We would like to thank our volunteers at RYA Scotland as well as the countless volunteers out in the boating community. Our sport does not exist and certainly cannot thrive without you. Your passion, expertise, patience, time and effort keep us all afloat.
“Volunteers don’t get paid, not because they’re worthless, but because they’re priceless.” Sherry Anderson
Volunteers’ Week
Volunteers’ Week 2023 runs from the 1-7th June each year and RYA Scotland will join sportscotland and the many charities and voluntary run organisations to recognise the contribution volunteers make. This year’s theme is ‘Celebrate and Inspire’ and we hope to celebrate all the volunteers who make our sport happen in Scotland and encourage others to get involved in volunteering in whatever way works for them through the RYA Scotland Impact Awards over the week.
If you would like to help celebrate the volunteers in your sport you can make use of the Volunteers’ Week toolkit on our website, that includes social templates and all the relevant social accounts and hashtags
RYA Scotland is supporting Volunteers Week and launched the Volunteer Development Framework for organisations last June. The framework helps review and strengthen practices with regards to volunteering and in doing so create a sustainable volunteer culture for the future. Take a moment and see if it can help your club.
RYAS Scotland is always taking nominations for our Impact Awards. You can visit the RYAS YouTube Channel to see some of our recipients.
Nominations are now being accepted for the RYA Club of the Year Awards 2024 in the following categories:
- Community Club of the Year
- Green Club of the Year
- Active Club of the Year
- Young Persons’ Club of the Year
The Overall Club of the Year will be selected from the four category winners. Take just a few minutes and nominate an exceptional club today.
Our Development Team have had a busy month visiting clubs hosting Discover Sailing events. The opportunities to get people out on the water have been ample and the team have enjoyed being included in events at Toward Seasports, Royal Gourock Yacht Club, Royal Forth Yacht Club, and Castle Semple Sailing Club. It was great to get out and visit the clubs and promote the great opportunities available for people to learn to sail, make friends and become new members for the clubs.
We also joined Monklands Sailing Club who were hosting one of the Challenger TT Regattas on the weekend of the 13th and 14th May. Both days saw glorious weather, and with light winds on the Saturday and stronger winds on the Sunday it drew on a variety of skills from the fleet to navigate the courses. There were also lots of opportunities for discussion on club development. Some of the hot topics for all the clubs we visited in May included funding, training, facility planning, and environmental issues.
New CEO, Finlo Cottier and RYAS Board Chair, Brian Wilson made a short visit to RYA HQ in Hamble last month. High on the agenda was how the two organisations collectively support Safeguarding in our sport and the continuation of The Green Blue initiative promoting marine environmental protection. There are many points of intersection between RYA and RYA Scotland, not least in our Performance pathways where we want to ensure that Scotland’s top young sailors can progress into British Youth Sailing. The foundation of many of these activities is found at Club level and the visit to RYA HQ also highlighted the excellent work being done throughout Scotland under the RYA banner by clubs, coaches and training centres.
Speaking of The Green Blue: join our sustainable boating community and take the Green Blue Pledge! The Boating Pledge allows you to show your commitment to making your boating more environmentally sustainable by pledging to respect, protect, and enjoy our inland and marine waters. Clubs and centres can also request a Pledge Promotional Toolkit to use in your own media communication and promote the Pledge to members and customers.
The 05 – 09 June is also The Green Blue’s Boating Wildlife Aware Week, a chance for boat and water users to learn more about best practice when experiencing wildlife out on the water and how to best protect it.
Oh, and it’s World Environment Day on Monday 5 June 2023, the National Lottery is inviting everyone in the sporting system to make a simple and achievable #PlanetaryPromise on social media and showcase what the sporting world is doing for a more sustainable future.
Over the last decade £2.2billion of National Lottery funding has supported environmental good causes providing a much-needed and vital injection for our communities in the fight against climate change. Share on social media using the hashtags #PlanetaryPromise and #WorldEnvironmentDay tagging National Lottery accounts Twitter: @LottoGoodCauses, Instagram: @nationallotterygoodcauses, Facebook: @LotteryGoodCauses and Tik Tok: @nationalotterygoodcauses. National Lottery information & the toolkit
June is LGBTQIA+ Pride Month. RYA Scotland believe that our sport should be open to all, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity. We want to reiterate our commitment as an ally to the LGBTQIA+ community and make it clear that all are invited and welcome in our sport. RYA have shared stories of LGBTQIA+ members which we encourage you to read. Show your own support with the RYA Pride Pennant from the RYA online shop.
The June RYAS Connect Call for clubs and centres will be 7PM Wednesday the 7th of June. We will discuss funding, which is possibly the most common topic when the Development Team speaks to clubs. There will be plenty of time to take your questions and for clubs to share their experiences, but we will start with a quick introduction to Theory of Change, a tool that can be used in preparing funding applications.
Call attendees can possibly use this learning when applying for these grants:
- National Lottery Awards for All Scotland (Please ensure your RDO is aware of any application for this funding as they will likely be consulted during the review process.)
- Magic Little Grants
- Aldi Scottish Sport Fund, currently open for the Northeast, Highlands and Islands.
- Tesco Community Grants
The 2023 Onboard Introductory Festivals are confirmed.
- East, Monikie Country Park, 26 August
- North, Lochcarron Sailing Club, 2 September
- West, James Hamilton Heritage Park 3 September
These events aim to gather sailors for first time experiences or their first event away from their home club. The focus is on creating a fun atmosphere and bringing sailors together from across their region. Mark your calendars and watch for further details coming soon.
Please do not hesitate to make contact if you have questions or areas where we might be able to support. Send us a message at Development@RYAScotland.org.uk.
All the best from The Development Team – Laura, Brian & Liza
05/06/2023