The RYA Midlands Regional Team has a new chair with Judy Lambourne taking the helm and bringing her experience as a cruising sailor and business consultant to the role.
Judy was appointed at the Annual General Meeting for RYA Midlands, at which thanks were given to outgoing chair Steven Tinsley, who held the position for six years. Steven shared an overview of his time in post ahead of the AGM here and continues to support the team as deputy chair.
A member of the Heart of England Offshore Cruising Association (HOEOCA), Judy’s first introduction to sailing was when working in operational management with pub retailing giant Allied, who had a cruising club for staff with four boats based on the south coast.
After re-locating from Wimbledon to Warwickshire in 1995, Judy later developed a second career as a business advisor, subsequently working with Coventry University Enterprises supporting SME companies wanting to grow through international trade and innovation.
As a former commodore of HOEOCA, Judy joined the RYA Midlands Regional Volunteer Team to represent the interests of cruising sailors. Initiatives led by Judy have included rolling out a Skipper Development Programme supporting clubs to develop the skills base needed to continue their activities in the future.
Judy is now looking forward to taking on the role of chair and encouraging others to likewise bring their interests and experience to the Regional Volunteer Team (RVT).
Join the team
She said: “I’d like to increase the visibility of the team, increase the capacity of the team, and increase the representation on the team from different branches of boating and the sport, whether that’s windsurfing or winging, dinghy sailing, offshore racing or canal boating.
“We want to recruit more volunteers to the team, to do what they’re interested in, which could also include people bringing their skill set and knowledge to get involved with a specific area of interest such as inclusion or sustainability. We’re always keen to welcome new members.”
RVT members volunteer alongside RYA employees in the Midlands – led by Regional Development Officer Ben Hodgson – supporting the strategic overview for the region and projects to get more people on the water, more often, by sharing best practice and providing a point of contact for clubs.
As Judy sums up: “If you’ve been involved in running your club and would like to share some of the good things you’ve learned along the way, or if you would like to join the team to share your interests, expertise and ideas to help other clubs, we’d love to hear from you!”
Find out more about our RVT members with our #MeetTheTeam series, as shared on Facebook in the run up to last year’s RYA Midlands Affiliated Clubs Conference. To get in touch or find out more, contact RYA Midlands Chair Judy or Regional Development Officer Ben.
