Terms & Conditions

Every time you use Boulders, please let us know that you have arrived by checking in at Reception.

•You should only go into our climbing and bouldering areas (“activity areas”) if you have registered your details with us and gained a “Climbing Status” (see below).

•As a minimum, registration details must include name, date of birth and a current contact address. If a registering climber has no full time address they must provide current documentary proof of an appropriate contact address and at least one nominated emergency contact.

•Please keep us up to date with any changes to your personal details.

•Food or drink is not permitted in any of our activity areas.

•Only food and drink bought from our café may be consumed on the premises. Groups may by prior arrangement bring packed lunches into the café.

•Boulders is a safe space and has a zero tolerance policy towards discrimination of any kind. Any discriminatory behaviour will not be accepted and could result in being banned from the centre.

•Boulders strives to be an ally to the LGBTQ+ community. If you have any queries or suggestions about how we can be more inclusive of LGBTQ+ people, please reach out at info@bouldersuk.com.

•We provide lockers for use with your own padlock and cubby holes to store your personal equipment.

•Personal belongings should not be left unattended in the café seating area or in the Centre overnight. Boulders has a ‘lost property’ box where lost property will be kept for a maximum of 1 month. After this period it will be disposed of as we feel appropriate.

•Boulders accepts no responsibility for loss or damage to your personal property.

•We accept no responsibility for personal injury caused by or during attendance on any activity.

•We accept no responsibility for loss, damage or injury caused by or during attendance on any activity to yourself or your belongings.

•Topless climbing is not permitted anywhere in the Centre. For the avoidance of doubt this applies also to the bouldering areas and training areas.

•We sometimes take photos and videos of customers for the sole use of Boulders publicity and marketing material. By using our Centre you are consenting to the publication of your image, unless permission is rescinded.

•We reserve the right at our absolute discretion to refuse access to and / or membership of Boulders.

•For your safety and security we operate CCTV throughout Boulders for our sole use.

•Boulders Gift cards are only valid for one year from purchase date.

•We reserve the right to amend these terms and conditions without notice.

•To gain commission discounts (i.e. students, NHS, police, etc) you need to show a valid I.D. card. You will be asked to show your I.D. card every time you enter.

•Dogs are welcome in the centre but are not allowed in any of the climbing areas. They must remain in the reception/cafe area at all times, and must always be on a lead. We reserve the right to ask that a dog be removed from the centre at any time.

•Ensure you are ready for a fall any time you are climbing. Indoor climbing frequently results in falls for a variety of reasons. There are lots of safety measures in place to make falling safe. Despite all of these, any fall may result in an injury. By climbing at the Centre you accept this risk.

•Be aware of spinning holds, they may suddenly spin and cause you to fall. If you discover a spinning hold, please report it to a member of the team immediately.

•All the activity areas have soft matting on the floor. This flooring is designed to make landing more comfortable and reduce the severity of any accident. It does not make climbing any safer.

•You may not participate if there is any medical reason, condition or ailment from which you suffer that will put you or anyone else at risk.

•You may not enter any of the climbing areas as part of an instructed group if you have any immobilised limbs or broken bones.

•Ensure any personal equipment you use is suitable for its intended purpose; that it is in a safe working condition and that you are trained and experienced in its safe operation. You are responsible for ensuring that any rope you use is an appropriately rated dynamic rope and that it is in a safe condition.

•You must provide your own rope to lead climb.

•When using an Ohm, you must clip on the first hanger, not on the maillon or the quickdraw. The Ohm must sit on top of the equipment in situ.

•Boulders has absolute discretion to stop you using any item of equipment if a member of our team deems it to be unsafe.

•The auto-belay should only be used within the manufacturers weight restrictions. Persons under 10kg (22lbs or 1.8st) or above 150kg (332lbs or 23st) may not use the auto-belay.

•The auto-belay must only be used on the line it is set for. No helmets must be worn on the auto-belay.

•Jewellery should be removed before taking part in any activity.

•Sitting or laying down while belaying is not permitted.

•Always use a locking karabiner to attach a belay device to your harness. Body belaying is not permitted.

•Sand bags should be attached directly to the belayer’s harness at the belay loop.

•Do not pull down the top ropes.

•When top rope climbing, only use top ropes for the vertical line they are set up on. Do not use them to climb adjacent lines.

•Quickdraws are in place on all lead climbing lines. Do not tamper with these. On some climbing lines seconding or top roping is not permitted. These lines have been clearly labelled.

•You must wear a helmet if you have been asked to by a member of our team. If you do not wear a helmet when asked, you will not be allowed to take part in the activity.

•By registering with us you accept that sometimes some lines, areas, or equipment may be closed for routine maintenance, route setting purposes or events. This is obviously to improve both the community and the centre and we will not always be able to warn you in advance. We do not offer refunds or reduction of entry fees or memberships due to lines or areas being closed. The price of a membership has taken into account that this happens periodically as a part of Boulders’ operation. This also applies to the Christmas period where we are closed or have reduced hours. We always try to make sure you are informed of this in advance.

