Scottish Club Chat - March 2025

March is upon us, and the nights are beginning to stretch. With many attentions turning to the water as activity scales back up for the season ahead, there’s plenty to keep in mind and consider.

How is it going with your club’s RYA Affiliation and the RYA Portal? If you’re having any difficulty, don’t struggle. Please reach out to your RYA Scotland Regional Development Officer or email affiliation@rya.org.uk.

The Development Team are delivering monthly RYA Scotland Connect Forum Calls on topics chosen with input from the Scotland boating community. Join the discussion with the RDOs, their guests, and your peers from around Scotland. On 25 March, Andrew Jenkin from Club Development Consultancy will be talking about club legal structures, comparing and contrasting available options and answering your questions. 

The RYA Discover Sailing shop is now open! Are you planning an open sailing day at your club, to engage more participants? Discover Sailing is the RYA Demand Creation Campaign which supports clubs by providing both physical and online resources, regional communicator support as well as allowing clubs to benefit from being part of the national promotions. If you need further support delivering your event, please reach out to your RDO.

Is your club making the most of your social media channels? Expand your reach by following RYA, RYA Scotland, and other clubs and organisations in Scotland. Comment, like, share, and tag each other to spread everyone’s message further, engage more people, and raise interest in sailing, windsurfing, powerboating, and anything else clubs are doing, to ultimately enhance and grow our community.

What events are you planning for 2025? Let us know what you have going on at development@ryascotland.org.uk or tell your RDO. We are dedicated to supporting events in a number of ways as per our RYA Scotland Event Strategy. Tell us what you are planning to start the conversation.

Do you know a young person who deserves recognition, someone who has gone above and beyond expectations? The Young Scot Awards are an opportunity to celebrate amazing young people in Scotland! There are several categories in which to nominate young people (aged 11-26), including Sport & Physical Activity sponsored by sportscotland. Nominations close 30 March.

Nominations are also open for BBC’s Make a Difference Awards. Your local heroes can be nominated in several categories including The Volunteer Award, The Young Hero Award, The Active Award, The Green Award, and The Community Group Award. Nominate before 5PM on 31 March.

Celebrating Helen and Richard Jenner of Chanonry Sailing Club. At the end of 2024, RDO for the North, Brian, presented married couple Helen and Richard Jenner with an RYA Scotland Impact Award. Earlier this month, we shared their story on our website and social channels. Watch the full video on YouTube now to hear more about their wide ranging contributions at the club. Know someone who deserves an award? Nominate them here.

The new changes for Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) are due to begin in April 2025 and clubs/organisations need to be aware of their responsibilities around checking those in a regulated role. We recently held a session with Volunteer Scotland Disclosure Services and are in the process of pulling together the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) that will support our community. The guidance to us is not completely finalised but we will get information out to you ASAP. If you have any specific PVG questions, then please email safeguarding@ryascotland.org.uk

Scottish Club Chat is changing! We’re always looking at different ways of sharing news, updates, and important info with the community. That’s why we’re giving club chat a shake up. From now on, you can expect an update from the Development Team every two months, in addition to our bi-monthly Scottish e-news updates to RYA Members.

Got news you want to share with us? Be sure to let us know by emailing development@ryascotland.org.uk

Here are some funding options to consider:

• RYA Foundation Youth Fund;
• National Lottery Awards for All Scotland (Please ensure your RDO is aware of any application for this funding as they will likely be consulted during the review process).
• National Lottery Heritage Fund, possibly for traditional boat building or activity;
• National Lottery Young Start, helping young people aged 8 to 24 to become more confident and play an active part in realising their potential;
• Tesco Stronger Starts;
• Bruce Wake Charitable Trust, for the provision of leisure activities for people with physical disabilities (deadline for the next trustees meeting is 4 April 2025);
• The Weir Charitable Trust (closing date for the next round of applications is 23 May 2025);
• Social Investment Scotland offer loan funding to charities and community groups.

All the best from The Development Team – Laura, Brian, Rhys, Liza, Nathalie & Naomi. 18/3/2025