RRWP Discussion Paper

Proposal for Membership Subscription Restructuring

Current Situation

 There are currently approximately 23,000 registered ARA members. The following table shows the number by category, together with the annual subscription rate and total payment to the ARA. This table does not include indoor rowing, life members and patrons, since their numbers are negligible.   Their current subscription rates and total amount payable to the ARA  

Category	Number of members*	Annual subscription rate	Total payable
J14	2635	Assume 0, though some pay £12	-
J18	5229	20	104,580.00
Non racing	1601	22	35,222.00
Senior	8047	44	354,068.00
Student	5451	27	147,177.00
	22963		£ 641,047.00

 *Based on 2007 figures

The ARA also charges a levy to clubs of £5.50 per club member. The income from this is approx £180,000 p.a., equivalent to about 33,000 memberships. However a significant number of people are members of more than one club. If this is 10% then the number of individual declared club members drops to around 30,000. Other estimates suggest that only half the rowers in the country are ARA members indicating potentially 46,000 club members, giving an income of £253,000. 

Adding the actual club levy and the individual membership subscription together gives a total illustrative income of approx £821,000

 Objective of restructuring

The objective of restructuring the membership subscription rates is to enable the number of recreational / non-racing club members to be recorded as members of the ARA in order to give a truer picture of the number of participants in the sport. A secondary objective is for the ARA to have details of all rowers on file, enabling them to produce statistics of number of new joiners / leavers, people switching from non-racing to racing membership and vice versa, and so on. Thirdly, the benefits of ARA membership, such as insurance and training information, will be made available to a wider audience.

The restructured subscription should aim to raise at least the same amount of money as the present arrangements.

Obstacles to change

The majority of non-members are probably unaware or unconvinced of the benefits of ARA membership.   New rowers know little about the ARA and are not motivated to join unless and until they require a racing licence.  The cost therefore needs to be sufficiently low that it will not be a deterrent. The most efficient way to ensure that everyone joins the ARA is to collect their subscriptions via their club rather than direct, by combining it with the current club levy.

Clubs will therefore be faced with paying an increased levy, although they will be able to recoup this by increasing their subscription rates. However, a transition period will be needed to allow them to make the necessary adjustment.

People who belong to more than one club should not have to pay twice. They should therefore be able to nominate their primary club who will declare them to the ARA, while their other club(s) will not need to include them. This will place an additional administrative burden on clubs, who will need different subscription rates for people whose primary club is elsewhere.

Club subscriptions are not necessarily payable on the same date as the current ARA levy. Also, new members may join part of the way through the year and pay a pro-rata subscription.   If the club levy is to be increased to incorporate the individual membership, then clubs must be given sufficient notice of the change, or have a transition period.

Proposal

Let us assume that the amount of money to be raised is £821,000, to match existing revenues,  and that the number of junior, student and senior members will remain roughly the same, with the non-racing category increasing by 8,000 (taking account of losses and people who belong to more than one club).   This will be divided between the members as follows: 

Category	No of members (current)	New subs (includes club levy)	Total payable
J14	2635	0	13,175
J18	5229	25	130,725
Non racing	9,600	20	192,000
Senior	8047	45	362,115
Student	5451	25	136,275
			821,115

The effect of this is that adult membership of the ARA would cost £20 per annum, juniors and students would have free membership, and the racing licence would cost £25 for all age groups except J14 and under, who would continue to be exempt from needing a licence. This is based on the assumption that all current J18 and student members are racing members. 

Clubs would pay £20 per adult member (racing and non-racing), giving a total annual levy of approximately £300,000, compared with the current £180,000. This would involve them in having to raise their subscription rates for adults, though they would have the choice of lowering junior rates or keeping them the same to partly subsidise the adult rate.  Anyone requiring a racing licence would either pay the £25 themselves or through their club, following whatever arrangements are currently in place.   Clubs would, however, be required to submit details of each member (including juniors and students) rather than just giving an overall total. The levy would only be payable by the member’s primary club.

