BOF membership

[redkite]

REd adder said

the last time the Tories were in power FC was on the list for being sold

.

Was at a seminar the other week and FC was given as an example of an agency on the sale list

[madmike]

..on the other hand is rising. I have personal evidence that this might be the case. At the moment BOF and the clubs are not pulling in the same direction - who is to deiced which of those directions is correct is open to debate

Glass houses, stones come to mind Mrs H thought it was still summer

Sorry couldn't resist the opportunity

[Mrs H]

That's a typo not a spelling mistake - it comes from not wearing glasses when I should

[ryeland of doom]

Forestry Commission theft ^H^H^H privatisation is probable. The Scottish Government have already had one go.

Meanwhile one place where we will get stuffed is the ***£&!!!! Olympics. Even sports invited to the great white elephant stall are being cut back, and will the current Westminster government share "Labour's" old East European style mania for medals? As for those of us not invited to the party - looks grim.

Remember, the sport thrived 35 years ago, and I am sure there was not so much money sloshing around then. Cannot see why we cannot do so again - for a start look how technology has changed things. We have evening events held in housing estates with organisation and maps which would have been jaw dropping for a badge event when I started the sport and done with a fraction of the labour.

[RCB]

I'm surprised that many are of the opinion that external funding can fall by the wayside and clubs will do just as well, if not better without it (though I agree that we may not get a choice here).
Do club level orienteers not benefit indirectly from Sport England funding? Perhaps by funding being made available for mapping, coaching courses, event advertisements, etc.
I have worked for a large public body for a few years and I know that public funds have benefitted sport at grass route level considerably – initially it may not have been designated for football or skiing or tennis or even orienteering but thankfully some ‘good accounting’ ensured that it did. I hope this attitude amongst account holders/executive officers continues as our public finances come under increasing strain. The alternative it would seem are potentially some very expensive sports. Good luck to all those who are still applying for grants from public funds and a big thank you to all those employed in the back office for working so hard to get the funding in the first place!

[awk]

surely we can all accept the sport's progress over recent years owes a lot to some extremely hard working people

I'd be interested to know exactly what progress has been stimulated by the professional NGB outside international. That's not to denigrate the work being done, in particular some core admin work, but as far as I can see, the real progress has been pushed through by volunteers, at least in England. I'm more than willing to be corrected - may just be too remote from what goes on now.

Do club level orienteers not benefit indirectly from Sport England funding? Perhaps by funding being made available for mapping, coaching courses, event advertisements, etc. I have worked for a large public body for a few years and I know that public funds have benefited sport at grass route level considerably

I have no doubt that some sports have benefited, but orienteering? Bearing in mind that the costs of things like coaching courses largely need support because they have gone through the roof because of outside agency influence.

So,I'd be interested to see a much more precise identification of the value created to the sport by the professional side of things at the NGB. Some I'm sure is absolutely essential, but look to be convinced about a fair bit of the rest. I do recognise that the international side could take a huge hit - I'm really talking about the domestic side of things.

[SeanC]

Just scanning through this topic - some interesting points. Seems to me that orienteering has a minority of regulars who would call themselves orienteers, and a majority of occasional participants who wouldn't. The membership system isn't set up well for the latter group (complicated, confusing and not needed for this group) meaning they stay adrift as IND's (especially in an economic climate where people are cutting back on their spending). This means they are less likely to become active members and more likely to drift away permanently.

How would this sound?

- Local membership to be free. Once you join as a local member you join forever.
- Local membership to have no benefits - no "local Focus", no discounts at events or shops, just a membership card and number.
- National membership to be cheaper and to be more attractive to regular orienteers - mainly through bigger discounts at big events.
- All participants at orienteering events must be at least local members - but they can do this by registering on the day or before the event - just providing their names, physical address and email address.
- A greater proportion of BOF and club income derived from levies / event fees - moving more to a pay as you go model.

In other words the local membership is like registering for a parkrun, and national membership is targetted at regulars/addicts who go to big events and might be interested in Focus.

I know this will never happen... but would it be better than the current system?

[Billy Whizz]

In Triathlon, you either have to join the BTA or buy a one day BTA licence for insurance purposes. To provide the local or IND casual orienteer with the rationale for the £2 extra on the entry fee, there may be merit in issuing BOF 'Day' membership 'certificates' along with the control descriptions and (hired, one assumes) EMIT brick/SI SI Card. This would also provide some rationale for the extra £2 (corollary: giving BOF member £2 discount) which club members on 'Entries' reluctantly charge people they're so keen to see again. A5 colour certificates could be printed locally and cheaply with event name and date, and a (random?, si/EMIT number?) manuscript serial number.