Affiliated Clubs Conference and webinar streams

The first-ever virtual Affiliated Clubs Conference on 21November was very well received nationally, and here in the south-west, wewelcomed 128 people, representing 57 clubs – a very significant increase onnumbers at last year’s physical event in Bristol. Many of those who attendedhad not previously been to an ACC; one reason for this is that the physicalevent only allows for two people from each club, whereas online, there are nolimits.

This excellent turnout also included 224 visits to ourregional stand over the three days, with club committee members participatingin both text and video chats/meetings with SW team members.

HRH The Princess Royal and Sir Ben Ainslie were amongst thekey speakers who shared messages of support and applauded the resilience ofsailing clubs across the UK. Sport England Board Member and Strategist ChrisGrant treated delegates to an inspirational live talk, I can see clearly now,which discussed the opportunities to progress diversity within the sport. Healso shared his practical wisdom on how clubs can make the right decisions andimplement change.

A video that introduces the SW team and discusses indetail what's been going on in the region is still available to view and you can also watch both the ACC itself and all the follow-up webinarstreams by signing up on the website.

The webinar streams include recruiting and managingvolunteers, environmental sustainability, reducing membership churn, engaginglocal communities, delivering a great experience to a wider audience, andpromoting clubs to potential new members.

Whilst we would all prefer to be able to meet up properly,the virtual ACC succeeded in keeping everyone informed and motivated. It also encouragednew committee members to get involved and the subsequent webinar streams areproviding help for all our clubs to prepare for a better 2021.