ASSOCIATION OF RUNNING CLUBS

INFORMATION


 

What is the Association of Running Clubs (ARC) ?

ARC is a not for profit company. It is registered at Companies House (Company No 6040264). It is a company limited by guarantee and is entirely owned by its members. (See also a brief history).
 

Who are the Committee Members ?  The current  Committee of the Association are Rod Baron, Ian Champion, Steve Crane, Richard Dajda, Selina Da Silva, Dick Meredith, John Turner, Martin Monaghan, Debby Hewison, Gordon Robbins, Ian Vaughan-Arbuckle and Michael White. All officers and 80% of committee members are appointed by the members of ARC at the AGM.
 

Who may affiliate to ARC ? ARC is an affiliating body for clubs and associations whose principal activity is road and/or cross country and/or fell and/or trail running and/or walking (i.e. all the non stadia disciplines). Clubs whose principal activity is track and field athletics can affiliate to ARC if they cater for road running activities.

What benefits are provided by ARC to its members ? ARC have a comprehensive civil liability policy with sports insurance specialist brokers Perkins Slade Ltd. The cover is similar to that provided to the other 280 sports governing bodies for which Perkins Slade act as brokers.  (See summary of insurance cover)

The policy covers races organised by affiliated clubs. These races require a permit which will be issued by ARC following receipt of a satisfactory
 Permit Application Form. This can be downloaded from the ARC website.

As part of this process Race Organisers must confirm that their race will comply with certain standards.

ARC will also provide advice and assistance to its members and undertake other tasks as required by its membership.

Does ARC charge unattached levies on races organised by ARC members?  

ARC supports the continuation of an unattached levy – clubs stage the majority of road races in this country and ARC believes it is right that non club runners should contribute to the club structure that underpins this activity. ARC acts in the interests of clubs and therefore requires its permitted races to charge a £2 Unattached levy on all race entrants who are not members of either ARC or UK Athletics affiliated clubs. Until quite recently, the clubs, who organise the majority of races, did all the work and yet paid over tens of thousands of pounds to Governing bodies in return for virtually nothing except insurance.  With ARC permits 75% of  the unattached levies is retained by the organising club and only the 25% balance needs to be paid to ARC. For many clubs the retained levy money will exceed the cost of their affiliation to ARC.

Are members of ARC affiliated clubs required to pay unattached levies in races organised under UKAthletics permits ?

In theory yes because only runners registered with England Athletics are exempt from the levy – so even if you belong to an EA affiliated club you are liable to pay the levy if you are not an EA registered runner. However, in practice, the whole thing depends on individual race organisers and many of them will be unwilling to perform the administrative chore of administering by registration numbers. And of course, the efficiency of the registration scheme so far poses questions about the whole arrangement. As more races take out ARC permits the importance of the question will recede.  

What about young people and vulnerable adults ? The very wide insurance cover negotiated by ARC includes cover for clubs, their managers and governors against legal liability claims following alleged abuse of young people and vulnerable adults. However this cover will not protect any club or person who has failed to comply with  the provisions of the ARC Protection Policy for Young and Vulnerable People. This policy is displayed on the ARC website under Welfare.

ARC application Forms