•If there are cordons up around the centre please do not cross them or move them. They are there for your safety.

•If you are on a climbing session with an instructor and your instructor is called away to deal with a first aid incident, we may have to cancel your session. If this does occur, we will provide you with either a full refund, or we will rearrange your session to another date and time.

•No one under the age of 18 years old is allowed to use the upstairs training area unless given special permission by Boulders.

Unsupervised Climbing - Adult

Capitan registration: Competent Climber Registration - All Proficiencies

STATUS: Competent Climber

Before you can use the Centre without supervision and register with us as a “Competent Climber”, you must be trained, experienced and safe in the following:

The use of a climbing harness

Attaching a rope to a climbing harness using a rethreaded figure of eight knot. The use of a bowline is not permitted.

The use of a belay device in a top roping system and – specifically – be able to hold a fall in a top roping situation

Bouldering

Use of the auto-belays

Competent Climbers are permitted to supervise a maximum of two novice climbers. The novice must not be left unsupervised when under your supervision and you are responsible for their safety while in the Centre. Any novice belaying must be backed up by a Competent adult at all times. The novice must not belay their supervisor. If you wish to teach novice climbers techniques, please do so in a safe and controlled manner.

We insist on pre-climb checks between you and your partner.

We have the right to revoke your ‘competent climber status’ if you are showing consistent bad practice.

Unsupervised Bouldering - Adult

Capitan registration: Proficiency - Unsupervised Bouldering Only ADULT

STATUS: Bouldering Only

All over 18’s using the Bouldering areas must have completed: Proficiency - Unsupervised Bouldering Only ADULT.

Bouldering is a high risk, physically challenging activity which frequently results in falls. Any fall can result in serious injury regardless of the level of experience of the climber. By bouldering in our Centre you acknowledge that you accept these risks.

The soft flooring under the bouldering walls is designed to provide a more comfortable landing for climbers coming off walls. It does not make bouldering any safer or prevent injury.

Bouldering Only climbers are permitted to supervise a maximum of two under 18 novice climbers in the bouldering areas. The novice(s) must not be left unsupervised when under your supervision and you are responsible for their safety while in the Centre. Neither the Bouldering Only climber, nor the novice(s) they are supervising, should enter any of the roped climbing areas.

All adults using the Bouldering area must be registered as unsupervised boulderers.

Rules to Make Bouldering Safer

•Jumping and falling off the bouldering wall, whether controlled or not may result in a serious injury. You are strongly advised to climb down and step off the wall.

•Before starting a climb, ensure that you plan where you will be able to perform a controlled descent. If you feel a controlled descent is not possible, do not attempt the climb.

•Never walk or climb underneath anyone who is bouldering.

•Harnesses must not be worn in the bouldering room.

•Please ensure you are wearing suitable footwear such as climbing shoes or trainers. Stiffened walking/climbing boots that cover the ankle are not considered suitable as they can cause injury to your self or others.

•Do not go above the yellow line marked at the top of the bouldering wall or hold onto the top of the wall.

•Do not top out or stand on the area above the campus board or woody.

•When choosing a route to climb, always give way to those already on a climb. Climbers on vertical problems have priority.

•Keep the matting clear at all times. Objects left lying around can cause or exacerbate incidents, or damage the matting itself.

•Children under the age of 7 are not allowed to use the bouldering areas.

•No children under the age of 2 are permitted in any part of the climbing areas.

Unsupervised Auto-belay - Adult

STATUS: auto-belay Only

Capitan registration: Proficiency - Unsupervised Auto Belay Climbing Only ADULT

An unsupervised auto-belay user must be able to correctly fit a climbing harness and attach themselves to the auto-belay device in the correct way.

Helmets must not be worn.

Metal work on the wall must not be touched (i.e. bolt hangers).

Users must be between 10kg and 140kg as per TruBlue specifications.

Boxes below auto-belays must be kept clear of all items and people.

Where possible people should have someone check they are clipped in correctly prior to climbing.

Users should check device retracts correctly prior to attaching to it and climbing.

An adult “Supervised Climber” is a person who needs supervision or guidance to use the Centre. Supervised Climbers may not take part in any climbing activity without competent supervision either from a Boulders’ Instructor, an external instructor or a Competent Adult Climber.

You must register as a Supervised Climber before taking part in any activity.

All under 18’s MUST fill out the Capitan registration form: Register to Climb prior to entering any of the climbing areas. This allows them to use the centre under direct supervision of either a Boulders’ Instructor, an external instructor or a Competent Adult Climber (if over 18 years of age).

Only the parent or legal guardian is permitted to register the under 18 year old and must make themselves aware of the risks associated with climbing. By filling out a registration for their child or legal dependent, they are accepting the risks on the child’s’ behalf.

