The UK government recently relaxed lockdown restrictions in England to allow groups of people from different households to meet. Further guidance was released on Monday 1st June, which stated the following;

• If you are a personal trainer/coach you can now work with clients outdoors, providing you are meeting no more than 5 other people from outside of your household, outdoors, and you are staying a minimum of 2 metres apart.
• You can meet with different clients in a single day if it is in gatherings of no more than 6 and you are maintaining social distancing. You should not spend time with anyone not from your household indoors.
• You should also enforce strong hygiene measures. This might be cleaning any equipment rigorously in line with wider guidance on hygiene, for example by using antiviral spray and washing hands thoroughly before and after use
• Leaving your home - the place you live - to stay at another home is not allowed.

The national Mountain Training organisations have considered the guidance above and believe it may now be possible for some providers to deliver a limited range of our courses in England, subject to appropriate control measures. This decision also applies to Mountain Training Association workshop providers in England. The latest general UK Government update for England is here; (see specific guidance for Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland). Within the England update it states:

At all times, you should continue to adhere to strict social distancing guidelines when you are outside your home, particularly ensuring you are two metres away from anyone outside your household. You cannot:

• stay overnight away from your own home, except for in a limited set of circumstances, such as for work purposes
• exercise in an indoor sports court, gym or leisure centre, or go swimming in a public pool
• use an outdoor gym or playground
• gather outdoors in a group of more than six (excluding members of your own household)

Courses therefore cannot currently involve overnight stays (including camping) or the use of indoor venues for briefings, course delivery or debriefs. No outdoor climbing walls or facilities can be used and providers can work on a maximum ratio of 1:5.

Mountain Training’s ‘Covid 19 framework for decision making’ outlines our principles by which we expect providers to make any decision on whether to go ahead with a course. Our guidance on safe practice in the outdoors issued to Mountain Training Association members may also prove useful for both providers and candidates. Providers are responsible for mitigating the risks to staff, candidates and the general public during course delivery and will need to have satisfied their own risk assessment about Covid 19. Candidates need to be prepared to adopt the safeguarding measures which will be required for responsible course/workshop delivery and we encourage candidates to engage with the provider to ensure they understand any control measures and can discuss any concerns they may have.

A cautious approach will be necessary to both limit the spread of infection and respect local sentiment. As such, providers in England should take note of local information and advice from organisations such as their own membership organisations (AMI, BAIML, BMG and MTA), the BMC, National Park Authorities, Mountain Rescue Teams and local Tourist Boards. Providers and candidates must consider the reputation of our sector and act accordingly.

Finally, please note once again that this currently only affects Mountain Training providers in England. As the situation develops in other countries, we will issue further coordinated updates. The guidance for England may change in line with the Government’s advice and may need to be reversed regionally or even nationally if required.