CLUBFOCUS
Members Billy Brown, Ralph McBride, David Cunningham, Randal Armstrong in Ulster Museum
Cannons after treatment by Ulster Museum
Who are your members?
Members come from across the social, professional and age spectra. Our youngest and only youth member is 14; on the other hand, we have active divers in their 70s who make the most of their spare time by participating in many club dives and bring their extensive experience with them.
We have three trainee members, 10 Ocean Divers, 22 Sports Divers, 19 Dive Leaders, 13 Advanced Divers and two First Class Divers. The majority( 62) signalled intent to participate in diving during the year ranging from twice weekly to once or twice a year. The rest no longer dive but enjoy being part of the club.
I hear the club is well known in the region as a training branch.
Training is a key aspect of club life. Most members play a role in the training delivered every year. They are more than happy to support by arranging kit, acting as buddies, catering for dive weekends, and assisting with boat or shore cover.
We usually experience a lot of interest in our try dives, which we offer once a week at no cost during the month of October. We often end up with more demand for training than we can cater for. We try to keep to a maximum limit of 10 new Ocean
Diver trainees per year so that instructors can comfortably deliver while continuing to support current members’ progress through their diving grades.
What courses do you deliver?
This year we had four newly qualified Ocean Divers, while 12 members progressed to Sports Diver. We also held a training weekend in August to progress Dive Leader training for four members.
Over the past 12 months we have had members complete Skill Development Courses including: Boat Handling, Diver Coxswain, Oxygen Administration, Compressor Operation, Marine Life
Hook Head Dive Rally, Wexford, Ireland 2024 Ralph McBride, DO, Strangford town with new club car
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Members enjoying a picnic by Audley’ s Castle, Strangford