Robbie's Blog March 2020

It’s certainly been a busy few weeks in the East Region, with Club Development Forums, The RYA East Instructor Training Day, the Dinghy Show, plans for the Regional Senior Instructor course and much more happening as we gear up towards the 2020 season. The team and I have been on the road meeting with lots of clubs and it was also good to see so many club representatives at the RYA Dinghy Show at Alexandra Palace at the start of the month – it’s always a useful opportunity to catch up with clubs and look to the season ahead, and we’re excited about the move to Farnborough and evolution of the Show in the future.

RYA East Instructor Training Day

Around 120 people joined us at the Instructor Training Day 2020 at the Royal Hospital School on Sunday 08 March, taking part in sessions both on land and on the water. This year, we incorporated some new activities, including an introduction to yachting and motor cruising, using some fantastic boats on the River Orwell and, despite the weather throwing everything at us, it was a good day of skills and personal development for the East Region’s Instructors. We also celebrated International Women’s Day at the event and were fortunate to hear many inspiring stories from the East Region’s female instructors.

Club Development Forums

We’ve just finished a round of Club Development Forums across the Region, which has seen sessions take place on volunteering and membership retention in Norfolk, Suffolk & Essex. In total these have reached around 60 people from 25 clubs, and have provided an opportunity for clubs to discuss ideas and experiences with other clubs from the region.

Discover Sailing

We’re pleased that a good number of clubs in the East Region have signed up to Discover Sailing 2020. By now you are hopefully aware that ‘Discover Sailing’ is the new name for both Push the Boat Out and Try Sailing. Sign-up for events taking place before 30 June has now closed, but you can sign up here for events taking place between 30 June and 30 September (sign-up closes on 27 April). A Discover Sailing Webinar recently took place, which covers how to promote your event and what your Regional Communicator can do to help, and you can find out more here. If you’d like help from the East Region Communicator, you can contact Holly on holly.hancock@rya.org.uk or phone 07926 396418.

Futures Webinars

Don’t forget that the Futures series of webinars are available via the RYA website – these provide an insight and thought-provoking view into areas affecting clubs and class associations. You can catch up with them here.

Volunteer Awards

We know that so much club activity in the East Region is down to the hard work of volunteers, but one thing that we do not always do is thank our volunteers. So, if your Club has amazing volunteers, why not put them forward for the RYA Volunteer Awards this year? Nominations close on 03 April -you can find out more here.

New funding resources

It’s been great to hear about the many funding projects taking place in the East at the moment, and in case you missed them, the RYA have recently produced some new funding resources, including guides on applying for Sport England Small Grants and the Community Asset Fund. You can find these here. Don’t forget that, as the East Funding Lead, Holly is also happy to help with applications - contact holly.hancock@rya.org.uk

OnBoard Update

Jen has also been on the road meeting with many of the East Region OnBoard Clubs and Centres and getting in touch about plans for the year, the resources available through OnBoard, and planning festivals. If you’d like to find out more about becoming OnBoard, please get in touch with Jen – jen.miller@rya.org.uk or phone 07874 039052.

Hope to see you soon,

Robbie