Air sports

If you're working with an external provider or external instructors to run this activity outside the unit meeting space, follow these extra steps. 

• Arrange for a home contact. Leave any route or other relevant details with your home contact and complete a home contact agreement form. Let them know if you make any changes to your plans.
• Tell your local commissioner.
• Tell the activity provider about the ability and experience of the participants and any disabilities, access needs or health conditions that need to be considered when running the activity.
• Choose a reputable and licensed activity provider (where applicable).
• Check the qualified adults hold the correct qualification to be able to run the activity (see the information below).
• Get copies of the instructor qualifications and public liability insurance of the activity provider before you book.
• Ask for a copy of the providers' safety guidelines and risk assessment.
• Make sure you have the correct ratio of participants (girls and volunteers) to qualified adults (those running the activity). This is different to the ratio of leaders to girls.
• Check with the venue that they have the correct equipment and, if needed, specialist clothing that will meet the requirements for your group.
• Source any specialist equipment or clothing needed to run the activity not provided by the venue, and make sure this is in good condition and fit for purpose.
• Check that any equipment is suitably insured by the provider and agree what happens to the equipment if it gets damaged.

Some venues might ask for a disclaimer or waiver to be signed for each person taking part in the activity. This is something which parents/carers must sign on behalf of their child. You can do this along with the consent form. Parents and carers should be given sufficient information from the provider along with the waiver so they can make an informed decision to sign it or not. Leaders can only sign disclaimers and waivers for their own personal participation.

Air sports must be carried out at a registered air sports school. This will depend on the type of activity:

• CAA (for powered aircraft).
• BHPA (for hang gliding and paragliding).
• BMAA (for microlighting).
• British Skydiving (for parachuting).

To ensure the safety of your activity, once you've made contact with a provider and obtained a list of qualifications held by the instructor, get in contact with the adventure team ([email protected]), because we review air sports on a case-by-case basis.

You'll need to contact the adventure team ([email protected]) before booking any of these activities, so we can advise on safety regulations, because these will differ depending on the type of activity. 

If this activity requires 1-2-1 supervision with a third party instructor, the third party instructor must have completed an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check and be able to provide the certificate number and date of issue. There must be a device in the vehicle to monitor the 1-2-1 activity.

The leader in charge on the ground is responsible for monitoring the welfare of girls before, during and after the activity. This can be practically done by another adult volunteer, but this responsibility must not be delegated to a third party.

Ways of monitoring include but are not limited to:

• Live radio contact between the pilot, the girl, and an adult volunteer on the ground.
• A camera is installed in the cockpit (permanent or temporary) to record the air sports activity.  In a side-by-side seating arrangement, heads, hand, and knees of both the pilot/instructor and the girl must be in view.

If the provider is recording the activity, they'll be the data controller, and they'll need to have a CCTV policy in place, outlining the reasons for recording and the length of time the recordings will be kept. You should make sure that this is included in the information to parents.