•Parents wishing to take their children climbing must become and register as a Competent Climber, described in the Adult Unsupervised Climbing section. A Competent Climber may only supervise up to 2 novices at a time.

•Children must be supervised at all times in Boulders unless they fall into the exceptions described below in the Rules for Unsupervised Climbing for Children between the age of 14 and 18.

•Children may only enter the activity areas under supervision.

•Boulders does not instruct children below the age of 6.

•No children below the age of 2 are allowed into the climbing area.

•It is important that our team know about any dietary requirement if you are eating with us.

•It is important that you inform our team of any illness, allergy or medical condition that your child suffers from. Please tell us in confidence on the registration form as well as informing your instructor of anything you feel we should be aware of. If you have any concerns, please discuss them with a member of our team before your child takes part in any activity.

•Climbing is a physical activity and you must be certain that to the best of your knowledge any medical condition or ailment your child suffers from will not put themselves or anyone else at risk and that there is no reason why your child should not participate in the activities.

•Children who are injured, ill or nauseous are not permitted to participate.

•It is assumed that parental consent is given for their child to receive medical treatment should they be involved in an accident.

•Parents must take responsibility for their children before and on completion of activities.

Rules for Unsupervised Climbing for Children between the age of 14 and 18

STATUS: U18 Competent Climber or U18 Bouldering Only

Any form of unsupervised climbing for children is a privilege extended only to children aged between 14 and 17 who can demonstrate that they are sufficiently responsible, skilful and experienced to be registered with us as “U18 Competent Climber” or “U18 Bouldering Only“. Failure to abide by the rules may result in:

•Registration of the child as an U18 unsupervised climber being terminated.

•the climber being asked to stop climbing and leave the activity areas (no refund will be given).

On completion of the Parental Sign Off session and registration form, the child will be given the rights of an Unsupervised Climber to top rope and/or boulder. In which case the following will apply:

•An Unsupervised U18 Climber is never permitted to supervise novice climbers.

•They will be deemed Unsupervised Climbers and are responsible for their own safety.

•It is the parent’s responsibility to assure themselves of their child’s competency with the advice of a Boulders member of staff. Parents must remember that their child showing competency on this occasion does not protect the child from complacency and if the child does not use safe practice whilst unsupervised in the future accidents may occur.

•Climbing requires reliance on climbing partners for safety. Prior to giving your consent to your child climbing unsupervised you must be satisfied that your child can take responsibility for the safety of themselves and a climbing partner using the techniques demonstrated by a member of our team.

•It is the responsibility of the Unsupervised U18 Climber to ensure their climbing partner is sufficiently competent.

•The parent must have read and understood these Terms and Conditions and is responsible for ensuring that their child understands them.

•Top Rope Sign Off, Bouldering Sign Off and Lead Sign Off are separate sessions, covering different skills. The Top Rope Sign Off does not cover the skills required to lead climb.

Rules for Unsupervised Lead Climbing for Over 16s

STATUS: U18 Competent Climber

Children over 16 may lead climb unsupervised provided the parent understands the difference between lead climbing and top rope climbing and the increased risks associated with lead climbing (in particular lead belaying). A child will be permitted to lead climb in Boulders once they have:

•Attended a Lead Sign Off session.

•Parental consent to lead climb through the completion of an Over 16s Lead Sign Off Registration and gained the “U18 Competent Climber” status

•Boulders provides Climbing Coaching during our School Holiday Camps. We are not a Childcare Provider. Boulders operates the School Holiday Camps within The Child Minding and Day Care Exceptions (Wales) Order 2010.

•If you sign up for a Concession membership you will be asked to show a valid form of I.D. before the membership is approved.

•We do offer a variety of Family Memberships. Only the people named when signing up for the membership can be included in the membership. You can include up to 4 children in a membership however you must still adhere to our Competent Climber terms and conditions - namely that a Competent Climber can only supervise two novices at a time. You will not be able to climb with more than 2 children at any one time as an individual, even if you are all on the same membership.

•If you have a membership on Capitan, you can sign up, cancel, or freeze your membership on your account at any time. As you are in control of your own membership, we unfortunately cannot offer a refund for any payments that are taken if you didn’t cancel.

•If you are a member from pre-2020, on our direct debit system ‘Harlands’, all you have to do is cancel your direct debit with your bank and send an email to memberships@bouldersuk.com confirming that you are cancelling your membership. As you are in control of your own membership, it is up to you to confirm with the bank that your direct debit has been properly cancelled. We unfortunately cannot offer a refund for any payments if you did not cancel your membership in this way. When you cancel your membership you should bear in mind your direct debit date. The banking process can take up to 10 days so you need to cancel more than 10 days before your direct debit is due to be taken, i.e. if your membership comes out on the 20th of each month, you need to have cancelled by the 10th of the month. If you cancel within 10 days of your direct debit date then the payment has already started and you will not be able to get a refund for this payment.

