At the 9th June BCA AGM a motion was submitted which proposed changes to our constitution. This motion was passed at the meeting, and so BCA procedure requires this to now be put to a ballot of all members.

In this ballot, all Group Members (including clubs and constituent bodies) will have one vote in the ‘House of Groups’ and all Individual Members (including CIMs and DIMs) will have one vote in the ‘House of Individuals’. Both ‘Houses’ must achieve 70% support for the motion to pass.

The full proposal, including the exact details of the proposed constitutional amendments can be found here (appendix 9, page 28 onwards): 2019 Agenda

The discussion/vote on this from the AGM itself can be found here (26.2, page 19 onwards): 2019 AGM Draft Minutes

The ballot will commence mid-October (exact date TBC). This timing has been chosen partly based on availability of key BCA volunteers, but also to coincide with when student clubs and expeditions are mostly back in the UK, to try to maximise participation. The closing date will be midnight on the 30th November 2019. We expect to be able to announce the result no later than the 11th January BCA Council meeting (and maybe much earlier if postal returns are relatively few).

If the BCA has your email address you will receive your ballot by email which will contain a unique ‘voting token’ to use with our simple and intuitive online system. This may go to your junk/spam folder so please remember to check there.

If you are not sure if the BCA has your email address, you can check by requesting a login for BCA Online. If the BCA does not have your email address you will receive your ballot by post. You can still use the ‘token’ provided to vote via the online system, however, postal returns will also be accepted.

It is your responsibility to ensure the BCA has your up-to-date contact details. If you believe your details to have changed since last membership renewal, or if you wish to provide the BCA with your email address (to save us the not inconsiderable cost and effort of postage) then please email membership@british-caving.org.uk

More news will follow in due course.

The BCA Conservation and Access Committee are very grateful to the Eastern Moors Partnership for hosting the Derbyshire hub of our meeting at their offices at Barbrook Cottage, with the stunning back drop of the Peak District. The meeting was a great success, with regional council and constituent body reps joining forces to discuss and share advice on what is happening in the world of conservation and access across the UK. Thanks to all those who participated in the lovely discussion and helped me to get a better understanding of where we're at in the UK right now, and where we are heading for the future.

Eastern Moors is a partnership between the National Trust and the RSPB, managing the strip of the Peak District right on the edge of Sheffield and Chesterfield. This area encompasses breathtaking open moorland, wooded valleys and the spectacular eastern gritstone edges. An area home to a huge variety of wildlife, the Eastern Moors is also a place for people, from runners and mountain bikers to artists and dog walkers; everyone is welcome to explore our moorlands.

www.visit-eastern-moors.org.uk

Louise Baddeley, BCA Conservation & Access Officer

The latest BCA newsletter has taken on a new format and in addition to digital form, it will also be available around the UK and Ireland in all the usual caving spots including club huts, shops and cafes.

This issue is also a bumper one with 12 pages and including some great photography by Nicky Bayley.

Download it from the Newsletters page

Hidden Earth 2019 will take place at Glyndwr University in Wrexham, Wales on the weekend of 28/29th September.

Things kick off on Friday evening when the Hidden Earth bar opens followed by two days of lectures, workshops, films, competitions and good companions! Not to mention plenty of beer of course!

Find all the details on the Hidden Earth website including buying tickets and submitting your lectures and entering competitions.

Keep up to date with the latest announcements by following the Hidden Earth Facebook page or Twitter page.

Expedition insurance for UK cavers - Designed by cavers for cavers!

In recent years, cavers travelling abroad on expedition have had to buy their travel insurance from various commercial outlets, however many have had concerns – is cave exploration covered? Age limits? Will the insurer actually pay out??…..

The BCA have been working hard on behalf of their members to solve this problem and are pleased to announce the launch of BCA Member Caving Cover.

MORE DETAILS...

To see the warning notice issued May 2019 regarding the use of toothed jammers as belay devices click here

A big thank you to everyone who attended the AGM this weekend. An excellent turn-out with some good debate and positive ideas for #britishcaving. 🙂

We'd like to welcome Matt Ewles as our new Secretary, Louise Baddeley as Conservation & Access Officer and Gary Douthwaite as webmaster. Several other posts were also renewed or confirmed.

The AGM agreed to adopt a new logo too so expect to see that changing throughout the BCA meda in the coming weeks.

At the Council meeting on 6th October it was decided that membership for those aged under 18 on 1st January will be free of charge.

All other subscription rates for 2019 will be unchanged.

On behalf of the whole British caving community, the BCA would like to congratulate the British Cave Rescue Council, members of the Cave Diving Group, their international friends and their Thai colleagues for the outstanding achievement in rescuing the 12 boys and their coach from the Tham Luang Nang Non Cave system in Northern Thailand. 

As cavers and cave divers, BCA and CDG members will have had a good insight into the complexity of this rescue and an understanding of the risks and technicalities involved. The rescue was daring but executed with skill, bravery and determination.

We also must not forget the contribution of many others towards the successful outcome. In particular we salute Saman Kunan, the Thai Navy diver who lost his life while helping to prepare for the rescue. 

In a world which seems to be becoming ever more divided, we are proud to be part of an international caving and diving community which can come together and achieve the almost impossible.

10 July 2018, updated 28 July 2018

The General Data Protection Regulation or GDPR came into force on the 25th May 2018. Its aim is to give us control over our personal data, which is a good thing. The bad news is that it applies to caving clubs so there’ll be a bit of work to implement it.

The Information Commissioners isn’t going to sue your club on day one if not fully compliant. There are many, many organisation out there that aren’t ready for this. However it is better to crack on with it rather than ignore it. To help, I have written an article that concentrates on the practical steps a typical caving club needs to take to implement GDPR. You can read by following the link to GDPR for Caving Clubs.