The BCA’s Youth and Development team have announced the availability of two grants of £500 to help groups of young cavers attend the 19th International Congress of Speleology being held this year in Savoie Mont Blanc, France.

Applications are invited from groups of three or more young cavers who meet the following criteria: the groups must be members of BCA (including the individual participants) and at least three members of the group must be aged 24 or younger and/or in full time education.

For full details of the grant criteria and the application form, please visit the BCA website. Applications must be made by midnight on 22nd April 2022, and a decision will made by 29th April 2022.

In addition, the European Speleological Federation (FSE) are offering grants to young cavers and further details can also be found on the BCA website. The deadline for applications is 27th March 2022.

Full details of the 18th International Congress of Speleology can be found on their website. Many caves in the area will be pre-rigged as part of the congress and a wide variety of caving excursions are on offer in addition to the conference programme.

The deadline for the early booking fee for a reduced full access ticket available from the ICS’s website has been extended to 27th March 2022.