•To access memberships benefits you must be a current paying member at time of receiving the benefit, promotion, course, discount or perk etc. If the membership is cancelled before hand, the full cost is payable including any cancellation fees and you will not be able to get a refund for this payment.

•We reserve the right to revoke anyone’s membership who is not following the Rules of Participation.

•We review our prices regularly and reserve the right to change them at anytime. If we have to change prices we always inform customers by updating onsite advertising and emailing customers. Please make sure you have given us your correct email address, we are added to your “safe sender” list and you’ve opted in to receive emails from us.

•Payment must be made beforehand or on the day, otherwise the activity will not go ahead.

•Any outstanding balance is payable on or before the date of the booked activity; this also applies to invoiced activities.

•To be invoiced you must have arranged this in advance and applied for a credit account. To apply for a credit account you must be part of an organisation e.g. a school or company. To apply for a credit account please email groups@bouldersuk.com

•You must give at least 7 full days notice to cancel a booking. Please note, your booking is still active until you have received confirmation of the cancellation from a Boulders’ member of staff.

•If 7 full days notice is not given, only 50% of the total activity cost will be refunded. If a deposit has been paid it will be treated as part payment toward the total cost of the activity and therefore some or all of it may not be eligible for refund.

•You have 28 days to collect your refund from the date of your cancellation. After 28 days if you haven’t claimed your refund, it will be converted to credit on your account, which you can spend on other classes and courses.

•Where payment is by invoice, 50% of the total activity fee will be charged for cancellations with 7 days or less notice.

•If you reduce the number of people attending or the length of a booked session within the 7 day notice period, a cancellation fee will be applied.

•For bookings made inside the 7 day notice period, no refunds will be given for cancellation or changes to the booking.

•If a booking is cancelled due to an unforeseen medical reason and a medical note provided within 14 days of the missed activity, we will retain the booking deposit and allow it to be used to rebook the activity. Any re-booked activities will be subject to the normal booking terms and conditions.

•If we have to cancel your session, we will do our best to rearrange the session at a mutually convenient time. If rearrangement is not possible, any payment already made will be refunded in full.

•Groups are taught on specific instructor to student ratios. If you book onto an open group session, you are agreeing to the teaching ratios Boulders has set for that session. These ratios may vary between groups and the ratio used is at the absolute discretion of Boulders. Open session ratios do not take into account specific individual requirements. If there is a reason that you do not think a group ratio is acceptable to the student (such as different physical, behavioural or learning abilities) we can offer reduced ratio options. These are subject to different pricing – please see website or speak to a member of Boulders management for details.

•While attending an activity, our instructors are responsible for the group. We reserve the right to remove an individual or to stop a session if the behaviour of an individual or of the group is unsafe. No discounts will be made for sessions ending early due to disruptive behaviour.

•Sessions must start and end on time. If a group is late, we will not be able to run the session over the original finish time to make up for lost time.

•When hiring the mobile wall, your booking is not complete until you have received a confirmation email from the account groups@bouldersuk.com, complete with pack and checklist attached. You will then need to complete and return the checklist to this email address as soon as possible. Your mobile wall hire booking is not final until you have returned the completed checklist.

•Payment for the mobile wall needs to be made in full before the date of the event. You can request to be invoiced.

An External Instructor is anyone bringing a group to Boulders and is qualified and experienced enough to do so. They are not a member of our team. External Instructors must attend an Induction delivered by a member of our team prior to instructing in Boulders (Inductions must be booked in advance). External Instructors may supervise up to 9 people at a time.

To register as an External Instructor we will need to inspect and take a copy of the following documents:

•Original climbing instructor qualification certificate. This could be any of the following: CWI, RCI, MIA or qualifications from the MOD, Scout Association, Guide Association or similar.

•Supporting first aid qualification certificate.

•Appropriate insurance, including public liability insurance. (This is not necessary for those instructing on behalf of the MOD or Scout Association).

Once registered, External Instructors are responsible for providing us with copies of up to date certificates and documents. Expiry of any document will result in the External Instructor status being suspended pending up to date documentation being provided.

•External Instructors are only permitted to teach within the remit of their qualifications. For example, CWI and RCI holders are not permitted to teach lead climbing.

•External Instructors must sign themselves and their group in at reception at the start of every visit. External Instructors are not charged for entry whilst instructing. Members of their group will be charged a discounted rate (currently £6.50). If External Instructors wish to use the Centre after instructing a group and after the group have left the Centre, all activities must be paid for as normal.

•External Instructors are reminded that we are a shared facility and open to the public. The behaviour of their group is their responsibility. Poor behaviour of their group towards a member of our team, a customer or otherwise may result in their group being asked to leave without a refund of the entire group.

•External Instructors may not teach children younger than 5.

•External Instructors should not be climbing unless it is integral to the lesson. Personal climbing whilst teaching a group is dangerous and is unsafe practice.

