This event is covered by the SPA Event Terms & Conditions.
The Field Studies Council Have asked us to share their Booking Terms and Conditions with you. They can be found here:
https://www.field-studies-council.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Booking-Terms-Conditions-Updated-November2022.pdf
They also ask us to draw your attention to the following Customer Information:
https://www.field-studies-council.org/our-policies-and-procedures/
Adverse Weather
The SPA has taken out travel insurance to cover members if we have to cancel the spring gathering at short notice due to adverse weather or technical issues resulting in ferry cancellation. This cover is only in place for the dates of the Spring Gathering 2025 i.e. 14th to 16th March 2025. It does not cover members for any other travel delays or circumstances, and so you are encouraged to consider making personal arrangements for travel insurance if you consider it necessary.
If you have any questions about what happens in the event of a ferry disruption, please refer to Calmac’s Help Centre here:
https://www.calmac.co.uk/en-gb/faqs/#/
Information on your passenger rights can be found here:
https://www.calmac.co.uk/en-gb/book/passenger-rights/#/
The FSC has advised the following:
If the ferry is not able to return island guests to the mainland due to unforeseen weather conditions, the island ‘resilience plan’ comes into action. That means a list of 48 addresses is circulated where people can stay. Calmac https://www.calmac.co.uk/article/5953/Passenger-Rights provides financial compensation which covers the price for a B&B night at our centre as follows: price per person per night is £66 + VAT. For single occupancy cost is £86 + VAT per person per night. If the weather might cause an interruption of service, Calmac shares regular updates with their customers. In other words, a cancellation because of unforeseen weather wouldn’t come as surprise and guests have time to decide to depart early. If you would then decide to ignore the warning and to stay and risk, then the compensation policy of Calmac is no longer applicable.
In the case of an unforeseen technical failure, Calmac will organise for another ferry to step in, even if that means two or three hours waiting, but guests will depart the island on the day as planned, the ferry has never been off for an entire day. Even on a stormy day, there are always quieter hours, where they will sail. Visitors of the island strand occasionally, but this is more on the grounds of ignoring warning or wanting to strand. During unforeseen weather events we always assist customers advising in case of an earlier departure to be on the safe side.