June 2022

Your hard work and involvement is very much appreciated! Coinciding with Volunteers Week, we are delighted to have launched the RYA Scotland Volunteer Framework and a series of face-to-face workshops – more about that below.

Here’s a quick round-up of some of the things going on within RYA Scotland over the coming months!

Launch of the Volunteer Development Framework

This new framework was launched at the beginning of June and supported to by three workshops – one in each of the regions (East, West & North). 

The main emphasis of the discussions so far has been about reviewing where you are at with the volunteers at your organisations and looking at how the vision and culture within your organisation can affect both the recruitment and retention of volunteers. But this is just the start of the conversation – and what a great one it has been! We will continue to have it at the forefront of all the discussions we have with clubs, centres and organisations as well as it being a focal point at our ‘End of Season’ gatherings and our Affiliated Club & Organisation Conference in early 2023 (more details to follow on both). 

It has been great to be back hosting discussions between organisations, meeting with friends old and new and starting face-to-face conversations on volunteering.

If you would like to know a little bit more then please check out the Volunteer Development Framework on our website or get in touch with one of the team. 

New Member of Staff – Regional Development Officer (North)

We are delighted to confirm that a new member of staff will start at the end of June 2022 as the Regional Development Officer for the North of Scotland. Brian Pahlmann will join us from the sport of Athletics and we are keen to get him out and about to meet with clubs, centres and organisations from mid-July onwards. If you have any events or opportunities that would be good for him to see or if you would like to set up an in-person or online introductory meeting with him then please get in touch by emailing the team.

OnBoard Introductory Festivals & Regional Activity Officers

For 2022, we have introduced two new elements to support the development of new and current junior sailors within our organisations.

The first is the OnBoard Introductory Festivals taking place in each of the 3 regions on 27th or 28th August. These ‘kit-bag’ type events will look to offer a fun environment for individuals who are new to sailing to take part in some coaching and very basic racing. It is an opportunity for them to either travel away from their place of initial learning or a way to access our sport and be signposted to where they can continue. More details will follow on the venues shortly.

The second is the introduction of 3 Regional Activity Co-ordinators who will provide additional support to small number of clubs and centres, within one of the 3 regions. Their role is to help the organisations deliver fun and quality activity, increase the retention of junior participants, support the planning of future activity at the club/centre and support the sailor’s journey and encourage them to get afloat at the club/centre as well as others within the region. We have selected several organisations that have junior sections to work with this summer and we will be in touch soon with them. Please note, we are hoping this will become an annual support to organisations and so there will be future opportunities for support. 

Census

It is time for the Annual Health Check on your membership that is known as the RYA Club Census. Once again, we will be looking for a breakdown of your membership information and emails will be sent directly to the club via last year’s responder and the main contact that we hold on the RYA system. Your Regional Development Officer will also be copied into the email and are there as a support should you need them. 

Census emails should be out by the 3rd week in June and the closing date for responses will be no later than Sunday 13th August 2022. So we’d advise that you take the next couple of weeks to look at your membership to get ready to complete your club census!

Free Youth Keelboating Opportunity – 3rd & 4th September 2022

As you will be aware, we have been working with the British Keelboat League and A-Plan Insurance to offer a free place at the British Keelboat League Finals in September. 

Interested teams will take part in a Scottish Training and Keelboat Finals weekend on the 3rd and 4th of September, with teams consisting of 4 or 5 sailors aged from 16 - 25 (inclusive) with a maximum of three male sailors.

• The team should be able to sail a triangular course and handle a standard spinnaker as a minimum capability.
• Team members should be members of the RYA, either as an individual or under a family membership.
• The winning team must be available to attend the British Keelboat League Championship Finals at Royal Southern YC in Southampton, 30 September to 1 October 2022.

For more information, please feel free to phone James Allan (CEO at RYA Scotland) on 07824 887247 or Kevin Aitken (RYA Scotland Board Member) on 07778 788855 for a chat.

Instructor Course Information

A quick reminder that there are lots of courses and training available this year for instructors and coaches so why not check out the links to find out more to start your journey -

Instructor Courses:

Information and dates of courses can be found here.

Senior Instructor Courses:

Booking for the next Senior Instructor Courses is now open -

New for this year is a combined support weekend for these on the 25th/26th June which will be free to people booked on to either of the courses. Please share ASAP to anyone in your teams that may be interested.

Contact the RYA Scotland Coaching Team for any more information or support.

Discover Sailing

This year, Discover Sailing is open throughout the summer and so there is still time to organise an Open Day linked into this national initiative. A number of successful events took place during May allowing new people to get involved in boating from across Scotland and it would be great to see some more over the summer. If you would like further information or to register your event then please see here.

Finally, with summer fast approaching we are looking to get out and about more and indeed have been visiting, or plan to visit, several organisations across Scotland over the coming weeks. If you would like us to pop along to your club/centre/organisation or have any questions, then please drop us an email! We hope you to catch up with you all soon!

Take care and stay safe!

The Development Team, aka Georgia, Laura, Kristy & Liza

10/05/2022