nearlywhite
Active member
Youth and Development Report
6th January 2018
Context for UKC:
Previously the Youth and Development Officer role was a non voting member on council. There has always been some confusion as to what the exact nature of the role: this is due to the tendency for CHECC chairpeople in the past to assume both this role and that of the voting representative for CHECC.
Since I assumed this role 2 and a half years ago I've been treating it as an operational role for BCA i.e. picking up the pieces and plugging the holes left by CHECC and ASCT, and often filling in as CHECC delegate when they couldn't attend council. I've also used it to represent the interests at council despite not having vote.
At the last BCA AGM I criticised this set up. Mainly because as an operational role trying to do things solo is equivalent to urinating in the wind. I must say what was good about the role is it lent a heavy hitting authority with Universities and Unions when CHECC has had issues and allowed effective intervention. The BCA and a Youth and Development Working Group was suggested after I pointed out that more people needed to be involved - ?engaging with the membership? to use BCA buzzwords.
I should point out that I came under some (in my view unfair for a myriad of reasons) criticism on this forum for not submitting a report, not attending and not apologising for missing 1 quarterly meeting out of the 9 I've attended. However I was pleased that someone read the minutes and took the time to raise the issue of how effectively are trying to deal with Youth and Development - this led to me reflecting on the whole situation and to where we are now. Armchair caving on UKC does achieve things
The last calendar year has seen big changes to youth and development with a working group set up following the AGM. Initially comprised of 5 members it has grown to 11. There?s participation from CHECC and the ASCT. Given its short history, few of the projects have come to fruition however it has had a noticeable improvement in communication and as a result members have a good working appreciation of CHECC, ASCT and the BCA.
Lancaster
Thanks to some keen grassroot cavers at Lancaster University, I am very happy to report that in the coming weeks they will be incorporated as an official club. The support provided from various members of the group included:
Writing a new constitution, risk assessments, good practice guidelines
Advice on union meetings/Insurance/funding
Providing kit, transport & trips (notably ULSA, Red Rose)
Training and general advice (CHECC)
It?s been an eye opening experience to see a club start from scratch and we are learning what the biggest stumbling blocks are. It?s not all what you would think: kit hasn?t been a major issue so far - by linking with other clubs that has got over that, for now. I think there is a role for a BCA funded kit lending set up for new clubs, however there are issues with maintenance and storage.
Undisclosed member of CHECC
Also of note I have been liaising with the guild of students on behalf of [redacted] over what has largely been an insurance issue: the guild were under the impression that LCLMAs are needed for student leaders and since none of the current crop of students have one caving has been suspended as they wouldn?t be insured (they are now BCA insured).
The working group has been involved in getting them to cave as part of other clubs so that they don?t deskill and also have been chasing the guild for a decision on the information provided (still outstanding). CHECC is changing the way it engages with these issues so that these things are being taken on by a single person and avoid the issues of plural responsibility that we have seen so far - this issue could have been avoided had CHECC or the BCA Y&D been involved 2 years ago, instead the issue had input from a regional council. I would strongly encourage any regional council to consult us before helping to provide training documentation.
Current projects and a brief progress statement:
Creation of the caving club starter pack:
Documentation pack is being tried and tested. We need to look at what other useful things we can bundle into this and in what form the BCA might be able to help with a kit lend scheme.
Mountaineering Caving Sections:
One of our members is currently doing some research as to how best approach mountaineers but is looking to getting caving sections established in mountaineering clubs. The intention is to use the BMC insurance coverage of occasional caving to allow them to ?dip their toes?. The issue is getting through to interested parties as this has been (unsuccessfully) attempted before.
Creation and expansion of scout caving teams:
ASCT is approaching other teams that go caving in scouting and are in the long process of becoming the official body of scout caving. We are discussing various schemes to get more leaders from student caving involved in scouts by streamlining the leader sign off process.
Under 18s caving as part of normal caving clubs:
Information campaign coming soon to an internet near you.
The creation of Karst Hydrology/Geochemistry, and Engineering groups in the model of the CHECC Biospeleology Group:
I?m happy to report that the CHECC Biospeleology Group has been incorporated as a BCRA special interest group, which gives them access to funding and stronger links with the BCRA. It's important to note it's not CHECC only, just that it has been set up as such. We have yet to recruit people in the other disciplines above who want to set these things up.
