July 2025 – Strategic priorities update

| June 11, 2025

Focusing the whole Society

RSGB strategy logo

In the strategy presentation at the recent RSGB AGM, our new President, Bob Beebe, GU4YOX announced a set of key high-level objectives for the coming 12 months.

These were:

  • Increase the number of radio amateur examinations taken by 5% over the next 12 months

  • Increase the number of members of our Society by 2% over the next 12 months

  • Continue to advocate for the retention and potential expansion of the existing rights granted to UK radio amateurs

  • Break even financially over the next 24 months

Whilst the Society’s financial accounting period remains unchanged as a calendar year, we will take a baseline for examinations and membership at pre-AGM and look again at the 2026 AGM figures to draw conclusions against our objectives for the year.

How does this relate to what we do?

Everything the Society does over the next 12 months should support these high-level objectives. To aid the tracking and focus of all the committees and Honorary Officers, each Board Director will now take their areas of responsibility and flow the high-level objectives down into specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound objectives for those areas.

Additionally, we will also create similar objectives for each strategic workstream that supports the high-level aim of Growth. These were:

  • Practical outreach

  • Skills and career development

  • Getting started

  • Positive support and encouragement

  • Reimagination

  • Young people audience segment

  • Mature audience segment

Once all the individual objectives are created, we will combine them into a high-level tracker that we will use at each Board meeting to review our progress against the Society’s set of high-level objectives.

Further promoting CW as part of our Growth strategy

Morse key

As part of the RSGB ongoing strategy to take amateur radio to new and diverse audiences, we are seeking to appoint a new volunteer to be an advocate for the use of CW within the amateur radio community.

Whilst the need for a CW test has been removed from the licensing requirements, there is still a strong interest in the mode. At the time of writing, our recent World Morse Day reel has had over 40k views and 87 replies to the question on Facebook alone, with more views and comments on our YouTube channel. This, in itself, shows how much interest there is in CW and the RSGB would like to do all it can to encourage and promote CW within the hobby. This new role will head these activities.

Specific tasks for the new role will include:

  • Owning the RSGB web content related to CW making sure it is appropriate, relevant and up to date

  • Building a team of enthusiastic individuals who can support CW-related activities undertaken by the Society. Together with the team they will:

    • Support attendance at rallies and other external events where practical promotion of CW is appropriate

    • Contribute to the GB2CW broadcasts

    • Support CW proficiency tests

    • Develop additional promotional material and activities that external clubs can use to promote the mode

  • Work with the GB2CW and Morse Proficiency Testing Co-ordinators to ensure that the services are fit for purpose and providing what RSGB members want

  • Develop links with CWOps, FCOC and other special interest groups to support and promote the CW mode

  • Provide an occasional column for RadCom with CW-related content

  • Develop additional CW-related services as appropriate

This role is intended to help take CW to new audiences with an emphasis on learning and development to further the skills of RSGB members.

If you are interested in the CW Champion role or becoming a member of the team we are creating to promote CW, then please get in touch, I would be delighted to hear from you.

Mark Jones, G0MGX

Board Director

strategy@rsgb.org.uk

Category: RSGB Notices, RSGB Strategic Priorities