CLUBFOCUS
Do you do much diving with a purpose ?
Some members have Nautical Archaeology Society or Seasearch training , but our unashamed aim is to train divers and dive for fun . We once re-moored a waterbird island habitat that had come loose in a lake , and we have cleared out golf balls at the water trap on a golf course . One notable expedition was to an isolated rock in the Minch off the north-east corner of the Isle of Skye ; for which the team was awarded the 2007 Duke of Edinburgh Jubilee Trust Award , receiving certificates from Prince Philip at Buckingham Palace . LUEC also won the Heinke trophy in 2005 , recognising the significant contribution our club and members have made to the growth and development of scuba diving .
What type of training is popular ?
Recently we have attracted a fair few PADI divers to the club through an active social media campaign and they want to do crossover training . This is usually refresher and rescue training , alongside drysuit use .
Ocean Diver Training in October 2024
We have run training for every level in the Diver Training Programme in the past year , including Advanced Diver training for three members .
It ’ s great to see members wanting to study for Advanced Diver . Tell us about your instructor team .
Our team of five Open Water Instructors , led by our Training Officer Doug , includes Katherine Burns , Tony Farrant , Roberto Serrano , and Sarah Kirkpatrick . We also have three Assistant Diving Instructors : Dave Devlin , Pete Harris and Kirsty Majithia . And , of course , our Snorkel Instructor , John . We really want to continue to encourage instructor training and increase our instructor base to spread the load .
What has the club achieved in the past year ?
The new skills coming into the club mean that we will have more people able to tow and drive the RIB , which will lead to more dive trips . Our Boat Officer , Diving Officer and main Cox ’ n have supported this with training and practice sessions . We have also managed to get more Ocean Divers qualified than we were doing before COVID and we are getting members moving on up the skills ladder , including into instructor training . Members took an active part in the Leicester 25th Riverside Festival in June 2024 , which we hope might become an annual event after a break since 2009 . We put our club RIB , Vixen , on the river for two days and have a marquee to promote the club and raise funds for charity ( RNLI & Air Ambulance ). The team really pulled together to run the games ( hook a duck and tombola ), hand out leaflets about our great club , and help on the boat rides up and down the river . The boat rides raised £ 600 for club funds , the games proceeds (£ 254 ) were for charity .
How else does the club fund its activities ?
Top tip : to supplement our membership fees with little effort , we signed up to Easyfundraising . The site gives cashback to the club when members shop online . Our Christmas raffle is usually for charity . A lot of instructors give their time and services for free , and we are close to Stoney Cove , which cuts costs for trainees .
And for the next few years ?
We want to increase the number of trips planned and vary the places that we visit . This is one great aspect of having Advanced Diver trainees . For their training , they need to run trips at new ( to them ) dive sites . We all benefit from that . We are also excited to be looking into some more unusual dives abroad : possibly Cuba , Mexico or Turkey . Anyone have any suggestions ? �
Receiving the Jubilee Trust Award from the Duke of Edinburgh , 2007
38