National Club of the Year 2017 and the RSGB Strategy
This year the RSGB has decided to change the theme of the National Club of the Year competition to fit more closely with its strategic goals. The theme of “Mentoring and Retention” sits right at the heart of the Society’s main goal of having “an active and thriving amateur radio community” and sends a two-fold challenge to us all:
• How can we ensure that new licensees don’t get discouraged and drift away?
• How do we provide the right environment and opportunities for radio amateurs to keep trying new things, developing their skills and knowledge whilst participating actively in all that our diverse hobby has to offer?
Growth, Participation and Diversity within the hobby are just three of the eight strategic priorities we recognised as being important to ensure that the amateur radio community continues to thrive in the future. By putting these at the centre of our club competition we know that we will shine a light on the great work that clubs are doing to answer the challenges posed above.
Last year the RSGB President invited clubs to share with him their ideas for organising clubs and events in different ways in order to excite and develop enthusiasm for amateur radio. He also visited large numbers of clubs across the country and this research culminated in a presentation at the RSGB Convention, followed by a very lively discussion! It demonstrated that there are a wide range of traditional and non-traditional club setups, activities and ideas that are being used to mentor and encourage radio amateurs, far wider than perhaps any of us could have imagined. We will be bringing some of those ideas together on our website in the coming weeks to inspire others, spark discussion and create a resource of tried-and-tested activities that every club can use.
“shine a light on the great work that clubs are doing”
Has your club participated in the research? Are you thinking of entering the Club of the Year competition? We all should have a desire and a responsibility to ensure the continued success of amateur radio and one aspect of that is to share what we do as individuals, or as clubs, and also to be willing to step out of our comfort zone and try new ideas.
How does your club help to motivate people in their first years of being licensed or as they achieve the next licence level? What activities do you offer to help them try out different areas of amateur radio and to develop their knowledge and skills? How do you encourage sustained practical enjoyment of amateur radio? These are the areas that the judges will be looking at in the competition but they are important questions for your club – and for amateur radio – whether you enter Club of the Year or not.
You can read more about the competition at www.rsgb.org/coty but the question at the heart of it remains a challenge for all of us – what are we doing to help encourage new radio amateurs and how are we developing our own skills as well as enabling others to do the same?
Steve Thomas, M1ACB
RSGB General Manager
Category: RSGB Notices, RSGB Strategy 2022
