CLUB MEETS CLIMBING/WALKING MEETS
Meets for the next four months will be listed in the newsletter and on the website.
CAVING MEETS
Meets for the next four months will be listed in the newsletter and on the website.
EVENING MEETS
A programme of evening meets will be held at local outcrops and quarries from April to September. Details will
appear in the newsletter, email group and club Facebook group.
WINTER INDOOR CLIMBING MEETS
A programme of evening meets will be held at climbing walls throughout the region from October to March. Details
will appear in the newsletter, email and club Facebook group. Awesome Walls, Stockport, and Northface Wall,
Warrington offer a discount to club members on a Thursday evening.
INDOOR SOCIAL MEETS
These will be held throughout the winter at Bradshaw Conservative Club, Lee Gate, Bolton, BL2 3ET. Please check in
the newsletter or on the website or club Facebook page for details.
CLUB DISCOUNTS
Several retail shops offer discounts to club members. Contact the secretary for the latest information. Cotswold
Outdoor discount code is L2033.
CHECKLIST FOR MEET CO-ORDINATORS:
BEFORE THE MEET
The membership status of a person (eg. for new members) can be checked in the Members Directory in
Membermojo
If new members express an interest in attending a meet, check their membership status, skill level and what
equipment they have. If they are not a member, encourage them to join (provisional membership is free for three
months and provides them with BMC third party insurance), check they have basic equipment (harness, helmet,
shoes), and can tie into the rope and belay. (Boulderers may not have these skills and if a climber has not been out
for several years they may be rusty). Note that mountain crags, sea cliffs and multipitch routes require extra skills.
Thus the meet may not be appropriate for a novice. If this is the case, suggest more appropriate meets for them and
refer them to a member who can support them as needed.
If using a hut, book through the Meets Secretary.
If using a privately owned campsite, it may be worth checking with the owner to see that it is still open.
Send brief details to the Newsletter Editor in good time for the newsletter before the meet – earlier still if you plan to
arrange hired club transport. (Newsletters are published at the beginning of January, April, July and October)
Details might include:
• Where are you going? (GR, “what three words”).
• How do you get there?
• When will you be there?
• Will you arrange lifts for people?
• Give very brief description of area, crag or cave you are visiting.
• Explain what to expect at the meet.
• Arrange a stand-in meet leader if you cannot go yourself.
It is a good idea to publicise your meet on the club Facebook group and with an email the week before the meet.
Asking members to post on Facebook if they are going encourages others to attend and generates discussion, and
interest, about the meet.
You will probably not want to publicise your contact details on Facebook, but members can find them in
Membermojo, can post on Facebook or can use Messenger.
AT THE MEET
Look around for new members and introduce them to several others. Have they someone to climb with? Do they
have any needs? What do they want to get out of the meet? Do they know anything about the area or crag? Or
would they welcome advice on crags and routes? This can be helpful to the inexperienced, especially in “Mountain”
areas with choices of crags, wet and dry, warm and cold, high and low. At the end ask for feedback – was the meet
enjoyable? did they achieve their aims? is there anything that we could do differently?
Ensure all attendees have suitable people to climb, or other, with.
Try to keep an idea of where people are going – especially again on mountain meets, where people scatter – it would
look bad to lose a member on a meet. Try to check that people have got back at night.
Do you know where the local rescue post is situated?
Choose the pub if appropriate.
Check hut or campsite fees are paid so that we can come back.
AFTER THE MEET
Send a brief report to Newsletter Editor – how many went? Was anything interesting/hard/funny/stupid done?
Should we go again?
A report and photos on the club Facebook page are recommended. This helps to maintain interest and shows how
active the club is.
A FINAL NOTE
The Meet Coordinators spend a lot of time and effort in the organisation of meets. Hut bookings, campsites
organizing lifts etc. Support your club meets whenever you can. The meets are the backbone of the club. However,
we recognise that people are different and may prefer to climb elsewhere on that date with friends or other
members of the club. If so, please be sensitive if using the club email or Facebook group to promote a second
gathering as this may undermine the official meet.
THANK YOU FOR A GOOD JOB
MOUNTAIN AND CAVE RESCUE
Full information can be obtained from the Secretary, but members are reminded that when visiting areas,
particularly places remote and unfamiliar, they should make themselves aware of rescue facilities and/or the nearest
police station in that area.