What constitutes a Club Activity?
The definition of a club activity is very important as it defines (among other things) whether our club members benefit from 3rd party insurance under Bristol Canoe Club’s affiliation to British Canoeing.
A Club Activity is defined by British Canoeing as:
• Any activity that has been assessed as part of a club’s safety framework and promoted on the club calendar, website or noticeboard.
• Club activities also include inter-club activities where the responsibility for risk assessment and management is carried out and shared between all participating clubs.
British Canoeing distinguish six activities of which three do not offer club members the benefit of third-party insurance through our club’s affiliation to British Canoeing. However, if you are a member of the British Canoeing, you do gain third party liability insurance for all activities.
• Orchestrated Club Activity (yes, insurance covered under Club Affiliation)
• Supervised Club Activity (yes, insurance covered under Club Affiliation)
• Collaborative Club Activity (yes, insurance covered under Club Affiliation)
• Activity Sanctioned by the Club (no 3rd party insurance under Club Affiliation)
• Informal / Ad Hoc Activity (no 3rd party insurance under Club Affiliation)
• Club Members, involvement in independent Activity (no 3rd party insurance under Club Affiliation)
It is important for all members who are NOT members of British Canoeing, that Informal/Ad-hoc activity at an individual’s discretion is deemed outside of the BC’s Club Activity definition and therefore club affiliation insurance does not apply. The recommendation from BC is those individual club members wanting to paddle/train in an ad-hoc manner should purchase British Canoeing membership and therefore gain individual 3rd party insurance, which will also be required to enter competitions such as marathon races and canoe polo tournaments. Should a paddler or paddlers without BC membership chose to paddle by themselves, they do so at their own personal risk.
This uninsured status would apply to all paddling disciplines for example:
- A non-BC Member paddling on the docks by themselves, for personal training.
- A non-BC Member polo player going on the docks to practice some ball dribbling by themselves.
- A non-BC Member paddling (with a group) on the upper dart but deciding to walk out by themselves or paddling off down the middle dart alone.
- A non-BC Member attending a club general session in a marathon boat at the Baltic Wharf and then paddling off by themselves.
More details are available at: https://www.marshsport.co.uk/ngb-schemes/british-canoeing.html