To make up any shortfall, Rowing & Regatta magazine would only be included in Senior and non-racing membership. There are probably many families who receive several copies of the magazine, for example if one or more parents plus their children row. Other categories who wish to receive the magazine would pay, say, £10 p.a.   Non racing members would receive the magazine as one of the benefits of ARA membership, and the content should reflect this wider participation in the sport.

Caroline Turnbull

D2 27/06/08

 

West Midlands Rowing Council Meeting 19th March 2008 Recreational Rowing Report I am pleased to report that arrangements for the ARA 2008 Tour down the Severn are progressing. I attach a flyer and booking form with this report. Further copies can be downloaded from the Upton RC website at http://www.uptonrc.org.uk/events/ara-tour-2008.pdf. I am extremely grateful to Stourport BC, Worcester RC, Cheltenham College, and Gloucester RC for their help in making this happen. Please note there are day tickets available for those who only wish to row on day by day basis rather than book onto the whole tour. The tour was launched at the ARA Tourers Dinner at Leander on 1st March and we already have 25 rowers booked! Tour dates are 29th to 31st August 2008 Recreational rowing has a very good new website at www.recrowing.org.uk. It has been developed by Stephen Wragg from Broxbourne RC. It is worth a visit. AMATEUR ROWING ASSOCIATION RECREATIONAL ROWING WORKING PARTY Held at Henley RC 8th December 2007 at 2 p.m. MINUTES Present: Apologies: John Turnbull (Chairman) Peter Barker (West Midlands) Pip Lewendon (Wessex) David Lush (North West) Roger Mobbs (South East) Peter Moore (Thames) Steven Oxlade (WAGS) Stephen Wragg (Eastern) Caroline Turnbull (Secretary) Peter Cameron (South West) Alan Meegan (ARA) Tristan Netherton (Cornish Pilot Gig Association) Rory Semple (ARA) 1. Membership of WP Stephen Wragg replaces Stefan Roseblade as representative for Eastern Region, as Stef is emigrating to Australia early in 2008. The WP thanked Stef for his contribution and wished him well for the future. JT has contacted the Chairman of the North and East Midlands regions asking for nominations for a recreational representative, but has not yet had replies. PB suggested contacting Hazel Stainforth, who is the North region Veteran Commission representative, as she may be able to suggest a suitable person. Action: JT Actions from the previous meeting Tour publicity The following had submitted excellent articles to Rowing & Regatta Magazine, all of which had been published: SW: Golfe du Morbihan, France CT/JT: FISA Tour in the USA RM: ARA Tour Sarah Chapman had resigned as Editor of R & R. The WP wished to record their thanks to Sarah for an excellent job. She had been very helpful, and had given recreational rowing much better coverage than previously achieved. SW noted that R & R would not pay for professional photographs, which had restricted the choice of photographs available for publication from the French event. German Rowing Federation boats JT and PM had had a visit from Matthias Sieg of the Deutsche Ruderverband (DRV) to finalise arrangements for transferring their touring boats from Ireland to the Thames. TVP/Weyfarers plan to manage the use of the boats, which will be based in Reading and available for other use when not booked by German clubs. A contract is being prepared and a response to proposals currently awaited from the DRV. Recovering the boats from Carrick on Shannon will be paid for by the DRV but a current issue is obtaining exact boat dimensions in order to source a suitable trailer. SO said he was planning to visit Ireland in the near future and could arrange to measure the boats. He felt that a coastal trailer would be appropriate and could possibly borrow one from Christchurch RC. PL said that Southsea RC may also be able to help. Action: JT to provide SO with contact details of club where the boats are located to enable him to visit and measure them (by Tuesday 11th December) It was recognized that there is a growing need for a suitable trailer for touring boats to serve the Thames and possibly a wider area. In addition to the DRV boats which will need transporting to and from hire locations, the various clubs that have bought boats recently do not have access to a good trailer for them. This makes staging events more difficult. Bank Account CT had now opened a bank account in the name of the RRWP with Nat West at their City branch and now had a cheque book and paying in book. The cheque from Pat Sherwin�s estate had expired, so JT had requested the solicitors (Larcome�s) to reissue it. Action: JT to pay in Pat Sherwin�s