Terms and conditions

Festival of Walking social walks

1. Registration and participation

• A reserved entry does not guarantee the right to participate in the event. YHA reserves the right to exclude the Participant from an event for any reason deemed appropriate, including the event being oversubscribed or unsuitable for the Participant or the Participant’s behaviour.
• The Participant shall follow the route led by the Walk Leader and follow the instructions of all Walk Leaders. If the Participant chooses a different route, they do so entirely at their own risk.
• If for any reason the participant is no longer able to take part in the walk, they will inform YHA immediately by emailing [email protected].
• Any Participant over the age of 16 who is accompanying one or more Participants below the age of 16 (a ‘Child Participant’) during the walk, they will always accompany the Child Participant during the walk.

2. Postponement and cancellation

• YHA will not guarantee the scheduled walk will take place or that it will take the form originally advertised.

Postponement

• If YHA postpones the walk, YHA will:
  – inform the Participant within 5 working days of the decision to postpone; and
  – work to reschedule the event and transfer the Participant‘s reserved place to the rescheduled date.
• If YHA cannot find a suitable date to rearrange the walk, YHA will offer the Participant a suitable alternative event or virtual event.
• The Participant acknowledges that in the event of late postponement YHA may not always be able to inform the Participant in advance.

Cancellation

• YHA may cancel its contract with the Participant in a case of force majeure, i.e., an extraordinary event or circumstance beyond the control of the parties such as, without limitation, war, strike, riot, crime, epidemic or act of God such as severe weather, flooding, or landslides.
• If YHA cancels the walk, YHA will: –
  – in writing, via email or letter, inform the Participant within 5 working days of cancelling.
• The Participant acknowledges that in the event of late cancellation YHA will not always be able to inform the participant in advance.

3. Non-refundable donations, disbursements or losses and deferments

• If YHA cancels the walk or the Participant does not participate in the walk for whatever reason, including rescheduling of the event or substituting to an alternative event:
  – All monies paid to YHA in respect of this event will be treated as a non-refundable donation to support the charity’s work.
• YHA will not be liable for any costs that the Participant has incurred in relation to the walk or reimburse the Participant any cost, expenses, or loss they have incurred in relation to the walk.
• YHA will only refund donations in exceptional circumstances.

4. Personal data and images

• The Participant understands that photographs and filming will take place as part of their participation in the event.
• This event may be photographed or filmed for YHA or a Sponsor’s use in print, press and online marketing. By electing to participate in a Social Walk you are granting permission to YHA or its Sponsors to use your name, quotes, video, audio recordings and photographic likeness for marketing and promotional purposes (please note you can contact [email protected] to request if you wish for none of the above to be used by YHA).

5. Health, safety and fitness

• The Participant agrees to take part in the walk at their own risk and will not hold YHA or any connected persons responsible for any accident, injury or illness sustained for which YHA was not directly responsible.
• The Participant acknowledges that participation in the walk involves inherent risks of accident and injury and agrees to their personal and medical details being released to the event organisers to inform their next of kin and statutory authorities in the event of a medical emergency.
• YHA will endeavour to accommodate Participants with disabilities in respect of any special requirements they may have to enable them to participate fully in the event, but we cannot guarantee that we shall be able to implement them. Where a Participant with disabilities is accompanied by a carer, the carer is not a Participant for the purpose of the event.
• The Participant will fully prepare for the physical challenge of the event and will check with their doctor to ensure that they are medically fit to participate in the event.
• The Participant will comply with any health and safety and other rules or guidelines issued by YHA, the Walk Leader or anyone acting on behalf of them.
• No illegal substances, performance enhancing substances or intoxicants of any kind are permitted to be used by any Participant either before or during participation in the event.
• YHA reserves the right to refuse attendance at, or participation in, the event by any persons found to have consumed or to have in their possession any illegal substances, performance enhancing substances or intoxicants of any kind.

6. Variation and termination

• YHA may vary or terminate this agreement by giving written notice (which may be by email) to the Participant. Where possible YHA will inform the Participant 5 working days before any changes take effect.

7. Statutory rights

• These terms and conditions do not affect the Participant’s statutory rights.

