Outdoor Adventure Trips

Yes and we are reverting to our pre-pandemic eligibility criteria (subject to vaccination status - see 'Do I need to have had my COVID vaccination?' below). This means young people we could not support in person in 2021 can once again return to the Trust.

This includes young people...

• who were previously classified as Clinically Extremely Vulnerable
• who have received an organ transplant and remain on ongoing immunosuppression medication.
• who have had a stem cell transplant (Allogeneic or Autograft) who is not considered to be immune recovered (e.g. commenced revaccination programme or considered fit to return to school/work/college, etc).
• is on active (anti-cancer) treatment for any form of cancer or anyone who has completed treatment in the last six months aligning with CCLG and Government guidance. This includes any maintenance treatment.
• is taking steroids as part of systemic anti-cancer therapy (this does not include replacement steroids for pituitary or adrenal insufficiency).
• who has unstable or brittle asthma.

We hope you are as excited about coming back as we are about seeing you all again next summer!

Vaccination forms part of our risk assessment to minimise the COVID risks as much as possible, both to the young people and their families and the Trust team (skippers, volunteers, full-time staff) who will be involved in the trips.

The Trust was able to run a successful summer of trips in 2021 due to the COVID-safety measures we put in place, and we were delighted there weren't any COVID cases linked to a trip among young people, volunteers, skippers, or our staff.

But whereas we ran at reduced capacity in 2021, with 315 young people coming on a trip, in 2022 we hope to return to pre-pandemic numbers of 600+ young people safely joining the Trust. This is the right thing to do to support more young people after cancer treatment, but it increases the risk of possible COVID transmission among a wider group of people.

We will continue to review our vaccination position in line with Government advice and with our medical advisers. We need to find the appropriate balance between young people being able to get the support they need while keeping everyone as safe as possible.

For our latest position on vaccinations for young people of your age (at the time of your trip), please click here – Vaccinations Update

We will update the below to reflect what will happen in 2022 once next summer's trip plans have been finalised.

Everyone taking part in a trip will need to do a COVID test at home that morning and everyone will be temperature checked on arrival and throughout the week. The Trust will supply tests ahead of your trip.

We will update the below to reflect what will happen in 2022 once next summer's trip plans have been finalised.

Everyone taking part in a trip will need to do a COVID test at home that morning (before joining the transport and/or travelling to the site) - the Trust will supply these ahead of the trip - and will be temperature checked when they arrive on the day and on each day of the trip.

All activities will be subject to rigorous sanitisation standards - personal and equipment - including hand washing, antibacterial cleaning, use of anti-viral fogging machines where appropriate, etc. Equipment, including waterproofs and lifejackets, will be sanitised between activity groups with deeper COVID-cleaning procedures between trips.

Hand washing and sterilising will form part of briefings and will be as much as part of the day as putting on suncream and making sure everyone is drinking enough. Antiseptic wipes to be used regularly on all well-used touchpoints. Protocols on distancing and mask-wearing in confined spaces in line with current advice at the time.

We will update the below to reflect what will happen in 2022 once next summer's trip plans have been finalised.

We all have a collective responsibility to keep each other safe while COVID is still with us, and so you should not join the trip if you should be isolating. Missing the trip will not affect your chance to come back in the future - even if this was due to be your last trip. It is more important that you do the right thing and not come, rather than worry about missing the opportunity.