These terms and conditions (here on in "T&Cs") govern all canoe hire activities, trips, or events (whether is a paid for service or not) from either Whitney Bridge Canoeing and or Want to Canoe (here on in "us," "we," "our," "company,"). They are applicable to all our customers (here on in "you," "participant," "hirer," "group," "adult," "child," "person," "customer"), regardless of participant skill level, experience, or watercraft qualifications. No part of these T&Cs are negotiable. Participation in the hire activity in one or more of our water craft automatically binds you to these T&Cs, no exceptions! All communications relating to any business arrangement relating to canoe hire from us and makes reference to T&Cs it is referring to these our terms and conditions. 

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Our Policy on Bookings, Payments, Cancellations, and Terminations by the Hirer

• A booking is ONLY confirmed by a 100% payment of the whole trip and payment for all participants unless otherwise a deposit has been pre-arranged with the one of our authorised representatives.

• Cancellations by any or all participants 7 full days or more prior to the time and date of the booking can and will receive a full refund.

• Cancellations by any or all participants 6 - 3 full days prior to the time and date of the booking will receive a 75% refund of the amount relating to the actual paid amount for the cancelled participant numbers.

• Cancellations by any or all participants 48 hours or less prior to the time and date of the booking will not receive a refund. Please understand that during our season it is likely we have turned away business because of your booking and late stage cancellations will also mean we are unable to fill those spots.

• Where a full refund is not provided for cancellations, we will offer the you and other participant/s the opportunity for us to retain the full amount of your payment (or the total amount of the cancelled participant/s numbers' ) so that you can reschedule within 12 months from the date and time of the original booking. If this option is accepted by the participant/s, you do so knowing that we will not offer any form of refund on this held amount within the 12 month period. In other words, you cannot rebook a date within the 12 month grace period and then cancel with 7 or more days’ notice and seek a full or partial refund. This rescheduling option is given to allow the participant/s to be able to fully benefit from their original purchase.

• Groups of 10 or more we may ask for a deposit to secure your booking, if we do, please note well, that any deposit amount will not be refunded on any cancellation. Balance of the amount owed for the booking will be required to be paid in full in no less than 14 days prior to the day and time of the booking.

• Termination by the hirer once an activity has commenced, irregardless of time spent participating in the activity, are not entitled to a refund. Any consideration relating to compensation is at the sole discretion of our management.

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Fair-Weather Clause

PLEASE NOTE WELL!, inclement weather, rain or the "weather is not sunny" are not reasons we accept for cancellations with 6 or less days notice to the time and day of bookings with an expectation of full refunds.  We may consider rescheduling a booking as long as the above cancellations T&Cs are met. If we do so, it is at our sole discretion, otherwise the refund amounts will be as outlined above.

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Arrival Times - No Shows (non arrivals) and Late Arrivals

• Please arrive prior to your booking time with sufficient time to allow you to park up, get your gear, dress, use facilities, and sign your paperwork. We suggest 10 mins for parties of 2 or 3, and 15 mins for parties of 4-8, and 20-30 minutes for parties of 10 or more.

• Your booking time is the commencement of the Safety briefing which ALL participants must attend! It is not the time you arrive on site.

• You must attend the safety briefing and adhere to all verbal instructions given to you by us, prior to your activity.

• You must always comply to any of the written or verbal rules issued to you.

• No shows (non-arrivals) and late arrivals for the day and time of any booking will not be refunded, we may at our discretion and subject to availability permit a rescheduling on the same day for late arrivals. Please do not arrive late and expect to join your group. We are required to give you a full safety briefing. We cannot just let you on!

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Terminations or Cancellations By Us, Whitney Bridge Canoeing or Want to Canoe

• River Wye water activities are all subject to safe river and safe weather conditions. We reserve the right to postpone your canoe trip if it is deemed necessary to do so, without notice, due to

  • Unsuitable river conditions such as river flow is too fast, the river level height is too low or too hight, obstacles and other safety hazards within the river which cause injury or the danger to life.

  • Weather forecasts predicting storms, lightening and or other weather conditions such as high speed winds.

  • Other factors or unmanageable risks beyond our control such as notifications by the Environmental Agency or Natural Resource Wales that the river is unsafe for human activities for example an outbreak of waterborne diseases or other contaminates.