•External Instructors acting in an unsafe manner will be asked to leave the Centre with their group. No refund will be given and they may be banned from instructing at Boulders. This is at the absolute discretion of Boulders.

External Instructors Teaching NICAS

General

•To instruct NICAS at Boulders you will have to undertake instruction with Boulders’ NICAS Course Director.

•This training, as per NICAS guidelines, is site specific and designed for instruction only at Boulders.

•If you choose to instruct NICAS at a wall other than Boulders, you must ensure that they are a registered Awarding Centre or that their facilities meet NICAS requirements. In addition you should check the Terms and Conditions of any other Awarding Centre before use.

•You will only deliver instruction relevant to your qualifications and your NICAS training level.

•You agree to follow the NICAS syllabus and handbook guidance in delivery of the accreditations.

•You agree to deliver NICAS instruction to the standards required by Boulders, as your Awarding Centre.

•These standards will be outlined during instruction in delivery of the NICAS syllabus by Boulders’ Course Director.

Student logbooks

•As per NICAS guidelines, NICAS logbooks must be purchased before instruction commences and updated continuously during the course, as competencies are reached.

•Purchase is a pre-requisite for certification. Failure to do so means that accurate assessment and moderation of progress cannot be measured and that NICAS system is not being correctly delivered.

•You will not photocopy logbooks or certificates. Any additional pages can be obtained from Boulders reception.

•Boulders reserves the right to refuse certification if this process is not followed.

•You will not exceed NICAS instruction ratios. One inducted NICAS instructor can teach nine students. This ratio cannot be increased by use of non-inducted instructors as this will not provide the expected standards of delivery.

Moderation

•You agree that Boulders’ Course Director is responsible for ensuring these standards are maintained and that they, or their representative, may moderate your NICAS delivery.

•This moderation shall be routinely conducted as follows:

•Level 1 – first 3 Awards Days assessed by external instructor will be observed by Course Director or Climbing Wall Manager to ensure expected standards are met. After this, one assessment in every six will be moderated, with a minimum of one a year being conducted.

•Level 2 – first 3 Awards Days assessed by external instructor will be observed by Course Director or Climbing Wall Manager to ensure expected standards are met. After this, one assessment in every three will be moderated, with a minimum of one a year being conducted.

•Boulders reserves the right to moderate any session at any time.

Awards Day

•You will, prior to commencing instruction, provide Boulders with a date for your group’s ‘Awards Day’. This date will be used to issue certification and undertake moderation if required.

•Certificates will only be issued on ‘Awards Day’ following sight of a completed student logbook and signed assessment form.

•External instructors will complete and sign a Boulders’ assessment sheet to confirm that students being awarded a NICAS certification have reached the required level of competency for the level accredited.

•‘Awards Days’ can only be held at Boulders in order for certificates to be issued, NICAS registration to be completed and moderation to occur.

Complaints and appeals

•Should an external instructor or NICAS candidate have any issues with the delivery of the syllabus, their assessment or their moderation, the NICAS complaints and appeals procedure should be followed.

•Should an external instructor or NICAS candidate have any issues with Boulders procedures or staff then Boulders complaints procedure should be followed.

•Boulders reserves the right to revoke an external instructors NICAS teaching status if any of the delivery requirements are not adhered to.

•Climbing outdoors holds a greater variety of hazards and risks than climbing indoors, many of which are out of the control of Boulders and its staff.

•The BMC Participation Statement states that: The BMC recognises that climbing and mountaineering are activities with a danger of personal injury or death. Participants in these activities should be aware of and accept these risks and be responsible for their own actions.

•Boulders will make every effort to assess and reduce the risks posed by a natural environment.

•Boulders is only responsible for the condition of equipment owned and provided by them and will ensure that this is in good working order.

•Any personal equipment is the responsibility of the owner – as per CLIMBING GENERAL T&C.

•Boulders is not responsible for the condition of any equipment in-situ at any outdoor venue.

•The use of any in-situ protection is the decision of the climber and not that of Boulders or its staff. It is up to the individual to assess whether such protection is suitable to take a fall or be used in any way.

•Participants on Boulders outdoor climbing days agree to comply with all safety guidance provided by Boulders and its staff.

•Boulders reserves the right to relocate from any outdoor climbing venue at any time, whether this is due to environmental variations, identification of dangerous or unsuitable conditions on site or the behaviour of Boulders’ participants or that of other groups.

•Relocation may be to either an indoor or outdoor venue.

•Boulders is not liable for failure to perform any of its obligations if such failure is as a result of Acts of God (including fire, flood, earthquake, storm, hurricane or other natural disaster), war, invasion, act of foreign enemies, hostilities (regardless of whether war is declared), civil war, rebellion, revolution, insurrection, military or usurped power or confiscation, terrorist activities, nationalisation, government sanction, blockage, embargo, labour dispute, strike, lockout or interruption or failure of electricity or telephone service.

