Membership

Although you don’t have to be a member of the Walking Club to come on Local Walks, you must be a member to go on weekend trips and minibus day trips.

Categories and Prices

Club membership runs annually, running from October 1st to September 31st. There are two types of membership:

    • Annual student membership: £25
    • Annual non-student membership: £28.65

Additionally the club offers discounted membership for members joining over the summer, and also for those who are affiliated with the BMC. For more information, please see the Additional Information section below.

Joining

Most of our members join the club when they attend a trip, where instructions are provided when signing-up. All members however must fill in Membership Form, which generates a membership number that is needed to sign up.

If you wish to join the club for the other benefits, you may do so by filling in the above membership form and contacting the Treasurer at treasurer@ouwc.org to pay the membership cost.

If you simply want to hear about the trips we offer and attend local walks, you can join our mailing list. We offer local walks on a regular basis which everyone is welcome to attend, and the mailing list is also used to circulate details and sign-up information for led trips.

Member Benefits

Club membership is required to attend club trips, however as a member you get access to a lot of other services and benefits:

    • Third party liability insurance for mountaineering and walking events on both club trips and individual endeavours, provided through our affiliation with the BMC.
    • Invitations to all of the club’s socials. Regular events include a Céilidh in Michaelmas Term and a Punt Party in Trinity Term.
    • Free loan of the club’s extensive range of equipment (subject to availability).
    • Subsidy from the club towards the cost of walking group leader (WGL) or mountain leader (ML) training if you want to lead on club trips. The club also pays for drivers to attend the University’s minibus driving course.
    • Because the Walking Club is affiliated to the British Mountaineering Council (BMC), members have other benefits, including:
      • A BMC membership number, giving member discounts with over 800 outdoor related businesses includeing Cotswold, Snow & Rock, and Montane (all 15%)
      • Access (or cheaper access) to 64 mountain huts (list) in the UK.
      • Third party liability insurance, applicable worldwide. (For example this covers you if you injure a third party by dislodging a rock.)
      • Access to reciprocal rights for Alpine Huts.
      • The Clubs edition of Summit Magazine (in April).
      • A portion of your membership fee will go to help the BMC campaign on access and conservation issues.

Get in touch with the Membership Secretary (membership@ouwc.org) if you have any questions about membership benefits.

The elected committee oversees the Club’s budget, and ensures that the membership revenue is spent sensibly as to benefit the Club’s membership as a whole.

Training Subsidies

Funding for training comes from a levy on minibus trips (£4 per person per day) and grants from the Sports Federation. The details of training subsidies offered by the Club are as follows:

  • Minibus driving assessment
    • £30 paid directly by the Club. This allows the driver to use University’s insurance to drive minibuses for Club purposes.
  • First Aid Training
    • The Club cover the first £50, half of which is paid as club credit which can be redeemed for a trip the person leads on.
  • Mountain Skills Training
    • The Club cover the first £50, half of which is paid as club credit which may be redeemed for a trip the person leads on.
    • For Mountain skills courses organised by the Club, the participant pays the normal trip costs but not the training levy.
  • Mountain Leader Training
    • The Club pays £100 upfront and then £150 in return for leading on level 3 trips (subject to committee approval – criteria include prior engagement with the club and money available in the training budget).
  • Mountain Leader Assessment
    • The Club pays £100 upfront and then £150 in return for leading on level 3 trips (subject to committee approval – criteria include prior engagement with the club and money available in the training budget).

Additional information

As part of our affiliation with the British Mountaineering Council, all members are charged for the BMC club membership. Charged annually, this costs £16.75 for students and £20.25 and makes the bulk of the club membership cost. Those who are already affiliated with the BMC do not need to pay twice for this; please contact the Treasurer at treasurer@ouwc.org if this applies to you.

As annual membership expires at the end of September, the BMC offers a 50% reduction in BMC club membership for members joining after the 30th of June. This is reflected in a discounted membership cost of £15.75 for students and £18 for non-students for members joining during the summer vacation.

Memberships taken out may be cancelled with full refund if requested by the end of the same term, provided that the member has not been on any trips nor made any other use of the membership meanwhile.

Alumni

Look at the Alumni page for information on our alumni scheme.

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