If you are a parent or volunteer or teacher with a role in running a youth-focused climbing club, ClimbScotland are here to help provide guidance and inspiration on a range of club matters.

Become an affiliated climbing club

If you are involved in a club that takes part in indoor or outdoor climbing or mountaineering activities, or you would like to set up a club to get young people in your local community climbing, we can help you!


Introducing young people or families to your existing club?

If you are involved in a club that takes part in indoor or outdoor climbing or mountaineering activities already and you would like to introducing more young people or allow for family trips, we are here to help you through the process.


Climbing session ideas

We have pulled together some great information and ideas for organising varied and engaging club sessions. These resources are full of suggestions for activities, from warm ups to coaching tips. They are tailored to different age ranges, for both indoor and outdoor climbing.

Junior clubs

Running a club with kids of primary school age presents a unique set of challenges. Fast paced and exciting sessions are hard to repeat and stay fresh over time. Here are some useful ideas for adding a little variety to your activities.

Youth clubs

Young people of secondary school age may want coaching to improve their skills or the chance to challenge themselves and compete against their friends: generally just show-off! It’s great for a club to be able to accomodate those needs. Here you will find some tips for programming a secondary school age climbing session and some excellent ideas for coaching, technique challenges and games.

Student clubs

Student club members range from those who have never tried climbing but always wanted to, to those who have been climbing for years and want a bit of coaching to keep improving. Flexibility is essential to cover this range of demands.

Games, activities and challenges

Here you will find an explanation of all the games, activities and challenges mentioned in the session plan resources above. Any of the activities can be used for any age group and can be tweaked accordingly to fit with your club and your session.


Youth hillwalking trips

If you need guidance on how to plan appropriate hillwalking trips for young people or families, get in touch with our Mountain Safety Team.


Club management resources

Volunteer role descriptions

Below we have provided template examples of various club volunteer roles which can please used by your club.

Volunteer Recruitment

Here we have provided information for clubs to support the recruitment of volunteers.

Operating Procedures Template

Below is an operating procedures template which clubs can use and tailor to suit their club’s needs. The clubs operating procedures provides a place to keep a formal description of how the club operates under a variety of headings, including, committee role descriptions, volunteer and member code of conduct, volunteer and member induction processes, incident reporting, club session procedures etc. The below document contains guidance commentary on the side notes of the main text – make sure you have this visible on your word processing software.

Risk Assessment

Clubs are encouraged to complete risk assessments prior to activities they are going to be participating in. This is seen as good practice and demonstrates that the club is proactive in its duty of care of its members and others. If you would like advice or support regarding carrying out and completing a risk assessment, then get in touch with us at: