Trips

The Union is here to support CSPs to run trips and a little bit of planning goes a long way to ensure the best experience for your members.
It is a legal requirement to have all trip details recorded and risk assessed before going ahead. Please read the 'Submission Times’ section below this will help you avoid disappointment or finance errors!

Reminder: The Trip Policy was updated and now everything a CSP does where they take members outside of London is now defined as a trip. Whether it is abroad or in the UK, overnight or not.

The only activity that does not class as a trip, is BUCS/Sporting competition fixtures outside of London which have been covered in your annual risk assessment.

Running a  CSP Trip

  • Step 1 - Understand Your Responsibility as a Trip Organiser

    All Trip Organisers Have Responsibilities Which Include:

    • Notifying The Union - It is a legal requirement for the Union to have a list of all activities and trips our CSPs are delivering. CSPs must also provide an accurate participant list at least 1week before each trip.

     

    • Trip Safety & Risk Assessment - Ensuring the trip is safe by completing and acting upon a trips risk assessment.

     

    • Equality & Diversity - It is a requirement that Trip organisers discuss equity, diversity and inclusion of who can participate and how as well as what you do on the trip & how much it costs to attend. Trips are a great way to provide opportunities and experiences to members who may not otherwise have the chance- how can you make your trips as accessible as possible?

     

    • Data Protection - Collecting the correct data on participants and storing it correctly.

     

    • Preparing for Emergencies - By planning appropriately and knowing the emergency services available for the place you’re travelling to.

     

    • Notifying Members - of all relevant information and researching detailed information about where you are going and the controls in your risk assessment that they need to be aware of.
  • Step 2 - Plan Your Trip Idea

    Below are some important details to think about to start planning your trips, of course there are many more: 

    • Location - Where in the UK or World should we go and why?
    • Accommodation - Where are we going to stay and when do you need to book it?
    • Time - When should we go and for how long?
    • Costs - How much is it going to cost you to deliver the trip and how inclusive it is?
    • Safety - What does the Risk Assessment need to cover? Researching the country you are going to, the facilities your accommodation offers, the risks of getting there and the risks or traveling around once at your destination.  
    • Trip Itinerary - Covering travel, attraction visits, club regular activity, planned socials, equipment maintenance, collaborations, competitions or event attendance and any other planned activity from the start of the trip to the end.

    We recommend that all trips are organised a minimum of 2 months in advance. This will allow enough time to complete Union processes, pay for travel and accommodation at competitive rates, advertise to members and collect participant information.

    Your trip form will need to be submitted a minimum of 2 months before an overseas trip and  1 month before a UK trip.

  • Step 3 - Fill in and Submit a Trip Proposal Form

    For all trips you need to complete the following:

    Please ensure you have attached a copy of your risk assessment and any other necessary documents in your form. Once submitted, Union Staff will review your form.


    If you are unsure or need more information on running successful trips please contact activities@imperial.ac.uk  

  • Step 4 - Staff Approval

    The Union will review your Trip Proposal Form and Risk Assessment. We will get back to you to let you know whether your safety controls are enough for the trip to go ahead or if it needs further work.

    Trip organising, especially spending money, should not be done until you have received the final feedback from the Union. 

  • Step 5 - Continue Organising Your Trip

    Please make sure you action all the feedback given as your trip budget may not be approved until this is complete. Some of the things you need to organise AFTER you have received final Union feedback are:

    • Arranging Accommodation
    • Sharing your risk assessment and emergency procedures with event organisers and attendees
    • Arranging Suitable Insurance
    • Arranging travel 

    If you need any further guidance with running your event, please let us know and we will be happy to help! 

Submission Times

Trip Type 

Submission Time 

Notes 

International Trips 

2 months 

  • Due to logistical complexities of overseas trips, these will take longer to process.

UK Trips 

1 month

  • This is for one-off and 'regular' trips. Trips in which the activity is exactly the same can be submitted on a single form. i.e. we need the full details of date/travel/location for each but this can only be on one form if all activity and risks are the same. Please email Activities for any guidance on this.

 

Please note for trips taking place in the UK your proposal needs to be submitted minimum of 1 month before the date of the trip. For trips taking place internationally your proposal needs to be submitted 2 months before the date of the trip.

Trip proposals submitted too close to the date will be rejected and asked to be resubmitted with a later date. If after 3 weeks of submission you do not hear back from us, please email us on activities@imperial.ac.uk (quoting your trip proposal ID) to ask for an update. 


These timelines account for feedback & review time; please expect to have further actions once we have given you feedback. Our advice is to submit your event proposal as soon as possible, you can update us via email if you need us to update your form with additional information closer to the trip.

FAQs