Hi everyone,
Looking forward to 2024
I hope this edition of my blog arrives following an enjoyable time over the festive break. I can’t believe it’s 2024 already, but I know many of you will already be finalising plans for the coming summer season. Thanks to those that have shared your plans for the months ahead, it’s reassuring to hear that many of your organisations are looking to further develop activities that have proven successful in recent years and continue to strive to develop your offer for your participants. It’s clear that there is real demand for a variety of activities, whether less formal social sailing, new racing formats or the introduction of paddlesports (to name a few), your work will provide enjoyment for thousands of people this year.
Thinking ahead to membership renewals
I know many of you are in the process of subscription renewals and I would really like to encourage as many of you as possible to think about how you manage this, to ensure as many people renew as possible. We know newer members are more likely to drop out, especially with many struggling with the cost of living, and on-water activity seeming like a distant memory, so please do consider targeted communications and putting in place helpful tactics to make it easier for people to renew. Some suggestions might include: tailored emails promoting relevant club benefits to the right target audience, e.g. training for newer sailors, social events aimed those that are no longer active on the water; offering a variety of payment options, e.g. bank transfer, staged payments; and selling the benefits of your particular organisation (don’t assume everyone knows what they are!).
RYA Connected Forums
I’d like to promote our forthcoming in-person Connected forums – these sessions provide an opportunity for clubs to come together in a more local setting, enabling the potential to network and have discussions around important matters such as volunteering and membership activities. This will be an interactive evening, with content that will support your organisation in preparing for the future. We will look at how you can build an active volunteer network and understand how best to meet the needs of your current and future membership and participants.
These FREE forums take place across January and February and will be coming to a club near you. All Forums take place 18:00-21:15 (18:00-19:00 for optional networking). The venues and dates include:
30 January 2024 – Benfleet Yacht Club (Essex)
31 January 2024 – Blackwater Sailing Club (Essex)
06 February 2024 – Royal Harwich Yacht Club (Suffolk)
08 February 2024 – Grafham Water Centre (Cambridgeshire)
13 February 2024 – Stanborough Park Activity Centre (Hertfordshire)
15 February 2024 – Norfolk Broads Yacht Club (Norfolk)
Additionally, there are several national online forums; taking place weekly, these cover a wide variety of topics. You can check out the full list and book here
Development Opportunities for Instructors
Finally, I would like to promote some development opportunities for instructors, for further information please contact jen.miller@rya.org.uk
- Our Dinghy Senior Instructor course taking place in the Spring. This is for experienced Dinghy Instructors who hold the pre-requisites and wish to train as Senior Instructors, enabling them to manage on-water activity at RYA Training Centres.
- For those instructors that would like to learn more about the role and how to prepare for a course, please consider attending one of our SI prep-days. These are informal events (no assessment) and have received great feedback from those attending previously.
- For those centres running RYA OnBoard activities, we can offer a day of InstructorDevelopment at your venue. These events are designed to help instructors deliver really engaging sessions to junior participants.
- Should you have a particular training need at your organisation, please do get in touch.
Keep in touch
Don’t forget to tag us in your photographs and activities via the RYA East social media pages (Twitter (X), Facebook and Instagram) We’d also love to hear your stories via our Media Report form which asks for just a few key details!
I wish you all well for the coming months, Happy New Year!
Robbie
