‘Pay what you can’ model boosts membership at Yeadon

Club overview

Located near Leeds Bradford Airport, Yeadon Sailing Club is a volunteer-run RYA Affiliated club at a tarn in a public park maintained by the local council. The club shares the water and works closely with Leeds Sailing & Activity Centre, an RYA Recognised Training Centre for dinghy sailing, windsurfing, powerboating and shore-based courses.

Identifying the problem

Yeadon SC was losing members to bigger clubs in the region that were able to offer RYA training, better facilities and more competitive racing on larger waters.

With its location in a council-owned public park, Yeadon SC was further hit by the pandemic, including some members switching to other clubs able to re-open sooner.

Alongside falling membership, it was also becoming increasingly difficult to fill club duty and committee roles, and the club was having to dip into its limited reserves.

The club decided to reimagine membership by trusting people to give what they could afford to rebuild the connection between its local community and sailing.

Implementing a solution 

In 2024 the club introduced a ‘Pay What You Can’ membership model to help remove financial barriers and enable a wider range of individuals to join. 

Membership previously had been around £100 per adult and £100 for a boat space. With the new fees structure, members are able to join for £50 a year, per household, plus a monthly donation of whatever they feel able to afford. 

By completing a survey, an algorithm suggests an amount they may wish to pay over and above the £50 access point, based on their circumstances and intended use of the club. The average additional monthly donation is around £13 a month.

A household may include individuals, friends, couples and families. All have access to club boats for organised activities / a space in the dinghy park, with additional boat parking available at £50. Membership is managed using the online payments system Stripe.

Consolidating progress

Members initially agreed to try the Pay What You Can approach for one year.

Every year the membership structure returns to the club’s Annual General Meeting for approval, and its innovative new approach was supported again for 2025.

With an overwhelming ‘yes’ to continuing the groundbreaking scheme, members have a positive view of its impact and recognise that it is bringing a new vibrancy to the club.

Challenges

Attracting people from communities and groups with no previous experience of sailing has created challenges for the small volunteer-run club.

A free Tuesday training programme is so popular that a waiting list now prioritises incoming members who need it the most to help them progress as quickly as possible.

The club also has a development strategy which includes applying for grants towards club facilities and boats. It was a runner-up in Sunsail’s Funding the Future 2024 competition, securing £2,000 towards its mission of making sailing inclusive.

Assessing the impact

Yeadon SC’s new approach to fees has enabled the club to grow its membership with a wider and younger demographic.

Combined with its open and welcoming ethos, members now include residents from two local housing cooperatives who would otherwise not be able to afford sailing. 

The club’s introduction of ‘pay what you can’ also coincided with the closure of nearby Denholme SC, whose members were encouraged to transfer to Yeadon SC. Additionally, a number of the club’s previous members have returned.

Membership had fallen as low as 40 but has now more than doubled to over 85 households with 30 new members joining in 2025 alone. Both junior and adult numbers have recovered following the downturn of the pandemic and continue to grow. 

There is a ‘try sailing’ waiting list for would-be members. Training courses are full and the club is fast tracking membership for those who are already able to sail.

With a membership that covers a whole household, it inspires couples, families and groups of friends to get involved and promotes greater participation. An influx of new members has also benefited volunteering, bringing in skills such as building trades and powerboat expertise, and new blood to the committee.

Insights and tips

Yeadon SC’s successful introduction of a new membership model was underpinned by:

• understanding the club’s offer and its local area
• maximising opportunities for publicity
• involving existing members every step of the way

Club Secretary Jackie Friend said identifying the club’s potential audience for reaching out to new members was a key starting point: “The club is nearly a hundred years old and we recognised that if we wanted to continue, we needed to be an integral part of the community.

“We decided that we weren’t trying to target affluent areas or the whole of Leeds because those people are probably looking for somewhere like Yorkshire Dales Sailing Club - a recognised training centre with modern facilities and big expanse of water.

“We have to be something different because we’re unable to compete with that as a little club on a small lake in a public park. So our aim is to be a community club and we draw our membership from Bradford/Leeds with a maximum reach of a half hour drive.”

The club takes every opportunity to have boats on the water when there is an event in the park. It also made the most of local news contacts and sailing media share its ‘pay what you can’ story, which was well received and generated a positive publicity.

The idea of having an affordable access point for joining originated at a workshop with members in November 2023. Jackie’s advice to clubs interested in adopting a similar model is: “Take your club members with you and be realistic about what’s going to happen to your club – we could see that we were starting to eat into our reserves, which isn’t sustainable. Whatever you decide, your whole team and membership has to be clear about what is happening, how it will work, what is on offer and what is expected. It’s about having a conversation.”

Useful links

• Find out more about Yeadon Sailing Club ‘Pay What You Can’ Membership
• Visit RYA Club Zone for handy guides including club comms/PR and finding new members

Image credits Neil McInnes/Yeadon SC