•Standard Activity Booking T&Cs apply to Outdoor Days as they do to any other Boulders activity.

Returns

We will accept returns provided:

•you have a purchase receipt

•it is within 7 days of the date of purchase (this may be extended at our discretion)

•the items are in their original packaging and in a resalable condition

Due to the nature of the products we sell, judging resalable condition is at the absolute discretion of Boulders. This ensures that items that are responsible for personal safety, such as harnesses, are not resold in an unsafe condition.

Refunds will be made to the source of the payment.

We allow our contracted members of staff to use our centres at a reduced or no charge for personal climbing. A member of staff must have passed probation with no issues with conduct or professionalism and been awarded the access by a member of the senior management team. Staff climbing rights are a privilege not an entitlement and can be removed at any time. If a period of 4 weeks or more passes without the member of staff completing any work for Boulders, staff access rights will be removed. Staff access rights cannot be shared, or used for the provision of professional services. Staff must book in to use the centre using their individual discount code, and access the centre following normal access and registration procedures.

Unpaid volunteers will need to volunteer for a minimum of 12 weeks before receiving any free climbing. During this time, volunteers will need to volunteer for a minimum of 1 session per week and will be required to sign in and out of the centre via the time and attendance portal.

Freelance staff do not get staff access rights.

“Friends of Boulders” is a general capture all terminology to cover any person or organisation accessing Boulders at no cost or for any reciprocal arrangement. Friends of Boulders can access the facility for personal climbing only, it does not include any other discounts, event or competition entry, or access for professional reasons. Boulders reserves the right to remove Friends of Boulders status without providing a reason. Boulders are giving away our core chargeable product, often expecting nothing in return, please be respectful of your status.

Boulders – Privacy Notice

Boulders (the “Wall”, “we”, “us”) (registered company number 6125377) is committed to protecting your privacy. At all times we aim to respect any personal information you share with us, or that we receive from others, and keep it safe. This Privacy Notice (“Notice”) sets out our data processing practices and your rights and options regarding the ways in which your personal information is used and collected (including through our website – bouldersUK.com).

This Notice contains important information about your personal rights to privacy. Please read it carefully to understand how we use your personal information.

The provision of your personal information to us is voluntary. However, without providing us with your personal information, your use of our services or your interaction with us may be impaired. For example, you may be unable to sign up as a member, or make an online booking.

Contents of this policy:

1. How we collect personal information about you

2. What personal information do we use?

3. How and why will we use your personal information?

4. Lawful bases

5. Communications for marketing/ fundraising

6. Children’s personal information

7. How long do we keep your personal information?

8. Will we share your personal information?

9. Security/ storage of and access to your personal information

10. International Data Transfers

11. Exercising your Rights

12. Changes to this Notice

13. Links and third parties

14. How to contact us

1. We collect personal information about you:

1. When you give it to us directly

For example, personal information that you submit through our website by making a booking to use our facilities, registering as a member or signing up for our email newsletter; or personal information that you give to us when you communicate with us by email, phone or letter.

2. When we obtain it indirectly

For example, your personal information may be shared with us by third parties including, for example, the Association of Climbing Walls (Britain) Limited (“ABC”), an organisation established to promote safe management practices in climbing walls of which we are a member; third party service providers; analytics providers, organisations bringing individuals or groups to the Wall and search information providers. To the extent we have not done so already, we will notify you when we receive personal information about you from them and tell you how and why we intend to use that personal information.

3. When it is available publicly

Your personal information may be available to us from external publicly available sources. For example, depending on your privacy settings for social media services, we may access information from those accounts or services (for example when you choose to interact with us via Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram).

4. When you visit our website

When you visit our website, we automatically collect the following types of personal information:

• Technical information, including the internet protocol (IP) address used to connect your device to the internet, browser type and version, time zone setting, browser plug-in types and versions and operating systems and platforms.

• Information about your visit to the websites, including the uniform resource locator (URL) clickstream to, through and from the website (including date and time), services you viewed or searched for, page response times, download errors, length of visits to certain pages, referral sources, page interaction information (such as scrolling and clicks) and methods used to browse away from the page.

We may collect and use your personal information by using cookies on our website – please see our Cookie Notice.

In general, we may combine your personal information from these different sources set out in a-d above, for the purposes set out in this Notice.

2. What personal information do we use?

We may collect, store and otherwise process the following kinds of personal information:

1. your name and contact details including postal address, telephone number, email address, emergency contact details and, where applicable, social media identity;

2. your date of birth and gender;

3. your financial information, such as bank details and/ or credit/ debit card details,

4. information about your computer/ mobile device and your visits to and use of this website, including, for example, your IP address and geographical location;

5. personal descriptions and photographs;

6. details of your qualifications/ experience;

7. the use of CCTV.

and/ or any other personal information which we obtain as per paragraph 1.

Do we process special categories of data?