cheque plus other monies due to the RRWP Safety The applicability of emerging boat buoyancy rules and guidance is subject to ongoing review. Given that older designs did not have buoyancy compartments it was agreed that the safety rules for touring boats should state that when using non-buoyant boats all crew members should carry a buoyancy aid Slipway Survey PM had spoken to Robin Ford of the TTBS but the project was effectively dead. Sport England had pledged �15,000 for some consultants to carry out the survey, but it emerged that the consultants were former employees of Sport England and therefore not eligible. Because of the delay, the budget had expired and the money was no longer available. PB and PM felt that the survey could be done just as effectively by volunteers, and SW believed that the British Canoe Union already had the information. The problem was that the number of slipways on the Thames had declined from 56 to 28 and the Environment Agency were not taking action to rectify the situation. The WP felt that both the EA and British Waterways should be made aware that appropriate safe access to rivers for recreational rowing boats was vital if they wished to promote this type of leisure activity. It was agreed that an approach to the EA should be made via Richard West, the Thames Regional Rowing Council member responsible for liaison with the EA. Actions: SW to seek information on river access from BCU JT to contact Richard West on EA matters. All to provide JT with information on which body manages each stretch of water in their areas. 2008 Events Annual Dinner JT had provisionally booked Leander for Saturday 1st March at a cost of �35 per head. The members agreed to this date and venue. PL commented that people like going to Leander and we were sure to have good attendance. ARA Tour PB gave a comprehensive presentation on his proposal for a tour on the Severn from Stourport to Gloucester between 28-31 August (see attachment). Based on the success of this year�s event he was planning to support similar numbers and suggested that the dinner could be used as a promotional occasion with a number of influential guests. There were a number of issues to resolve, including trailer parking, passage through Gloucester lock and landing in Gloucester, but he felt that these could be overcome. SO offered to assist, as he has contacts in the area. PB also noted that there could be a need for a cancellation policy, due to recent experiences with flooding. The WP recognized this as a manageable risk and approved the proposal in principle. Action: PB to finalise plan and budget, and launch at the Annual Dinner FISA Tours There will be two FISA tours in 2008, one on the River Moselle in Germany in April/May and one in Argentina in October. The closing date for applications for both of these is the end of December 2007. JT circulated a leaflet on the German tour and will send WP members a link to the website for the Argentine tour. Action: JT to circulate web link German tour: http://fisatour2008.rudern.de Argentine tour: http://www.buenosairesrowing.com.ar/ http://www.worldrowing.com/display/modules/events/dspEvent.php?eventid=35058&pageid=48 Other The WP agreed that it was desirable to have an annual calendar of events in each region. In discussion it was proposed that short tours lasting one or two days for smaller numbers of people than the main ARA tour should be possible on the River Medway, Norfolk Broads, River Dee and Lake Windermere, for example. Action: JT, RM and DL to draft proposals for mini-tours Oarsome Extra JT circulated a report from the ARA with an update on grant applications and club accreditation, together with the accreditation criteria. Noted that there are now 8 CCDP funded Recreational rowing centres and 4 specialist (Youth / GP referral) centres - making 12 of the 20 the ARA are targeting to achieve. In addition there are clubs, such as Maidstone, that have purchased equipment from other funding. PL asked if there was any news on the possible application from Ryde RC. JT noted that they were in the list of cpotential clubs for accreditation but did not know the current position. JT said he had hoped that the ARA would work closely with the WP to identify clubs who could meet the criteria for equipment grants and suggested that the WP could be more proactive in making recommendations to the ARA. Action: All members to compile list of potential candidate clubs Strategic Development JT advised that he had discussed the revision of the Whole Sport Plan with Rosemary Napp (ARA National Manger) at the recent Council meeting. This should have been well in hand now but policy changes in the DCMS resulting