How to register your mountaineering, climbing or hill walking club

The process

Club membership, for most clubs, runs from 1 January through to the 31 December each year.  For Student Clubs, membership runs from 1 October to 30 September.  However, a club can apply for BMC Club Registration at any time of the year.

The process for Registration and accessing the benefits listed above is very straightforward and is as follows:

1. Complete the application form and submit required documentation [LINK]

2. Application assessed by the BMC office [this can take up to 4-weeks]

3. Club contacted with the decision.  If the application is not accepted, BMC staff will work with you to help your club complete Registration.

4. Once a club is accepted, the club will then need to submit its members via our online portal, and pay all fees due, to complete Registration.

The cost

The only cost for Club Registration to the BMC is the individual membership payments for each club member, there are no additional fees to be paid.   The 2025 BMC fees for each Club Member are:

• Adult - £29.33

• Student - £25.03 (for those in full-time education)

• Discounted - £22.91 (for Under 18's, unemployed, or furloughed members)

For any new members joining from 1 July each year the fee for the remainder of the year is £14.67*.

For any new members joining from 1 October each year the fee for the remainder of the year is £7.83*.

* these are also the fees due from clubs that complete their initial Registration part way through the year

Should a club member wish to upgrade their club membership to include all the benefits of Individual membership it will only cost an additional £18.60 for the full year.

Additional documents

Some additional documents are required to be submitted when you apply for Registration.  Below are short descriptions of what is required for each document.

Governing Documents (e.g. Constitution)

The Club Constitution is the usual governing document for many sports clubs.  It explains how the club will be run, what the membership levels are, what officer positions there’ll be on the committee (i.e. President, Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer, Meets Secretary etc.), the procedures for an AGM (Annual General Meeting) including voting arrangements, how the finances of the club will be managed etc. Constitutions/governing documents are often required by many organisations who provide grant funding for clubs.

The BMC has two template constitutions that clubs are welcome to use to produce their own constitution.

The first is for adult clubs where all members have voting rights at an AGM, including voting on committee positions:

DOWNLOAD: Constitution template for clubs where all members can vote (over 18s)

The second is for clubs where not all members have voting rights and is particularly suitable for clubs aimed at young people (such as "Youth Clubs") where most of the members are under 18 years old.

DOWNLOAD: Constitution template for clubs with voting and non-voting members

If you require more support in producing a constitution for your club then please contact Jane Thompson (Club Development Manager).

For clubs that are set up as a charity, company limited by guarantee, charitable incorporated organisation etc. their own governing document will need to be submitted rather than a constitution.

Club rules and policies

Rules, policies, procedures, guidelines – these are often interchangeable in clubs, particularly unincorporated clubs.  It is usually more important that the content of the document is relevant and available for club members rather than what the document it is contained within is called.

If there are documents that your club has that informs members on how something should be done, then include it in your submission.

There may be rules and guidelines that do not naturally sit within the formality of a constitution.  For example, your club may have rules for booking out items of club equipment, for booking a place on a club meet, about acceptable behaviour from club members or for reserving a bed in the club hut.

Policies tend to be a more formal document, and usually cover a topic in more detail than a governing document would cover.  For example, a club may choose to have a separate complaints and grievance policy that clearly lays out the steps that all parties will take if a grievance is raised.

Smaller clubs tend to find that, initially, many of the elements associated with running a club are contained within the governing document negating the need for further rules or policies.

More advice and support in registering your club can be gained from completing this contact form.

You may also find these links useful:

• Club Support Page

• Student Clubs Officers' Handbook

• Buddle (the Sport England club development tool)

• Club Registration Form