WhatsApp Groups & Short Notice Trips

As well as planned club trips shown on the calendar, there are also a number of WhatsApp groups. These groups have been setup by a club coach, leader, or committee member to organise short-notice trips, coaching, social events, and skills sessions. All participants in the these WhatsApp groups are DCKC members. As well as club events, members can also post peer trips.

PLEASE NOTE: Peer trips are not covered by club insurance and paddlers are equally responsible for group control and safety. There are additional notes on this below.

WhatsApp groups compromising of members of DCKC.

WHATSAPP GROUP / SUBGROUP	AIM / INTENTION	STARTED	APPROX. No. OF MEMBERS	CURRENTLY OPEN TO NEW MEMBERS?	NEXT OPPRTUNITY TO JOIN	MODERATOR or FOUNDER	CONTACT No.
DCKC Sea/Loch kayaking peer group	Last minute club trips, peer trips and social events.	2015	84	yes	Always open	Dearbhla	‪07724 921554‬
DCKC River Group	For peer river trips and last minute club trips	2015	34	yes	Always open	Sandy	07962226280
DCKC Coach / Trip Leader	A group for members who voluntarily give up their time to coach members or lead trips. This group provides a forum for club coaches & trip leaders to liaise and communicate on all matters relating to coaching and running trips for the club	2020	13	yes	Open to all coaches and trip leaders / assistant leaders in the club. Get in touch if you are interested in organising or leading trips	Alan	07775827981
DCKC Repair and Maintenance	A group for volunteers who repairs & maintain club boats, equipment and club containers/storage .	2020	12	yes	Always open and looking for practically minded people to volunteer If you notice any equipment in disrepair please contact Derek or Danny	Derek / Danny	( Danny ) 07484 314985‬
4 Star Leader Group	To provide an opportunity for club members to develop their leadership skills by providing structured sessions based around the BCU Sea Kayak Leader syllabus	2018	22	yes	Open to anybody who wishes to develop leadership skills with a view to leading or assisting club calendar trips.	Alan	07775827981
DCKC Committee	For committee members of DCKC	2024	15	n/a	Express interest to join DCKC committee to a committee member.	Misha / Janice
DCKC Key Holders	Members with keys to give access for club members to borrow equipment	2022	6	N/a	By approval of DCKC committee	Emily	07933992504
General trip groups	Groups formed in advance of planned trips – open to paddlers taking part in the trip and closed on completion	N/a	N/a	N/a	N/a	Various	N/a
	DCKC New and Aspiring Members	2024	12	Yes!	Always open	Dearbhla	07724 921554‬7
Open Boat Group	Open canoeists	TBC	22	yes	Always open	Sandy	07962226280

To Join a WhatsApp Group

1. Visit What’s App Website / App Store on your phone and download it.

2. Send a message to the moderator of the relevant group.

Guidance for using WhatsApp Groups

1. The groups listed here have been started to offer trip, coaching, and volunteering opportunities to club members. They are not officially monitored or sanctioned by the club. Trips posted can be either ‘CLUB’ trips or ‘PEER’ trips (i.e. those participating take full responsibility for themselves). 
   Note: Any trip posted to these groups must clearly state whether it is a PEER trip or a CLUB trip.
   
2. This list does not include private Whatsapp groups formed by paddles who also happen to be club members. These groups offer social paddles or meet-ups that are out with the remit of the club. Some of these WhatsApp groups have a wide membership beyond DCKC members. The groups listed here are only offered to club members.
   
3. The Whatsapp groups are notice boards for club members rather than chat rooms. Please keep information relevant and chit-chat to a level proportional to the number of members in the group. Please be aware messages to the general DCKC group will arrive as a new message to over 100 other peoples’ phones ……..sssso…….. if you are going to post a joke make it a good one! 😁
   
4. Please also be aware that not all club members use WhatsApp

Guidance for DCKC Peer Trips

1. Trips that are informal are called “Peer Trips” and are not covered by club insurance etc. When posting a proposed trip please clearly mention it is “PEER TRIP”.
2. “Peer Trips” are not “Club Trips” and will not normally have a specific coach or trip leader.
3. Each paddler is responsible for making sure they are up to the planned activity in terms of capability. Having said that some may just be a midweek relaxing social paddle on Loch Lomond!
4. The person who first mentions the plan/idea should make sure they are happy with the skills/experience of anyone who asks to come along. They should also be happy to say “no” if they feel someone is not appropriate for the planned trip and this should be respected. You can ask other people attending the trip for guidance on potential attendees or ask one of the club coaches for help.
5. Note that because WhatsApp trips are mainly peer trips then attendees/WhatsApp group members are likely to be current or lapsed club members but there may occasionally be paddlers on the trip that have no link to the club.

Guidance for Whatsapp use for Club Trips

1.The primary way to learn about club trips and activities is the club calendar – www.dckc.co.uk/calendar. *The club calendar can also be added/ imported/synced to any personal online google calendar or ical.

2. Leaders may choose to use WhatsApp to coordinate club trips and short notice trips. However, not all leaders choose to use Whatsapp to coordinate trips. If trips are coordinated by other means e.g. email / phone, it will say on the calendar entry for the trip/activity

Guidance for a Peer Trip changing to a club trip

Sometimes once a “peer trip” has gained momentum and one of the clubs trip leaders or coaches is going on the trip. It may make sense to add it to the club calendar as a “club trip” or “coached session”. (For it to be a Club trip then the coach/trip leader has to be prepared to take this responsibility, they can always just go as a peer). The main benefits of this is that more people have the opportunity to attend, the club calendar becomes more active and the opportunity for some additional coaching sessions is created.

Things to consider are:
– Peer trips are often a chance for people to gain experience of group management/responsibilities. Having a formal leader can limit or remove this opportunity.
– The nature of the trip can change when it has a coaching element (e.g. more static practice sites, less of a journey, etc).
– A peer trip has no charge, whereas a club trip is nominally £2 and a “coached trip  is “£5 (half day) or £10 (full day). Note money goes to the club, not the coach.
– On any trip, even a peer trip, the most experienced person/people will have an element of additional duty of care.

In this situation the club suggests;
1. The potential coach/trip leader asks the paddlers who have already said they are attending the peer trip, if they are ok with it being made into a club trip / coached trip.
2. If it converts to a club trip then post to the WhatsApp group message board with this change and add the trip to the club website (also indicate the Grade A/B/C or I/II/III/IV).
3. It is suggested that there is no club trip fees for the original peer group paddlers.
4. For subsequent club members then club trip/coached trip fees would normally apply.
5. Once it becomes a “club trip” then paddlers who are not-club members who were either part of the original group or sign up after the change are considered to be attending on a “taster session” basis (SCA Club insurance allows up to 6 taster sessions per year provided, you note the attendee’s name and address).

Hopefully this guidance provides a framework to help deal with this situation and avoid conflict. Please remember club trip leaders and club coaches enjoy paddling, it is just that their roles can vary between being another peer paddler, a trip leader or a coach!