Three very different branches have turned around their fortunes in the past few years . How did they do that ?
BSACDIVINGCONFERENCE2024
Thriving clubs share their successes
Three very different branches have turned around their fortunes in the past few years . How did they do that ?
Last up before coffee , three clubs shared their past and present experiences , extracting some take away messages to help the rest of us thrive as they have done . Jim Burke of Aberdeen SAC looked back to 2019 , when the club had dwindled to 19 members with no Training Officer in post and less than £ 1,000 in the bank . Motivating the team to write a strategy focusing on improving culture and diversity , and them implementing it , led to a more welcoming atmosphere .
Now there are 120 members , a rebuilt training offer delivered by 23 instructors , and plenty of money in the bank . The new generation of planners and organisers has set up a system of training in winter , from one October intake , and more and more interesting diving in summer , supported by some back-office improvements . The club , which won the Heinke Trophy in 2023 , has more boats , more compressors , more kit and all for the same annual membership fee .
Sarah Kingston from Dublin University SAC outlined how one annual influx of 30 + trainee Ocean Divers at once is managed by the team , alongside training requests from
members at all other levels . It comes down to forward planning . A schedule built around the university timetable is set well in advance . Communicating it , alongside expected fee , trip and kit expenditure , clearly and well ahead of time helps everyone to commit . All club members are asked to help with the training effort ; poolside , in the water and behind the scenes . An annual open-water training weekend involving 70 people and getting 300 dives done gets most trainees through Ocean Diver and has
L to R : Sarah Kingston , Jim Burke , Rebecca Martin become a much-anticipated social event for all club members .
Rebecca Martin from Bedford Scuba Divers explained how they turned a 25 per cent Ocean Diver retention rate and zero income from try dives into 100 per cent retention and £ 1,000 a year income . Getting noticed was the start , taking advantage of the BSAC offer to create a new website at an affordable price . Then social media and Google reviews were used to build the club ’ s online presence .
Once enquiries started to come in , responding promptly and consistently , using pre-prepared materials was prioritised . Well-run try dives , and invitations to qualified divers to visit on club night sealed the deal , alongside plenty of dive spaces available to new members on upcoming trips . Slow and steady wins the race , and now that the club has plenty of activities to offer both new members and existing divers , retention is no longer a problem .
All three clubs have made it attractive and fun to join , easy to stay , and they welcome contributions from all their members . It ’ s as simple as that .
Revisiting the Mona ’ s Queen III
Michelle Haywood , newly qualified National Instructor and recipient of three major awards at the conference , delivered a thoughtful presentation on the survey of an historical wreck off the Isle of Man .
Mona ’ s Queen was sunk during Operation Dynamo on 29 May 1940 , having already transferred 1,420 troops ( possibly a great many more ) under fire from the German shore battery . Ordered back to Dunkirk with water supplies for the troops , a sea mine detonated midships , instantly destroying the engine room and sinking the ship
Summoning a wealth of archival material , Michelle evoked the history of the ship and the lives of its lost crew , all very much a part of the Isle of Man community . She has written a remarkably detailed book on the subject , Revisiting the Mona ’ s Queen III , which was reviewed in the June 2024 issue of SCUBA .
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