Plan Successful Trips

Many of our Clubs, Societies and Projects visit new and different locations to represent Imperial College London and carry out their activity throughout the year. Tours over the last few years have ranged from discovering new caves in Slovenia to singing A Cappella in America and playing rugby in Argentina.

The Union is here to support and facilitate CSPs to run their 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 with the Union, but knowing what groups want to do, also allows our staff team to offer you expert advise and support. All Student Group Leaders have a legal duty of care towards their members and a part of meeting this responsibility is ensuring you have followed our Trip Planning Process highlighted on this page.

Part of our process regarding trips is outlined in our Trips and Tours Policy. (This policy is currently out of date and will be being reviewed in term one.)

Some important differences from before is that we have removed the differentiation between a trip and a tour. Everything a CSP does where they take members outside of London is now classed 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.

Planning a 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
    • Trip Safety & Risk Assessment - Ensuring the trip is safe by completing and acting upon a travel risk assessment
    • Delivering a Fun and Engaging Itinerary 
    • Equality & Diversity - A requirement that Trip organisers discuss equity, diversity and inclusion who can participate and how as well as what you do on the trip.
    • 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 your travelling to
    • Notifying Members - of all relevant information and researching detailed information about where you are going.
  • Step 2 - Plan Your Trip Idea

    Planning trips can take any varying degree of time and energy, but below are some of the important aspects to think about to start planning: 

    • Location - Where in the UK or World should we go and why?
    • Accommodation - Where are we going to stay and when do i 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 - How big is the Risk Assessment going to be? Researching the country you are going to.
    • Travel Itinerary - Such as Activities, Speaking Topics, Location Visits and much more.

    We recommend that all trips are organised a minimum of 3 months in advance and that you submit your trip form a minimum of 3 months before an overseas trip and 2 months 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 within 5 working days.

    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 assessments if necessary. We aim to get back to you within 10 working days of your submission to let you know whether it has been approved or needs further work. 

    It is highly likely that a trip form will need to be continually worked on so don't worry if we come back stating that it is in progress. The next step will outline some of things you will need to do to continue planning your trip.

  • Step 5 - Continue Organising Your Trip

    As mentioned above, whether fully approved or provisionally approve/in progress there will be more steps you need to take to get your event organised and delivered. Make sure you take these step as your event may not happen or be of the quality your members expect. Some of the things you need to organise are:

    • Arranging Accomodation
    • Updating a risk assessment
    • Arranging Suitable Insurance
    • And more!

    In October we will be publishing a Trip Organiser Checklist for you to use to help you continue to plan your trips successfully with a range of templates. 

    Below is an A-Z of processes, procedures and support services linked to events that might help you. 

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

A-Z Guide of Trip Support Services, Procedures and Guidance - Coming Soon