Diving Officer , said they had over 120 people wanting to learn to dive with the club and 60 qualified divers wishing to join .
“ As a club with the oldest members aged just 25 , we ’ ve often relied on help from the excellent regional team , but this year we ’ ve luckily been able to develop our in-house instructor team .
“ This , along with the help of Branch + Centre Partnership Scheme and the BSAC eLearning platform , means we ’ re hoping we can qualify more Ocean Divers than ever before !”
Another club with impressive numbers is the University of Portsmouth Sub Aqua Club .
“ This year we have 100 potential new trainees and have seen an increase in demand ,” said club President Elliot Murdock . “ We ’ re looking to facilitate the training
Fresher try dive pool session
still to be released , campaigners have welcomed the turnaround , but stressed that the final bill needed to stand up to its promise to cut sewage discharge and tackle water pollution .
BSAC ’ s Heritage Advisor , Jane Maddocks , said the U-turn on the amendment demonstrated that people power can make a difference . “ Thanks to the End Sewage Pollution campaign and all the groups , organisations and individuals involved , the message that
with a combination of help from regional volunteers and Andark Diving , our local BSAC Training Centre .”
Every year , BSAC ’ s university clubs receive support to help them recruit new members over the freshers ’ season . This year , in anticipation of training bottlenecks with instructors graduating and other challenges , the support from BSAC headquarters has gone that bit further .
There has also been additional practical support on offer to help clubs with each stage of Ocean Diver delivery , with input from BSAC training centres , regional teams , and other volunteer instructors .
BSAC has a wealth of information and new member recruitment support for university clubs online at bsac . com / uniclubsupport
we must protect our precious marine environment appears to have been heard .
“ We now have a significant opportunity to stop the damage and devastation caused by raw sewage and restore our waterways and marine habitats to health . We must continue to monitor the situation closely . This looks like a promising start , but we have a long way to go .”
Dive with
Sophie
Winter presents a fine opportunity for snorkel training , says Diver Training Group lead Sophie Rennie
I DON ’ T KNOW ABOUT YOU , BUT THE thought of throwing the snorkel , fins and mask in a bag and driving to the nearest rocky cove to go and snorkel about in the shallows is something I ’ d love to do right now – except it ’ s is blowing a gale here in Dartmouth and the sea is a murky brown , thanks to all the recent rain .
I can ’ t do anything about the weather conditions , but I can tell you that the snorkelling course materials have all been updated . We now have a fully functional Snorkel Instructor Trainer course for all of you out there who are Snorkel Instructors , but not on the Instructor Training Scheme circuit as divers .
If you are already a Diving Instructor Trainer , you only need to do a short crossover course ; otherwise the complete Snorkel Instructor Trainer package beckons . Future developments include eLearning , so that courses can be carried out in all four corners of the world without the requirement to fly an Instructor Trainer over at vast cost . Snorkel Dive Manager , Snorkel Rescue Diver , Advanced Snorkel Diver and Snorkel Rescue Specialist are now ready for you too .
Don ’ t forget about the popular Dolphin Snorkeller , which is great for kids . It will get them into the water and show them an incredible new world ; hopefully they will have some fun and at same time learn a bit about the dolphin species covered in the course .
7