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SWOAPG, as one of the core members of Wales Adventure Tourism Organisation (WATO), has been asked to help assess the current skills and recruitment challenges of the adventure activity sector.  This is through WATO’s role in representing the adventure activity sector on the Wales Tourism and Hospitality Skills Partnership.  This partnership of organisations from across … Read more

AdventureRMS has announced that this year, local authorities across Great Britain are targeting unlicensed adventure activity providers that may be operating within scope, and in contravention of the Adventure Activities Licensing Regulations – for more detail, see Local authorities to target unlicensed adventure activity providers | Adventure RMS

The Waterfall Country Activity Access Concordat arrangements only work if everyone plays their part, so it would be a huge shame if  we were to lose access to these special places because some providers chose not to take these responsibilities seriously. It is therefore important not only that everyone sticks to the rules, but also … Read more

Paddle UK (formerly British Canoeing) has recently published new ‘Standards for Deployment’ for those involved with delivering paddlesport across the UK (see Standards For Deployment | Paddle UK). These include specific guidance for ‘commercial’ providers (see Commercial-Standards-for-Deployment-Policy-April-24-1.pdf) as well as for clubs affiliated to Paddle UK and its national associations (including Canoe Wales). The standards … Read more

If you are using the Sychryd or Mellte gorges you should by now have renewed the annual sign-in process, about which we’ve sent several e-mails recently. We’ve already given you a month’s “amnesty” because of the new membership and sign-up system we’ve introduced this year, but… FROM 1 MAY you MUST have renewed and be … Read more

KitSquad assists low-income people to get into the outdoors by supplying free, pre-loved kit and equipment. It’s the only nationwide scheme that supplies donated second-hand adventure gear to low-income individuals to enable them to get outdoors wearing or using the appropriate gear. Individuals on means-tested benefits can apply for equipment via the website. Donations of … Read more

Due to changes in Meta’s policies, it is no longer possible from 22 April for us to automatically post our ‘daily alerts’ to the ‘South Wales Outdoor Instructors’ Facebook group. If you’d like to continue seeing our alerts for ‘critical’ (e.g. safety-related) issues relating to activity provision within the Brecon Beacons and South Wales, you … Read more

Many thanks to those of you who’ve already renewed your membership – if you’re not in the list of Our Members it means either that (a) you haven’t paid for this year’s Full Membership; (b) you’ve asked us not to publish your details; or (c) we’ve missed your payment somehow! (NB this list only shows … Read more

Thanks to Paul Donovan for this (disappointing) update: “You may be aware that there was a debate in the Senedd yesterday regarding the Residential Outdoor Education (Wales) Bill, followed by a vote to progress it to the next stage. Unfortunately, the vote on the Bill sadly lost by 26 votes to 25. A great disappointment … Read more

Many thanks to those of our Members who’ve been busy updating membership records and paying fee renewals. We have now printed the first batch of this year’s (purple) ID cards and will be getting them into the mail very soon. You  can check whether you’ve made it through to this stage by visiting the table … Read more