Weekends Away guidance Notes

If you are thinking of organising a weekend away, check first with the Capital Walkers Committee
(via the Weekends Away Coordinator, Chris Michaels) before committing to the booking, in case
someone else is also organising a weekend on the same timing. You might prefer to ask for an
expression of interest first, before going ahead with the trip and asking people to actually sign up.

Please note that you need to be a member of Capital Walkers [Ramblers] to organise a Weekend
Away on our behalf.

You will need to produce a draft notice for the CW website, giving information about the trip, links
to the area and hotels (for people to book their own accommodation) and your e-mail address
asking people to send to you their name, mobile phone number, and place they are staying. Please
include the following wording:

"Please note your place on the trip will not be confirmed until you have sent the information below
(this information is required simply to administer the event, and for no other purpose):
- Your name and contact phone number (we won't share this with anyone without your permission)
- Your Ramblers membership number
- The name of the place you are staying (we won't pass this on to anyone)"

You need to decide in advance what walks will take place and will need to mention alternative plans
if a walk is weather dependent. You will need to decide time, transport and give some idea of
transport costs. You will need to decide where to meet up and what time in the evening. (None of
this needs to go in the initial notice for the website, but should of course be included in the detailed
information provided to those who sign up to go). In an ideal world you will have recce'd the walks
in advance, for which there is £50 a lump-sum contribution to your recce travel costs, but it's not
essential as long as you have researched the routes well enough!

On the trip itself you will need to take a printout of attendees' contact details, so that you can reach
people in case of any last-minute change of plan or emergency.

General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

Under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Capital Walkers (as part of Ramblers) are required
to ensure that we only gather personal information (including name, e-mail address, telephone number
and Ramblers membership number) for a specific purpose, and that we only keep it for as long as is strictly
necessary.
This applies also to organisers of Capital Walkers Weekends Away and other group trips: you are
volunteers too (for which we are very grateful!). To enable us to publish your personal details online
so that those interested can contact you direct, please contact the Weekends Away
Coordinator who will assist in registering you as a volunteer. Note: If you are already a Walk Leader
you will already be registered as a volunteer.

If you are organising a trip that requires you to pass people's data on to a third party (eg hotel,
transport provider, etc), please make sure you have the participants' consent to pass on that specific
data to that specific company.

When you are in touch with participants about the details of the trip, please make sure you always
send e-mails either individually or - if a group e-mail - using "bcc" (to ensure that participants'
contact details are not shared with others). If you plan to set up eg a WhatsApp group to share
information in the run-up to the event, please make sure you have their permission before you add
anyone to the group.

After the event: Ramblers Central Office have advised that we should only keep data/e-mails
containing personal information for a maximum of 1 month after an event has passed. Please make
sure that you delete/destroy any lists of participants, and correspondence with them, as soon as the
event has passed.

Insurance

As long as you are a member of Ramblers, you are insured to lead walks on our behalf.

Good Practice In Leading

Follow the basic elements of good practice in leading skills:

• Be familiar with the route by walking it beforehand, ideally with the backmarker and make a note of
  any more complicated sections (e.g. busy roads to cross, slippery banks to descend, sections where
  the route is not so clear).
• Before setting out on the walk, make sure everyone is aware of the distance and terrain involved
  and any sections of the route where particular care is required, especially crossing or walking along
  roads.
• Organisers should consider a clear “are you sure you’re up to this?” when they promote their trip,
  especially if it’s strenuous, e.g. Switzerland, Lake District, etc.
• Know who is in your group. Some groups choose to take a register to ensure they know who is
  walking with them and how many walkers they have. Appoint a back-marker to keep the party
  together and do not take more people than you feel comfortable leading. If people wish to leave by
  walking on ahead on finishing early, make it clear that they must let you know they are leaving and
  they understand your responsibility as leader ends when they leave the main group and thus they
  are no longer insured.
• Walk leaders have the authority to exclude non-capable walkers from a walk for the safety of the
  individual and of the group. Consider devising a plan B (e.g. share plans/routes with another
  participant) if they themselves can’t go at short notice.
• There should be a risk assessment for all the walks.
• From the point of view of the insurance cover in the event of a claim being made, leaders who can
  demonstrate that they acted responsibly are in a much stronger position to counter claims of
  negligence.

Thank you for your willingness to organise a Weekend Away! If you have any questions, please don't
hesitate to contact the Weekend Away Coordinator