CLUBFOCUS
Ben Moss, last year’ s Trainee of the Year, and his dad Chris
Ocean Diver coordinator Jane Whittington and OWI Sarah Kimmis
Divers and National Instructors) alongside complete beginners. Everyone helps each other. We have a strong extended community; partners, snorkellers and friends support training, socials and shore cover. We help other clubs and are helped by them. Many of our members hold( at least) dual memberships. Our friends include Chester SAC, Trafford SAC, Northern Union, Wigan & St Helens, East Cheshire SAC. And probably more that we’ ve missed.
How do you organise potential new members?
Our Membership Secretary, Kate White, gets people through the door via socials and the website. Then our Try Dive and Ocean Diver coordinator, Jane Whittington, takes over and organises the sessions. Training is structured but flexible. We aim to run two intakes a year and get people through Ocean Diver within a season. We keep things moving; trainees work with different instructors, building confidence. Then we get them into the sea. That’ s where it really starts. New divers need enthusiasm, patience, drysuits, and time. But it’ s worth it. Seeing people go from nervous first breaths to proper UK dives is what keeps the club alive. It takes commitment from trainees and a lot of support from experienced members, but seeing new divers thrive makes it worthwhile.
How do you develop that love of UK diving?
To foster interest in club diving this year, we held a‘ Meet the Boat Day’ organised by Boats Officer Stephen Simpson. It was the trainees’ first time out on Kraken. The weather actually behaved. We had sunshine and flat seas. Everyone had a go at driving and there were plenty of grins, which helps seal the deal.
Is the demographic changing?
There are a lot of enquiries from children. We’ re happy to take them, but we’ re upfront: UK diving is cold, dark, and the kit is heavy. Many come to us juggling multiple hobbies, so time is tight. We’ re often competing with everything else teenagers have going on. But when it clicks, it really clicks. Our Discovery Divers have been a real success, and hopefully we’ re planting a long-term love of UK diving.
Our youngest are 10 and 11, and they’ ve already survived their first Capernwray dives with big smiles. One of the biggest challenges is kit that actually fits, so we’ re very grateful that Capernwray supplies such good drysuits.
We also do a lot of Diving for All training, adapting sessions to suit different needs and learning styles. It’ s something our instructors have really developed, and it’ s made the club stronger for it.
Discovery Diver Alice Hazlehurst, 11
Sounds like you have an experienced training team.
We’ re very lucky with our instructor base. Sophie and Jamie Heptonstall are active National Instructors, and Colin Mills recently clocked up 40 years as a BSAC Advanced Instructor. In total, we’ ve got three Advanced Instructors, three more in the pipeline, 11 OWIs, plus snorkel and theory instructors. We’ re keen to grow our own instructors. Sports Divers and Dive Leaders are encouraged to try the Instructor Foundation Course‘ just to see what it’ s like’, which usually ends with them helping out on Try Dives and quietly getting hooked.
Ocean Diver trainee Bobby Rose has a go at driving Kraken under the watchful eye of Cox Assessor, Crawford Currie
Cox Wendy Northway on Kraken
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