The British Caving Association

can you please send me any information regarding legislation in caving for an assignment i'm doing at college, i'd be very grateful. thank you.

Legislation covering what? Caving is a pretty big topic.

Try UKCaving.com - there's lots of cavers online there who will be happy to give you some assistance....

Strange. They come; a question is asked.

Never hear from them again.

You think it strange!
I wish I could get hold of the lecturers/teachers who set the projects for them.
I get almost daily requests via the BCA website asking: can you write my thesis/ project for me so I don't have to do any real work myself. Always with bad spelling or in mobile text language and quite often without common courtesies such as please, thankyou, etc.

(Obviously they don't actually ask me to write it but the sentiment is the same: can you tell me about all the caves, laws, regulations on caving, novices, how does your organisation run, etc.
I have to write a project and I've chosen caving, now can you do it for me)

[/Rant]

Thank you to those who were helpful with my request. However, it is the examining body who has set this assignment, not the teachers. During my research of various outdoor activities i have found people willing to share their knowledge and promote their sport and encouraging others to get involved, however, i appreciate everyone is not the same.

melissa wrote:During my research of various outdoor activities i have found people willing to share their knowledge and promote their sport and encouraging others to get involved, however, i appreciate everyone is not the same.

Les, looks like you have been told.

Melissa, he is right though, your question was so general as to be virtually unanswerable.

Out of interest what level are you at? 6th Form, Under-Grad, Post-Grad?

Here's a flavour:

Clubs with accommodation are being hit by a raft of new legislation: Asbestos, Disability Act, New Fire Act, Child Protection. Far to much red tape for volunteers.

The sport itself has been affected by the Young Persons Act which mean clubs think twice before taking less than 18 year olds underground affecting the recruitment of the next generation of cavers.

There is a climate of fear of being sued on health and safety grounds. This has particularly affected University Caving Club where some Student Unions have imposed burdensome safety rules on their caving club or withdrawn support completely.

To some extent the Government has recognised this problem as witnessed by the recent legislation giving Teachers greater protection when leading extra-curricular activities. Cavers and all volunteers could do with something similar.

The current hot topic is CROW. Cavers are not included in the legislation, unlike climbers. The debate is whether the caves and cavers would be better off in or out of the legislation. See this thread for a flavour. http://www.british-caving.org.uk/phpbb2 ... c.php?t=26

The definitive book is Underground Britain: Legal and Insurance Issues . You might be able to get it on inter-library loan. The above thread tells you where you can buy it.

That's the recent legislation. You've also got all the ancient legislation such as landownership laws, liability laws and specific legislation concerning mines.

Plenty to have a go at ...

Thank you Cookie, very helpful indeed

melissa wrote:Thank you to those who were helpful with my request. However, it is the examining body who has set this assignment, not the teachers. During my research of various outdoor activities i have found people willing to share their knowledge and promote their sport and encouraging others to get involved, however, i appreciate everyone is not the same.

Sorry Melissa, I didn't mean to direct my rant at you
It was more of a general rant. Your post was courteous and didn't deserve any criticism from me (actual or implied).
As BCA webmaster I recieve many requests of the type I detailed. I normally direct them to the relevant BCA Officer and leave it at that.
It is my intention to make most of the information that is normally requested, available via the website, but this is a long job and there is so much other stuff to do as well (too much work, few volunteers )
I stand by the main points of my rant though, which are that most requests are either worded as demands, or full of poor spelling and grammar or using text messaging short cuts or just plain discourteous.
I do realise that this is indicative of youth culture and education standards generally (I have recently studied on a science based degree course and was astounded by the number of undergraduates that were having to do remedial maths!) but when somebody is requesting help or advice then perhaps a "please" wouldn't go amiss. Call me old fashioned but grammar and spelling used to be quite important.

The BCA does want to promote caving and I am currently working on a Website to do just that, but unfortunatly I also have a daytime job

Again I apologise if you felt I was having a go at you, I wasn't intentionally. Your post was more of a catalyst that provoked my rant.

I am more than willing to share what information I have, but I am also getting worn down by the almost continuous requests for information to allow people to complete their Projects/assignments/etc. when I have so much other stuff do do as well (it all takes time ).