Greetings from the new Minister of Waivers,
I am honored to be the kingdom’s new Minister of Waivers. I wish to thank my predecessor, Lady Signy Hauksdottir, for her over seven years of service in this office. Maintaining an accurate and full set of waivers is very important for protecting the Society as an organization, and its volunteer officers, from legal liability should someone be injured at an SCA event. Waivers for adults need to be kept on file for seven years (2012 to present, at this writing), while waivers for minors are kept for twenty years from the date of signature (2000 to present, at this writing). Waivers should be completed at every event or arts martial practice. Paid members with a blue membership card do not need to sign a waiver at practice or event, though they may be asked to complete a gate form or roster waiver for tracking attendance. Everyone attending an event with horses present must sign the equestrian waiver, or signed for if a minor.
Rather than having each local group maintain an archive of waivers, the kingdom is creating a central archive that will make it easier to provide copies of waivers to Society, should they be needed. Waivers should be sent to the Minister of Waivers within 30 days of the event. This includes site waivers, minor waivers, martial activity waivers, and equestrian waivers. They can be scanned and emailed to waivers@northshield.org, or mailed to me via the address on my kingdom profile (search for Minister of Waiver under the Seneschal deputies). Waivers from practices can be sent quarterly.
“Media waivers,” or more accurately, media releases for publication of creative works or permission to use photographs or videos of oneself, do not go the Minister of Waivers. Media releases for newsletters, websites, and social media platforms fall under the chronicler or webminister’s offices. Contact the Kingdom Chronicler to determine if the kingdom or local officers should store those releases.
Now, during this down time for the Society, is a great opportunity to get caught up on paper work. We’re still in the process of transferring the files to me. I’ll follow up with the groups once I learn which, if any, waivers are missing. In the meanwhile, if you had any events or practices between January 1, 2020, and mid-March, when the safer-athome rules went into effect, please forward a copy of those waivers.
Resources:
Adult Waivers, Roster Waivers, Youth Waivers, Youth Medical Releases, Family Waivers, Equestrian Waivers can be found at https://www.sca.org/resources/documentlibrary/
Kingdom Gate Waivers are found at http://northshield.org/Resources/PDF/GateForm.pdf
In service,
Arnbjørn