (and paying a membership fee). Within this time, we’d hope that prospective members have attended several sessions and developed a reasonable level of climbing skill and competence – becoming a full member of the club is conditional on this, and is at the committee’s discretion.
It is important that all members can accept advice and guidance, and understand the inherent risks of climbing: “[we] recognise that climbing and mountaineering are activities with a danger of personal injury or death. Participants in these activities should be aware of and accept these risks and be responsible for their own actions.”
Membership and payment
Membership fees are paid annually and for 2023 are set at £25.
If you join later than July, the fee is halved. There’s also a discounted rate for people who are unemployed, students, etc.
We pass almost the entire membership fee to the BMC. The £25 fee includes an optional £2.25 contribution, which we intend to put towards equipment, travel or other costs for the club.
Membership runs annually from January-December and everybody’s membership expires at the end of December. To renew your membership, you should pay at the start of the year.
We’ll send reminders to everybody to pay in January, and chase in February. If payment isn’t received by March, your club membership ends.
How to pay
- bank transfer: name: LGBT Climbing Club, sort: 30-98-97, acct: 66976062
- cheque: payable to “LGBT Climbing Club”, hand to Simon, Josh, or Mike
- cash: we can only accept cash in special circumstances, by prior arrangement
- Please do not set up a standing order/recurring payment with your bank. The membership fee increases slightly every year and you’ll have to change your standing order every time.
Your personal data
We ask everyone in the club to fill in a membership form the first time they climb with us, giving their name, date of birth, address, contact details, an emergency contact, details of previous climbing experience. This is held in our membership database and used by the committee to help manage the club.
Every member will be invited to join our chat group on Signal. This will disclose your name and profile photo (both as chosen in Signal), and your mobile number to all other members in the group. We’re anticipating that Signal will be our main way of keeping in touch day-to-day, and we hope everybody will be happy with this, but we are looking into alternatives (for example email newsletters) for members who don’t want to join the Signal group. Our hope is that being in the Signal group is useful, sociable, and adds value for everyone, but if there are members who choose not to be in the group, we’ll do our best to keep them up to date with meets and trips so they are able to participate.
We take photos, videos, and written accounts of our climbing sessions and trips, and publish these on our social media and website. You can ask us not to include you in these.
We’ll disclose some of your details to BMC: your Forename, Surname, DOB, Address and Postcode, and the fact that you’ve paid. BMC will use this for managing your BMC membership in line with their privacy policy: https://www.thebmc.co.uk/privacy
We won’t disclose your details any more widely than this without your express consent, except in an emergency.
Equipment
You are responsible for the safety, maintenance and use of your personal equipment. Please ensure you are regularly checking that your equipment is in good condition, and are updating and replacing as necessary. Experienced club members may be able to offer guidance if you are unsure.
Amendments to the rules
These rules can be amended by the committee at any time, by the agreement of a quorum of voting committee members. All changes to the club rules will be clearly communicated to the club’s membership.
Constitution
Constitution last updated: 28th January 2023