From the Chairman - Clive Hopkins
Open
letter to All Members.....
I
am writing this in the hope I can instill some consideration and loyality into
the Members of this Club.
Races
Most
of you race somewhere most weeks of the year and whilst running you are directed
around the course by lots of marshals who will probably have been standing there
for several hours.
At the finish there will also be another 8 people recording your finish
times and numbers, add to this computer results, tea ladies, car parking
marshals etc., and I estimate that every race you do takes up most of the day
for, say, on average 40 people.
As
well as this there will have been a small team who have spent a lot of days
planning the race, sorting entries, organising signage, purchasing prizes,
writing Risk Assessments etc.
All
this so that, week after week, you can just travel to a race - compete - and
travel home.
You
will probably be home, had a meal and be sitting watching the TV before the
Organisers have even cleared up after the race.
Have
you ever given this scenario a thought?
Now,
as a Club we are committed to doing our part in organising races so that other
clubs members can also just turn up and run.
Before
the end of this year we are putting on 2 Cross Country League races, plus the
Benfleet 15 in January.
Now,
fortunately, I do have a small team who do the organising of our races but what
I need are the numbers of people who are needed to set up the courses and
marshal on the day.
Barbara
has asked and asked for several weeks now for volunteers for the first of the
races we are hosting.
In that time we only have 18 names (we have 250 members) and this is not
enough.
I expect we will have the same response with the next 2 races too.
Every single year we have to beg people to be a marshal and it is not
fair, and it is not right. This is your Club so be prepared to put something
back in.
Please
think of the 1st part of this letter and do your bit to help us pay back those
people who, for years have given us the opportunity to enjoy our sport.
Please do not drive Barbara mad having to keep pleading for volunteers.
Sign up now and do not leave it to others or to the last minute - Stand up and
be counted - SIGN UP NOW.
Club
Activities
In
the same manner as above we have a nucleus of people who do all the work
necessary to run the Club - the usual Committee Members - Chairman, Secretary,
Treasurer etc., plus Coaches and Coach Helpers.
As
far as running the Club is concerned I think the Committee does a good job but
where we need help is with the Coaches and Helpers.
The
prime requirement is to relieve Barbara of continuously having to look after new
runners, so that she can get back to serious training for herself.One of the
problems Barbara encounters is that she might get a couple of new runners and
takes them out for a few sessions - then a couple more turn up so she ends up
with a mix of different abilities - none of whom are ready to join one of the
established groups.
To
avoid this we are planning to hold, at intervals, a new runners "Try Out
Evening". e.g. if a new person who has not run before, asks if they can
come to the Club, they will be asked to wait for the "Try Out Evening"
which will be held say, 1st Thursday every month.
Ideally
we would like to get someone who we would send on a "Leader in Running
& Walking" 1 day course who could take on the job of organising new
runners groups and control a Helpers Rotation List.
We also need a list of volunteers to take out the new runners after their
initial few weeks.
I
am already a qualified "Leader in Running & Walking" and I am
willing to start off this new way of organising new people, but we still need a
Rota of people to take the runners on until good enough to join an established
group.
This is in the early stages of organisation and will be developed over the next few weeks with a view of implementing after the AGM. So, if you have any good ideas about this subject, let me know, but above all, Please consider offering to help.
regards,
Clive