  • We will make every attempt to ensure that all activities run to schedule. However, if due to adverse conditions and we are forced to cancel or terminate we will:

    • Give you as much notice as possible and we will offer you alternative dates and reschedule your booking.

    • If no alternative date can be agreed, a full refund will be offered.

• If we terminate your activity after commencement due to adverse river or weather conditions, we will consider any time you have already spent on the water into account when deciding how best to compensate you.​​​

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Fitness to Paddle and Medical Conditions

You are advised that canoeing can be considered a strenuous activity, given the nature of moving water and prevailing winds, and river levels etc. Our minimum distance is approximately 5 miles of meandering river in the countryside. You are therefore forewarned and must understand that participating in this activity will mean that you or any of your party may be out of 'easy' reach should an emergency occur. Although most of the river is accessible through fields and help could be to hand swiftly, there are some parts of our river routes that are quite isolated and or inaccessible because of hills, woods, and rapids etc. This means normal land-based timings for response by emergency services, medical and specialist rescue services could be much longer than normal before they locate and assist you, so for your safety the following specific terms and conditions strictly apply:

• All participants should be fit, abled bodied, and free from injury or illness when participating in canoeing activity.

• You must advise us:

  • If you have a serious life-threatening medical condition that could place you at risk if you cannot be attended to within a reasonable time frame.

  • If you have allergies or any medical condition or different ability (known as a disability) that could affect you during a canoe trip. You must ensure that you have with you in close proximity any medicines and sufficient supply of them during your trip, examples are, but not limited to such medicines as epi-pens, asthma inhalers, insulin, foods or products for hypoglycemia, angina sprays and or other lifesaving medicines.

• We advise you:

  • that if you are pregnant, had recent surgery, long term illness (such as MS, CFS, MI, etc.), hypertension, stroke, epilepsy that you should only participate on the specific advice of your qualified doctor or medical practitioner.​

• We reserve the right to refuse participation in our activities under these clauses if we feel that participation in our activities may put you or others at risk.​ If we do we will offer you a full refund.

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Participants with Special Needs and Different Abilities

We recognise the right to the  'dignity of risk' for participants with special needs or different abilities. Canoeing has inherent risks associated for all participants, and as a company we will do our best to assist any participant to enjoy the freedom and fun of canoeing. That being said, there are specific requirements for the public at large, as shown in these T&Cs. So for those participants with special needs or different abilities these are our additional terms and conditions as follows:

• At the time of the booking we must be informed that one of your group has special needs and or has different abilities. We do not want to embarrass you on arrival by not allowing participation because we have been unable to conduct an appropriate risk assessment.

• We will need to understand the capabilities and or limitations both physical and intellectual of the participant with special needs and or different abilities, so we are able to conduct a fair and appropriate risk assessment, such an assessment will take into consideration:

  • Those capabilities and limitations,

  • The total number of all participants and including their ages,​

  • The adult to child ratio as well as the abled bodied participants ratio to those with special needs or different abilities,

  • Whether the participant has a qualified carer accompanying them,

  • The type of canoeing configuration options needed, rafted or not rafted canoes,

  • Whether a guide would be needed to accompany the group (this is an additional cost),

  • The appropriate safety equipment required, it may not be suitable for the participant to use a buoyancy aid but a life jacket (the latter keeps a person's head out of the water and afloat, where the former helps a person not to sink.) Please note as a hire company we are only required to have buoyancy aids and not life jackets, you may need to bring your own.

• We will do our very best to assist you, but please understand there are specific risk restrictions placed upon us by our technical advisors and our insurers and that may limit our ability to facilitate the activity.​

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Participant Numbers, Ages, and Supervision:​

Minimum numbers 

• A minimum of 2 people must be in your group. Solo paddlers are not permitted to hire one of our watercraft, this is for obvious safety reasons.​

Age and Group Restrictions

• The minimum age to participate is 4 years,

• All participants aged 4 – 17 years must be accompanied by an adult,

• It is the responsibility of the parent, guardian to supervise their children at all times,

• The adult to child ratio must be 1:1 in a single craft or groups of craft that are un-rafted (rafted means two canoes tied together, side by side, with a brace beam, tied together at the bow and the stern, this is to assist in keeping the craft stable, much like a catamaran. This does not mean that the craft is uncapsizable, just highly unlikely. All watercraft have the potential to capsize).