in the recent resignation of the Chairman of Sport England had put matters in the melting pot. Rosemary said that she would be working on the plan in the New Year and would like to talk to the RRWP about their considerations. The meeting welcomed this and JT proposed that the next meeting be held on the afternoon of the Annual Dinner and he would invite Rosemary to both the meeting and the dinner. Action: JT to invite Rosemary Napp (done, accepted) Current goals remain however the expansion of participation and strengthening overall involvement in rowing. JT circulated an extract from the KPIs, provided by Alan Meegan, to illustrate the aspects that were being used as measures of success. JT said that in preparation for the meeting with Rosemary the group needed to identify the remaining obstacles and areas where support and development initiatives are needed. It was agreed that the ultimate goal was that all clubs should recognize and provide some support for recreational rowing. Clearly some would have a greater focus than others. SW felt that the key issue was persuading clubs to support recreational rowing as he saw, as a newcomer to the sport, that competitive clubs still had very little interest. A particular issue was the need to identify key individuals in each club and provide them with information and support The meeting agreed that more promotion of the concept, benefits and support resources was needed. PB had spoken to several clubs in his region who were interested, and suggested organizing a one-day seminar to explain our vision, show them examples of suitable types of boat and so on. SO and DL thought that clubs in the WAGS and North West regions might also send representatives to such an event. It was agreed that this could be a pilot for further Regional events and should be pursued. Action: PB and JT to discuss proposal with AM and RS A second issue was coaching. JT circulated a letter from Sarah Birch (CDO for Upper Thames) about a scheme to fund part time coaches to run adult learn to row courses on weekdays. RM said that he runs daytime courses at Maidstone, but the new rowers then needed to become self-sufficient. PB agreed that it was important for clubs to develop pathways for people to progress from beginners courses to development groups and then have a choice of competition or recreational rowing. He thought that the UKCC Level 2 Coaching Course was too onerous and geared towards juniors, and what was needed was another course tailored towards delivering the adult Learn to Row programme and giving new rowers the skills to enable them to organize crews and boat safely without having a coach present at all times. Action: PB and CT to discuss with ARA at the coaching conference in January Website JT had spoken to Alistair Groves, who is responsible for the ARA�s website. He has a basic page on recreational rowing as a place marker and is very willing to support publishing information about recreational rowing on the ARA�s site with links to other sites as appropriate. JT noted that some preparatory work had already been done and material existed that we could publish. He proposed a timetable of the end of January to get some new material on the ARA site. The WP agreed that the first step was to put together general information about recreational rowing and how to pursue it together with policy, safety etc. and discuss it with Alistair in January. More information on links to clubs offering recreational rowing, courses, tours etc., can be added progressively once the framework is established. Actions: JT and SW to produce a framework and initial content for ARA website for publication by end January. All to send proposals and material for incorporation AOB PB was keen to develop relationships with other clubs as a way of promoting recreational rowing and giving people a chance to row on different waterways. He had been in contact with Liverpool Victoria with a view to organizing an exchange visit over a weekend. CT said that some Maidstone members had visited Weybridge the previous summer and rowed on the Thames, and she hoped that a return visit could be arranged in 2008, since it had been a success. SW circulated information on Seafair 2008 to be held at Milford Haven between 18-25 June. This includes sailing and rowing boats, but more suitable for coastal and Church boats. www.seafairmilfordhaven.org.uk JT circulated details about the Rallye du Canal du Midi in August 2008, which he felt might be of interest. DL said he had done it and recommended it. http://atppr.free.fr/ Date of next meeting Saturday 1st March 2008, before the Annual Dinner. Venue: Henley Rowing Club. C M Turnbull 9th December 2007