On Target Newsletter 2019
It has been another successful year for AIM and we are pleased to take this opportunity to share with you our latest news from our Chairman, Andrew Gardiner, as well as a selection of industry updates, lessons learned and contributions from industry insiders such as Martin Smith of Adventure UK and a profile of our member Rockcity.
Clyde & Co discuss the changes in place regarding health and safety fines in the activities industry. How prepared you are in responding to a critical incident with our colleagues at Pharos Response and AIM’s position on the defensibility of claims, all subjects we know members worry about.
Wellbeing in the workplace is covered by MS Amlin who look at staff turnover, sickness absence, resilience and the impact on claims. Plus LOTC explains how the LOtc Quality Badge is helping more children access great educational experiences.
Plus all the usual updates on Conferences and Member Events and news from the AIM team.
Adventure UK
Applications are invited for Chair of Adventure UK.
Adventure UK is representative of a wide range of stakeholders from the UK adventure activities sector. The body was formally known as the Adventure Activities Industry Advisory Council and has added to its membership the UK Adventure Industry Group to form the new body.
The aim of Adventure UK is to represent the Adventure Activities Sector in the UK in order to ensure that end users have a safe and professional adventurous experience. This is achieved by:
- Safety Accreditation: taking a coordinating role in safety accreditation of adventurous activity and managing, developing and growing Adventuremark through Adventure Activities Industry Advisory Committee (AAIAC).
- Representation: being a single consultative contact point for Government and other agencies in the areas of safety, risk management and good practice
- Guidance: being a point of contact for all stakeholders, sharing good practice, developing standards and guidance
- Development: of a non-statutory Industry Scheme to replace AALA Licensing through the Option 3 Working Group (O3WG)
Adventure UK is the body of representative organisations who oversee the election of AAIAC members and the O3WG its work plan.
Current representation:
Adventure Industry Northern Ireland
Association of Heads of Outdoor Education Centres
British Activity Providers Association
British Cycling
Council for Learning Outside the Classroom
European Ropes Course Association
Expedition Providers Association
Institute for Outdoor Learning
Mountain Training
Outdoor Council
Outdoor Education Advisers’ Panel
Scottish Adventure Activity Forum
Scottish Advisory Panel for Outdoor Education
Sport and Recreation Alliance
Sport Wales
Wales Activity Tourism Organisation
Young Explorers’ Trust
Together with 4 Observers and Advisors
A full role description and person specification is given in the application pack, which is available from http://bit.ly/AdventureUKPost
Applications, together with two statements of support, must be returned by midday on Monday 14 October 2019 to from Fiona@outdoor-learning.org
Glyn MacAulay
It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our esteemed colleague and Board Member, Glyn MacAulay who died so unexpectedly earlier this month.
Glyn served on the Board of the Mutual, from the beginning for many years and has provided valuable independent financial expertise to the Mutual. He will be desperately sorely missed amongst his fellow Directors and Managers of the Mutual.
We are informed that there will be a memorial service for Glyn on 1st November 2019 in London so for any people who knew him and wish to attend please do let us know.
We will begin the very difficult task of looking for a replacement for Glyn in due course, however if you have any queries regarding the Mutual Board please do not hesitate to contact the Mutual Manager Sophia.reed@rmml.com or cathy.watson@rmml.com
Outdoor Kids Sun Safety Code
With the summer season in full swing and thousands of children across the country engaged in an array of outdoor activities, sun safety will no doubt be a key concern for activity organisers and instructors. Yet with so much to think about, it is not always easy to keep sun safety front of mind.
Every year a significant number of children and youths suffer accidental sun damage while taking part in outdoor activities, even in the seemingly innocuous British summer sunshine. Figures from the Skin Cancer Foundation estimate that 80% of lifetime sun exposure happens in childhood and just one case of blistering sunburn can double a person’s chances of suffering from melanoma in later life. With statistics published by Cancer Research UK indicating that annual cases of melanoma are now five times higher than they were in the 1970s it is clear that action needs to be taken to halt the current trend.
The Outdoor Kids Sun Safety Code aims to develop and support sun protection practices for all those who work outdoors with children. Launched by the Myfanwy Townsend Melanoma Research Fund, this is a free online resource, providing all the information you need to develop and implement an effective sun protection policy, complete with accreditation to demonstrate your commitment to this important issue. Promote safe sun practices, protect those in your care and safeguard your reputation by visiting OK Sun Safety Code for more information.
Accident Prevention and Claims Defensibility
We had an article published in the IOL‘s Summer edition of Horizons about accident prevention and claims defensibility we thought you’d like to see it.
Other articles on our website that look at this area to check out
https://www.activitiesindustrymutual.co.uk/aim-pharos-be-prepared/
Manager’s Travels
How are we all doing?
It continues to be a very busy season for AIM with many of you renewing at this time. I hope that all your businesses and activities are continuing very well, despite more inclement weather than we experienced last summer. Exams are over (as a mother of a GCSE student this year, I am breathing a sigh of relief!) and the summer stretches out ahead of us, with residential visits and summer camps. As Members you provide a tremendous array of activities! I have been lucky to try some of these for the first time recently, more below.
What’s been happening over the past few months?
We had a wonderful Member event held at Lord’s Cricket Ground in March, followed by the AIM AGM and it was great to see so many of you there. I hope that you found the day worthwhile. Thank you to everyone who has provided feedback. This really helps us to plan our AIM events. If you have any suggestions for future member events, please let us know we are always interested in your suggestions for locations and speakers.
What have I as Manager been up to?
I am very much enjoying my visits to see as many of you as possible, covering lots of different areas of the UK. My recent visits have included trying caving in the Mendip Hills at Mendip Outdoors which was great fun; visiting Scotland to see the Actual Reality Trust at Ardentinny, via a lovely ferry across to Dunoon, and then on to Ardmay at the top of Loch Long, both of which had stunning sites and beautiful scenery; and meeting up with Xplore and Klub Group in Stowmarket and seeing their beautiful woodland bush craft areas. I was sorely tempted to don a wetsuit and swim in the lake at Waterland Gear (next time!) and I had a super walk around the historic house and site at Sealyham in Haverfordwest in Pembrokeshire. I also had my first attempt at stand up paddle boarding with SUP Bristol, managing not only not to fall in, but successfully stand up paddling along the river in Bristol. Thank you all for making me feel so very welcome at these visits and for your time in showing me round.
James and I attended the Association of British Climbing Walls (ABC) two day conference in Sheffield at the end of June and met many of our current Members and hopefully some new ones too! So many of our enquiries come from recommendations- thank you for those. The conference was very well attended and a great event.
What’s to come over the next few months?
I’m off to the North West at the end of July then Wales and Scotland in October. We have a Member event in Okehampton on the 7th October – details to follow but please let Cathy know if you would like to attend on cathy.watson@rmml.com.
As always, the team is here to help you with queries and any issues. Please do get in touch if we can help you at all. I’d be delighted to come and say hello so do let me know if you would like me to come and see you as well.