The EU General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) recognises certain categories of personal information as sensitive and therefore requiring more protection, for example information about your health, ethnicity and religious beliefs.

In certain situations, the Wall may collect and/or use these special categories of data (for example, information on climbers’ medical conditions relevant to their use of our facilities). We will only process these special categories of data if there is a valid reason for doing so and where the GDPR allows us to do so.

3. How and why will we use your personal information?

Your personal information, however provided to us, will be used for the purposes specified in this Notice. In particular, we may use your personal information:

1. to register you as a member of the Wall;

2. to allow you to make a booking to use our facilities;

3. to otherwise provide you with services, products or information you have requested;

4. to provide further information about our work, services or activities (where necessary, only where you have provided your consent to receive such information);

5. to assist you with certification schemes, such as NICAS;

6. to answer your questions/ requests and communicate with you in general;

7. to allow you to apply for a job or volunteer role with us;

8. to manage relationships with our partners and service providers;

9. to analyse and improve our work, services, activities, products or information (including our website), or for our internal records;

10. to keep our facilities safe and secure;

11. to run/administer the activities of the Wall, including our website, and ensure that content is presented in the most effective manner for you and for your device;

12. to audit and/ or administer our accounts;

13. to satisfy legal obligations which are binding on us, for example in relation to regulatory, government and/or law enforcement bodies with whom we may work (for example requirements relating to the payment of tax or anti-money laundering);

14. for the prevention of fraud or misuse of services; and/or

15. for the establishment, defence and/ or enforcement of legal claims.

4. Lawful bases

The GDPR requires us to rely on one or more lawful bases to use your personal information. We consider the grounds listed below to be relevant:

1. Where you have provided your consent for us to use your personal information in a certain way (for example, we may ask for your consent to use your personal information to send you email newsletters, or to collect special categories of your personal information. Special categories of personal information are explained in paragraph 2 above).

2. Where necessary so that we can comply with a legal obligation to which we are subject (for example, where we are obliged to share your personal information with regulatory bodies which govern our work and services).

3. Where necessary for the performance of a contract to which you are a party or to take steps at your request prior to entering a contract (for example, to provide you access to our facilities in return for your booking fee).

4. Where it is in your/someone else’s vital interests (for example, in case of medical emergency suffered by a climber).

5. Where there is a legitimate interest in us doing so.

The GDPR allows us to collect and process your personal information if it is reasonably necessary to achieve our or others’ legitimate interests (as long as that processing is fair, balanced and does not unduly impact your rights as an individual).

In broad terms, our “legitimate interests” means the interests of running of the Wall as a commercial entity and ensuring the best possible user experience.

When we process your personal information to achieve such legitimate interests, we consider and balance any potential impact on you (both positive and negative), and on your rights under data protection laws. We will not use your personal information for activities where our interests are overridden by the impact on you, for example where use would be excessively intrusive (unless, for instance, we are otherwise required or permitted to by law).

5. Communications for marketing/promotional purposes

We may use your contact details to provide you with information about our work, events, services and/or activities which we consider may be of interest to you (for example, about services you previously used, or events involving our, or other walls’, facilities).

Where we do this via email, SMS or telephone (where you are registered with the Telephone Preference Service), we will not do so without your prior consent (unless allowed to do so via applicable law).

Where you have provided us with your consent previously but do not wish to be contacted by us about our work, events, services and/or activities in the future, please let us know by email at enquiries@bouldersUK.com. You can opt out of receiving emails from the Wall at any time by clicking the “unsubscribe” link at the bottom of our emails.

6. Children’s personal information

When we process children’s personal information, where required we will not do so without their consent or, where required, the consent of a parent/ guardian. We will always have in place appropriate safeguards to ensure that children’s personal information is handled with due care.

7. How long do we keep your personal information?

In general, unless still required in connection with the purpose(s) for which it was collected and/or processed, we remove your personal information from our records six years after the date it was collected. However, if before that date (i) your personal information is no longer required in connection with such purpose(s), (ii) we are no longer lawfully entitled to process it or (iii) you validly exercise your right of erasure (please see Section 11 below), we will remove it from our records at the relevant time.

If you request to receive no further contact from us, we may keep some basic information about you on our suppression list in order to comply with your request and avoid sending you unwanted materials in the future.

8. Will we share your personal information?

We do not share, sell or rent your personal information to third parties for marketing purposes. However, in general we may disclose your personal information to selected third parties in order to achieve the purposes set out in this Notice.