• There must always be an adult in each canoe.

• Changing the canoe configuration after departure so that there are only two minors and no adults in a canoe, regardless of the eldest child's experience, is a strict breach of these terms and conditions. Whitney Bridge Canoeing and or Want to Canoe cannot be held liable should there be injury or death caused by the non-adherence to any restrictions defined within these T&Cs.

• Where we have mandated that for your hire canoes that your canoes are to be rafted together, you must not dismantle this raft, at anytime, except in an emergency. ​​

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River Use and Rules of the River

All hirers will be given a copy of "Rules of the River" at the time of their safety briefing. These river rules include statutory laws and or other mandated requirements by local agencies and bodies. The following list is a general list of rules and these T&Cs are not limited to this list:​

• Hirers are advised that the for majority of their canoe trip the land either side of the river will be private land. 

• Except in an emergency or unless specifically advised by us or a land owner, you DO NOT have permission to stop 'land,' 'stay for a break,' and or 'wild camp' on whilst your trip. We will not be held responsible for any illegal activities conducted by a hirer.

• Never light FIRES!

• Please respect the River Wye, for most parts is considered to contain Sites of Special Specific Interest (SSSI).

• Please do not disturb wildlife and or damage, cut, or remove fauna.

• STRICTLY no fishing from our watercraft, there are fines of up to £1000 by Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales for illegal and unlicensed fishing. You can be assured that local fishing beats are monitored all the way down the River Wye.

• Please do not litter, bring your rubbish back to the landing site and we help you dispose of it correctly.

• Please keep noise levels to a minimum, screaming and shouting affects wildlife, the local community, and other river users.

• We do not permit 'boom' boxes or large portable speakers during a hire or on our watercraft.

• Swimming is only permitted in known as 'wild swimming spots,' if there are any during your hire you will be advised of them. 

• We cannot warrant or guarantee that the water quality during your hire, activity or whole trip is safe to be in, it is incumbent on the hirer to do their own checks. 

• We advise that do not drink the river water.

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​Use of and the Responsibilities of Hired Canoes and Associated Equipment 

• Hired craft and or associated equipment becomes the responsibility of the hirers for the duration of the hire and each participants is responsible for the care and protection of watercraft and associated equipment (paddles, buoyancy aids, dry bags, water tight barrels, other supplied equipment etc.).

• All watercraft and associated equipment should only ever be used in the manner for which they are manufactured or intended to be used, using them in any other way or any manner contrary to their purpose could cause serious injury or risk to life. Examples are, but not limited to, standing up in a canoe whilst traversing the river, sitting on the gunnels, using a paddle as a leverage tool to shift a grounded canoe, you should never use paddles as a support or cause a paddle to bear weight as the paddle could buckle or snap. 

• With the acceptance of these there terms and conditions each hirer or participant agrees to pay for any loss of and or damage to hire craft and associated equipment. ​

• It is advisable that for each watercraft on hire at least one participant carries a mobile phone or other communications device. This should be kept and contained within a waterproof pouch specific for the function.

• Buoyancy aids must be worn correctly and at all times by all participants whilst they are on the river.

• We do have a limited number of pet buoyancy aids. The use of these are at the pet owners risk, we do not guarantee or warrant that the use of these devices will keep your pet safe or free from harm. We highly recommend that pet owners do their own research and bring their own appropriate safety equipment for pets

• We are not responsible for any damage to or loss of participants personal property whilst the participant is on our land, in our vehicles, or using our facilities, watercraft, and or associated equipment.

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Adequate Hydration and Element Protection

Please be advised that as previously stated, canoeing can be a strenuous activity and moreover you can be exposed to the elements. Hot dry still  (and even windy) conditions means you can become easily dehydrated quite rapidly. There is also the risk of heat stress, fatigue or sun stroke, the latter can be a life threatening condition.

• It is your responsibility to ensure that all participants have adequate hydration for your activity. Especially on hot days and sunny days. We recommend per person (child and adult) a minimum of 1 litre of water for a half day trip and 2.5 litres of water per full day trip, and spares to share. All our launch sites have potable water, just bring your own containers.

• It is also your responsibility to ensure for your activity that all participants have adequate protection from the elements. This includes minimising the affects of the sun, wind, rain or from unexpectedly being in the water. 

