Airsoft sites in the UK excluding under 18's?, New child protection laws may lead to airsoft being 18+ only Options

[Belladonna]

New Child protection laws may lead to airsoft sites baring under 18s from playing airsoft.
New requirements for consent and background checks is begining to cause airsoft insurance brokers to stop supplying under 18 cover...
Sites may still get consent, but will be required to foot the bill for criminal background checks for ALL staff, marshals and even caterers...

Fireball squadron airsoft has recently renewed its insurance in April, and thier broker has already brought new rules into place. Now fireball does not allow under 18s to play. When other sites renew thier insurance, time will tell how many can afford to allow under 18s in.



This post has been edited by Belladonna: Aug 27 2008, 07:00 PM

[imp1864]

This isn't new. these came into place a while back. anyone who works with childern or vunerable adults needed to be CRB checked. Seems someone has picked up on this.

[Belladonna]

As i said, Fireball didnt want to foot the bill... do you know how much it costs?

[Smoke]

Fireball won't because their members can all be called upon to marshal games. Apparently that's well over 50 people.

Sites without this sort of system in place will need to weigh up the cost of jumping through the required hoops, versus the revenue gained from under 18 players.

To imply airsoft is banned for under 18's is scaremongering.

Some sites will require that you're over 18. Some wont. It's just another case of the insurance companies squeezing more money out of their policies.

[rolling-thunder]

I know it's cheaper for a place with lots of staff to get a contract to screen anyone for a year.Some one wants to be a Marshall & the site sends off their details under the sites contract & in due time they get the all clear/thumbs down & the site can keep sending in the inquiries.If it's an individual i have heard 69 quid mentioned,maybe more.I think the contract is about 300 quid but don't take that as gospel!

[The Waco Kid]

Well Fireball have always been well up to speed on these issue. Ceratinly they give a much more formal presentation on Child protection issue than many Skirmish sites or event other outdoor pursuits venues. If Fireball found they needed to do this for their site I am sure it was a serious decision for them and I can see at least some other places following suit. They have a legitimate legal and business responsibility re. insurance and staying open so it can't be argued with really.

[Smoke]

Well Fireball have always been well up to speed on these issue. Ceratinly they give a much more formal presentation on Child protection issue than many Skirmish sites or event other outdoor pursuits venues. If Fireball found they needed to do this for their site I am sure it was a serious decision for them and I can see at least some other places following suit. They have a legitimate legal and business responsibility re. insurance and staying open so it can't be argued with really.

Absolutely.

I've never been, but the chap who runs it placed a lengthy and very informative post "elsewhere" regarding the situation.

It's quite clear that it's not the law that's the problem, but the insurance companies placing obtuse requirements within policies.

Litigation culture an' all that (IMG:style_emoticons/default/rolleyes.gif)

[Pablo]

Daily Mail style shock horror thread title edited to minmise panic.

Airsoft hasn't been banned for under 18's, but some sites have made the commercial decision not to pay the necessary costs - which have escalated sharply this year - to make sure they're insured for under 18's to play. That's their call, and I'm sure they'd rather not have to make that decision.

I went to Fireball in June and couldn't take my lad along as he didn't turn 18 until the week after.

Any other sites following suit yet?

EDIT: I don't know how much the insurance would be, but the costs for CRB checks are:

Fees for 2008/2009:

Standard CRB check £31.00
Enhanced CRB check £36.00
POVAFirst check £6.00
Volunteers Free

Taken from:

http://www.crb.gov.uk/default.aspx?page=4959

EDIT 2: Just read Boomer's post on ASCUK about the new legislation coming in too. I'd link to it but you'd only get Barney or summat from the link (bless). If you're a member there, look for a thread titled "The Safeguarding of Children and Vulnerable Persons Act 2006" in the VCRA section of the General forum.

[Boom3r]

Daily Mail style shock horror thread title edited to minmise panic.

Airsoft hasn't been banned for under 18's, but some sites have made the commercial decision not to pay the necessary costs - which have escalated sharply this year - to make sure they're insured for under 18's to play. That's their call, and I'm sure they'd rather not have to make that decision.

I went to Fireball in June and couldn't take my lad along as he didn't turn 18 until the week after.

Any other sites following suit yet?

EDIT: I don't know how much the insurance would be, but the costs for CRB checks are:



Taken from:

http://www.crb.gov.uk/default.aspx?page=4959

EDIT 2: Just read Boomer's post on ASCUK about the new legislation coming in too. I'd link to it but you'd only get Barney or summat from the link (bless). If you're a member there, look for a thread titled "The Safeguarding of Children and Vulnerable Persons Act 2006" in the VCRA section of the General forum.

I'll post a copy of my bit above on a new thread here.

[Pablo]

Cheers! Didn't want to just copy and paste it without your consent (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

[Hedganian]

If it's free to have volunteers CRB checked, and most site marshalls don't get paid, hence are volunteers, then where's the added cost?

[Mike_West]

Well, I must admit that while it may seem a tad too harsh for some, airsoft guns are legal to own by adults only, a'right? It says so on the box at least...

[Hedganian]

Owning an airsoft gun, or not, isn't a requirement to participate in the sport, though, is it? The parents could own the guns and let the kid use them for the games - probably players themselves in that case, or someone else over 18 could own them. Or they could use hire guns from the site.

[Crazy_Harry]

If it's free to have volunteers CRB checked, and most site marshalls don't get paid, hence are volunteers, then where's the added cost?

Having been through a CRB check, I think the main problem is that it takes time- my check took 3 months (by the time it came through, it wasn't needed anymore... typical) so maybe sites will be looking at the effort of doing the check, waiting to have people approved, and realising that this is going to create a problem in the interim if they don't have enough staff onsite already cleared- in such a situation, they would be in legal schtuck if under-18s were present without CRB-cleared staff.

so its not so much a fiscal cost, more the potential of having your marshalls do the CRB check and either shutting the site down until they get cleared or simply banning under-18s in the interim.