These parties may include (but are not limited to):

1. The ABC and the ABC Training Trust;

2. local government agencies;

3. funding bodes such as Sport England and NGB;

4. awarding bodies such as Mountain Training;

5. other members of the ABC;

6. healthcare professionals;

7. providers of kit and equipment;

8. suppliers and sub-contractors for the performance of any contract we enter into with them, for example IT service providers such as website hosts or cloud storage providers;

9. professional service providers such as accountants and lawyers;

10. parties assisting us with research to monitor the impact/effectiveness of our work, events, services and activities; and

11. regulatory authorities, such as tax authorities;

In particular, we reserve the right to disclose your personal information to third parties:

• in the event that we sell or buy any business or assets, in which case we will disclose your personal information to the (prospective) seller or buyer of such business or assets;

• if substantially all of our assets are acquired by a third party, personal information held by us may be one of the transferred assets;

• if we are under any legal or regulatory duty to do so; and/or

• to protect the rights, property or safety of the Wall, its personnel, users, visitors or others.

9. Security/storage of and access to your personal information

The Wall is committed to keeping your personal information safe and secure and we have appropriate and proportionate security policies and organisational and technical measures in place to help protect your information.

Your personal information is only accessible by appropriately trained staff, volunteers and contractors, and stored on secure servers which have features to prevent unauthorised access.

10. International Data Transfers

Given that we are a UK-based organisation we will normally only transfer your personal information within the European Economic Area (“EEA”), where all countries have the same level of data protection law as under the GDPR.

However, because we may sometimes use agencies and/or suppliers to process personal information on our behalf, it is possible that personal information we collect from you will be transferred to and stored in a location outside the EEA, for example the United States.

Please note that some countries outside of the EEA have a lower standard of protection for personal information, including lower security requirements and fewer rights for individuals. Where your personal information is transferred, stored and/or otherwise processed outside the EEA in a country that does not offer an equivalent standard of protection to the EEA, we will take all reasonable steps necessary to ensure that the recipient implements appropriate safeguards (such as by entering into standard contractual clauses which have been approved by the European Commission) designed to protect your personal information and to ensure that your personal information is treated securely and in accordance with this Notice. If you have any questions about the transfer of your personal information, please contact us using the details below.

Unfortunately, no transmission of your personal information over the internet can be guaranteed to be 100% secure – however, once we have received your personal information, we will use strict procedures and security features to try and prevent unauthorised access.

11. Exercising your Rights

Where we rely on your consent to use your personal information, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time. This includes the right to ask us to stop using your personal information for marketing or fundraising purposes or to unsubscribe from our email list at any time. You also have the following rights:

1. Right of access – you can write to us to ask for confirmation of what personal information we hold on you and to request a copy of that personal information. Provided we are satisfied that you are entitled to see the personal information requested and we have successfully confirmed your identity, we will provide you with your personal information subject to any exemptions that apply.

2. Right of erasure – at your request we will delete your personal information from our records as far as we are required to do so. In many cases we would propose to suppress further communications with you, rather than delete it.

3. Right of rectification – if you believe our records of your personal information are inaccurate, you have the right to ask for those records to be updated. You can also ask us to check the personal information we hold about you if you are unsure whether it is accurate/up to date.

4. Right to restrict processing – you have the right to ask for processing of your personal information to be restricted if there is disagreement about its accuracy or legitimate usage.

5. Right to object – you have the right to object to processing where we are (i) processing your personal information on the basis of the legitimate interests basis (see paragraph 4), (ii) using your personal information for direct marketing or (iii) using your information for statistical purposes.

6. Right to data portability – to the extent required by the GDPR, where we are processing your personal information (that you have provided to us) either (i) by relying on your consent or (ii) because such processing is necessary for the performance of a contract to which you are party or to take steps at your request prior to entering into a contact, and in either case we are processing using automated means (i.e. with no human involvement), you may ask us to provide the personal information to you – or another service provider – in a machine-readable format.

7. Rights related to automated decision-making – you have the right not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing of your personal information which produces legal or similarly significant effects on you, unless such a decision (i) is necessary to enter into/perform a contract between you and us/another organisation; (ii) is authorised by EU or Member State law to which the Wall is subject (as long as that law offers you sufficient protection); or (iii) is based on your explicit consent.

Please note that some of these rights only apply in limited circumstances. For more information, we suggest that you contact us using the details in paragraph 14 below.

We encourage you to raise any concerns or complaints you have about the way we use your personal information by contacting us using the details provided in paragraph 14 below. You are further entitled to make a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office – www.ico.org.uk. For further information on how to exercise this right, please contact us using the details below.

12. Changes to this Notice

We may update this Notice from time to time. We will notify you of significant changes by contacting you directly where reasonably possible for us to do so and by placing an update notice on our website. This Notice was last updated on 24/05/2018.

13. Links and third parties

We link our website directly to other sites. This Notice does not cover external websites and we are not responsiblefor the privacy practices or content of those sites. We encourage you to read the privacy policies of any external websites you visit via links on our website.

14.How to contact us

Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns about this Notice or about the way in which the Wall processes your personal information by contacting us at the channels below. Please ask for / mark messages for the attention of Ollie – Information security officer.

Email: info@bouldersUK.com Telephone: 02920484880

The copying and use of Boulders logo and other Boulders related publications is strictly prohibited without our prior consent.