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Intoxication or Being Under the Influence of Narcotics

prior to launch

• We NEVER hire our watercraft to anyone who we believe is not in a fit and proper state to do due to alcohol or narcotics, your safety and the safety of others are of our paramount concern.

• If we, or our any of our staff believe that any person in your party is intoxicated or under the influence of narcotics, we unequivocally reserve the right to terminate that person's or persons' hire activity, we will not provide a refund for such a termination.​

during the activity​

• Alcohol or drug use is not permitted on the River. There are applicable laws for intoxication or being under the influence of narcotics and being on the water in England and Wales, these laws apply to all participants using a canoe hire company.

• We reserve the right to terminate any activity for any or all participants if they are  found to have alcohol or narcotics with them or to be using alcohol or narcotics whilst on the river. 

• We will not provide a refund for those participants who breach these T&Cs under these conditions.​​

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Use of your own equipment or own craft 

• If you choose to use your own equipment or someone in your party has their own craft, it is your responsibility to ensure that it is of satisfactory quality and fit for the purpose of the activity you are undertaking. We cannot take responsibility for any accident or injury caused through the use of your own craft or associated equipment.​

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Complementary Transportation

• We can only transport those persons who are considered a hirer.

• Our insurance only covers actual customers.

• We cannot transport non company owned watercraft or associated equipment.

• We will not provide complimentary transport to persons who not are not a customer with us, even if they have travelled down with hirers.

• We reserve the right to refuse to provide complimentary transport for intoxicated persons or persons under the influence of narcotics

• Transportation passengers must follow the instructions of our driver that relate to the health and safety and road regulations.

• Children must travel with their guardian or parent, we will never transport a group of children without adults who have a duty of care for them. We do not permit children to travel in the front passenger seat of our vehicles.

• All passengers of our vehicles must wear a seatbelt in accordance with the Road Traffic Act.

• We will not provide personalised transport services other than to our designated pick up and drop off points at Whitney Bridge site , Want to Canoe site, designated points down stream and a designated drop off point in Hay-on-Wye for those hirers who walked to our Hay-on-Wye site​

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Data Protection and Privacy:

Information supplied to us will be treated in accordance with the provision of the Data Protection Act 2018. All our records are kept in accordance with Act's requirements

• Used fairly, lawfully, and transparently.

• Used for specified, explicit purposes.

• Adequate, relevant, and limited to what is necessary.

• Accurate and kept up to date.

• Kept for no longer than necessary.

• Handled in a way that ensures appropriate security.

• Any specific health or medical data provided in relation to being a hirer will be destroyed after your activity.

We will never share or sell your data, or let it been seen by 3rd parties with the exception for emergency services should the need arise during your activity. We only keep hand booking forms in accordance with HMRC Tax requirements, paper documents are stored under lock and key, digital versions are kept secured in our encrypted booking software system.

CCTV 

All our sites have CCTV running 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. This is for safety and security purposes.  CCTV recordings are stored for no longer than 30 days and then are written over by new footage. Each site displays the appropriate GDPR CCTV signage. ​

 

DISCLAIMER:

We will not be liable for any death, personal injury, or loss of or damage to goods arising out of the hire of any items by you, unless that death, personal injury or loss of, or damage to the goods arises directly from an act or omission on the part of the company, its servant or agent.

 

Participants should be aware that canoeing can be dangerous.  Hazards include (but not limited to); drowning, hypothermia, repetitive strain injury, slips, trips, falls, biological hazards from river water, skeletal and muscular injuries from paddling or moving equipment.  All participants accept exposure to the afore mentioned hazards and do not hold Whitney Bridge Canoes responsible for injuries obtained from kayaking, canoeing or any associated activity.

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We do not have any responsibility whatsoever for loss or damage to your personal belongings.

You should be aware that any water-resistant containers supplied by us are not guaranteed to be waterproof. Therefore, you should not rely on the water-resistant containers that we supply to keep your property dry, and you accept that you are taking your personal property on to the river at your own risk.

 

Clients booking by online or by telephone will be deemed to have read and accepted these terms and conditions.

 

We reserve the right to make amendments to these Terms and Conditions without notice. The full and latest version of our Terms and Conditions are on our website.