TCS London Marathon

Guaranteed/charity place

• The participant pledges to raise a minimum of £1,500 (excluding gift aid) in sponsorship money for YHA (England & Wales) which should be received by YHA (England & Wales) within 6 weeks of the marathon.
• All funds raised through the marathon must be payable to YHA (England & Wales) in £ sterling. The objective is to raise as much sponsorship as possible.
• The participant agrees to pay a £50 registration fee to YHA(England and Wales) which will reserve a charity place for the participant to take part in the event.
• The participant shall not use the place to raise money for another charity.
• If for any reason the participant is unable to take part in the race, they must notify YHA(England and Wales) immediately in writing, via email or letter. Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee entry in the same event for the following year although you will be able to apply for a place again.
• If your application is successful you will also be required to sign up to, and comply with, the event organiser’s event rules and/or terms and conditions. Please read these carefully, as they will set out the event organiser’s obligations and liabilities to you and vice versa. This includes your agreement to abide by the TCS London Marathon Privacy Policy.
• I understand that entry fees are non-refundable and if granted a guaranteed YHA place, please note this place is the property of YHA and is non-transferable. (Transfers between events are not permissible).
• You are personally responsible for registering on the event console. Failure to do so will mean you will be unable to take part. We will inform you well in advance if this is necessary.
• We aim to notify successful applicants as soon as possible after receiving your application. If your application is not immediately successful we will keep a waiting list and inform you if a place becomes available.

All participants

• I declare I will be 18 years or over on the day of the event.
• Please note that YHA is not responsible for the organisation or management of the event, and therefore we shall have no liability to you for any injury, damage or loss suffered by you when taking part in or in connection with the event.
• I accept that the organiser’s/sponsors/partners/marshals will not be liable for any loss, damage, action, claim, costs or expenses, which may arise in consequence of my participation of the event.
• We do not sell or swap your details with any third parties, but in order to carry out our work, we may need to pass your details to service companies authorised to act on our behalf.
• We will keep your details on our database so we can provide you with the best possible support every time you contact us.
• Please note that all monies that you raise in connection with the event are held on trust for YHA, and therefore you have a legal responsibility to ensure that all sponsorship monies/donations received in connection with an event are paid to us. We ask that you do this as soon as possible, but in any event within six weeks of the date of the event.
• This event may be photographed or filmed for our use in print, press and online marketing. I hereby give my permission to YHA to use my name, quotes, video, audio recordings and photographic likeness for marketing and promotional purposes (please note you can contact the Challenges team to request if you wish for none of the above to be used by YHA).
• YHA will not be held responsible for any injury or illness resulting from your participation in the event. If you are granted a guaranteed YHA place, you agree that you will undertake suitable training and consult your GP if you have any concerns regarding health or injury and declare that I will not compete in the race unless I am medically fit on the day of the race and that, in any event, I will compete at my own risk.
• Neither the event organiser non YHA will guarantee that the event will take place. In the event of the event being cancelled, YHA will inform the participant within 5 working days of being informed by the event organiser.
• If the event is unable to be rescheduled either the event organiser or YHA will provide a suitable alternative such as a virtual event for participants to take part in.
• If you are unable to take part in the event and need to cancel your place for any reason, the money you have raised will be used to help us change young lives.
• YHA reserves the right to revoke race places in exceptional circumstances.
• All correspondence regarding this application should be directed to the Challenges team.

Refund of donations

YHA works hard to ensure the process of making a donation is easy and trouble free. However we realise that sometimes mistakes can happen. Under charity law, charities are not permitted to refund donations, other than in specific circumstances as specified by the Charities Act 2011.

If a mistake has occurred or your would like to discuss your donation please contact our Supporter Care team. We are happy to help and we’ll ask you a few questions to determine what’s happened so that we can help in any way that we can. We may also need paperwork from you before we can process your request.

We are committed to the highest standards of legal compliance and we treat all requests for refunds with the utmost importance. Your concerns are important to us and we want to reassure you that we’ll update you every step of the way. Once we receive everything, we can then advise you of how long things will take – usually 7-10 working days. If you are unable to take part in an event and need to cancel your place for any reason, the money you have raised will be used to help us change young lives.