Young People in Mountaineering Clubs in Scotland

Taking account of the need to cater for those young people who have an interest in climbing and hill walking, and the need to encourage them into the sport in a manner which encompasses the ethos of the sport, whilst maintaining good practice in regard to child protection issues, the MCofS has drawn up this advice note to help prospective clubs that are set up to cater for young people, to do so in a way in which they can be affiliated to the MCofS.

1. Accepting a ‘youth club’ into membership in circumstances where those who run the youth club are not members is contrary to our current categorisation of a ‘club’, which requires all participants to be members.
2. The distinction between a mountaineering club comprised of adults operating in a self-reliant fashion and a youth club providing mountaineering activities for young people as part of a wider community and social initiative is important. A club set up to promote youth work training schemes is a different operation to a self-reliant club. A mountaineering club could still ‘deliver’ such a scheme as the DofE Award to its members if it wished, but this would not be its specific purpose.
3. There are concerns arising from the Thomas Hamilton and Dunblane Massacre Affair and child protection law coming into force which places an onus on those operating with children to be accountable.
4. The stance taken by MCofS Executive in the past regarding tragedies to young people being led by adults in the mountains, where, as representatives of mountaineer’s we asserted that young people should be lead by experienced and competent mountaineers, and in the situation of ‘leadership’ the evolution of central Government policy which has resulted in 'best practice' being that leaders should be 'MLT qualified'.
5. In accepting such youth clubs into membership, the MCofS will be seen as endorsing the suitability of leaders within the club, to be responsible for young people and the leaders experience and competence to take responsibility for novices on the hill. This would imply a ‘new category’ of club that is currently contrary to MCofS policies. It would mean that the MCofS would take responsibility for Disclosure checks and require 'leaders' to be ‘qualified’, a position which we have fought hard to avoid regarding our category of ‘Club’ and its self-reliant ethos.
6. The primary aim of a club as endorsed by the MCofS would be that of “sharing knowledge” between members; whether those members have years of experience or are novices. This does not require that club members be ‘qualified’ in any way to operate. If members are qualified to the basic levels of competence indicated by the MLT awards then this should be seen as only part of the means by which parents in the club can assess the competence of those taking responsibility for their children. It is our advice that our clubs do not confuse requirements within a club by using the term ‘Leader’, which indicates qualification, or that they qualify that their club uses the term ‘leader’ to indicate those more experienced and willing to share their knowledge.
7. If all people involved in the club are members, and parents of the children are members, then under the current MCofS Club category, the civil liability insurance arrangements can apply to give full cover to the club, with the adults making the payment for affiliation rather than the young people, who themselves, currently do not have to pay MCofS subscriptions. However, please note that this may change in the near future, with a requirement that children pay a discounted rate to be members in their own right.
8. In such circumstances responsibility for the young people lies with parents, rather than an agency acting in ‘loco parentis’ which takes responsibility on behalf of absent parents, in a similar way to a voluntary youth organisation. The members (parents and others) should all be able to take a part in the organisational aspects of the club. They are then all fully informed of the activities in which their children are involved and indeed have a role to play in the appointment or designation of those other members who will take responsibility for organising and running club activities in which young members are involved. The organisers and supervisors are then directly accountable to the other members (the parents) whilst acting in ‘loco parentis’.

Currently the MCofS has agreed that in relation to our constitution, our categories of membership, membership structure and insurance requirements, and ethos for an affiliated club, membership of parents must be an essential principle (to involve parents in club management), with other members acting on behalf of parents and accountable to them through the club committee structure.

This allows parents to have some control over the activities of the club, to take responsibility for the activities and how they are delivered and the quality of that delivery, and therefore make the club members responsible for its activities.

It also means that parents can make assessments of the suitability of any ‘leaders’ (consider experience and gain Disclosure Scotland checks) and agree their requirements, or not, for ‘qualifications’.

It is our recommendation that in order to become affiliated to the MCofS as a ‘club’ that the membership must be that of the parents, from which an affiliation fee is taken (1 fee for each adult member – the number of children per member is not an issue regarding fees but notification of names are required for our membership database) and any adults involved in organising and leading the activities.

We recommend that the club elects its executive committee (can include positions such as Chair, Secretary and Treasurer) and that this committee can then designate someone from within their membership (the adults organising or leading the activities) to deliver those activities.

Under these circumstances the Club could be fully accepted as an Member club.