Student development handbook:
Assisting CHECC with its writing of the handbook. This has been on a back burner due to more pressing recent issues but is largely complete.
There are a number of other projects that we are working on but have yet to see a concrete plan or proposal put forward - this should be resolved by the next meeting.
Meeting member clubs
I'd also like to announce that we'd love to engage with our member clubs to how they can improve things if they are interested in what they can do for Youth and Development. The plan would be ideally having face to face meetings and tailoring a scheme to you - putting you in touch with the relevant contacts, help with running events, applying for funding from relevant sources and helping with unexpected problems.
Well done for getting to the end of that, I tried to make as brief and non waffley as I could.
Rostam.
6th January 2018
Context for UKC:
Previously the Youth and Development Officer role was a non voting member on council. There has always been some confusion as to what the exact nature of the role: this is due to the tendency for CHECC chairpeople in the past to assume both this role and that of the voting representative for CHECC.
Since I assumed this role 2 and a half years ago I've been treating it as an operational role for BCA i.e. picking up the pieces and plugging the holes left by CHECC and ASCT, and often filling in as CHECC delegate when they couldn't attend council. I've also used it to represent the interests at council despite not having vote.
At the last BCA AGM I criticised this set up. Mainly because as an operational role trying to do things solo is equivalent to urinating in the wind. I must say what was good about the role is it lent a heavy hitting authority with Universities and Unions when CHECC has had issues and allowed effective intervention. The BCA and a Youth and Development Working Group was suggested after I pointed out that more people needed to be involved - ?engaging with the membership? to use BCA buzzwords.
I should point out that I came under some (in my view unfair for a myriad of reasons) criticism on this forum for not submitting a report, not attending and not apologising for missing 1 quarterly meeting out of the 9 I've attended. However I was pleased that someone read the minutes and took the time to raise the issue of how effectively are trying to deal with Youth and Development - this led to me reflecting on the whole situation and to where we are now. Armchair caving on UKC does achieve things
The last calendar year has seen big changes to youth and development with a working group set up following the AGM. Initially comprised of 5 members it has grown to 11. There?s participation from CHECC and the ASCT. Given its short history, few of the projects have come to fruition however it has had a noticeable improvement in communication and as a result members have a good working appreciation of CHECC, ASCT and the BCA.
Lancaster
Thanks to some keen grassroot cavers at Lancaster University, I am very happy to report that in the coming weeks they will be incorporated as an official club. The support provided from various members of the group included:
Writing a new constitution, risk assessments, good practice guidelines
Advice on union meetings/Insurance/funding
Providing kit, transport & trips (notably ULSA, Red Rose)
Training and general advice (CHECC)
It?s been an eye opening experience to see a club start from scratch and we are learning what the biggest stumbling blocks are. It?s not all what you would think: kit hasn?t been a major issue so far - by linking with other clubs that has got over that, for now. I think there is a role for a BCA funded kit lending set up for new clubs, however there are issues with maintenance and storage.
Undisclosed member of CHECC
Also of note I have been liaising with the guild of students on behalf of [redacted] over what has largely been an insurance issue: the guild were under the impression that LCLMAs are needed for student leaders and since none of the current crop of students have one caving has been suspended as they wouldn?t be insured (they are now BCA insured).
The working group has been involved in getting them to cave as part of other clubs so that they don?t deskill and also have been chasing the guild for a decision on the information provided (still outstanding). CHECC is changing the way it engages with these issues so that these things are being taken on by a single person and avoid the issues of plural responsibility that we have seen so far - this issue could have been avoided had CHECC or the BCA Y&D been involved 2 years ago, instead the issue had input from a regional council. I would strongly encourage any regional council to consult us before helping to provide training documentation.
Current projects and a brief progress statement:
Creation of the caving club starter pack:
Documentation pack is being tried and tested. We need to look at what other useful things we can bundle into this and in what form the BCA might be able to help with a kit lend scheme.
Mountaineering Caving Sections:
One of our members is currently doing some research as to how best approach mountaineers but is looking to getting caving sections established in mountaineering clubs. The intention is to use the BMC insurance coverage of occasional caving to allow them to ?dip their toes?. The issue is getting through to interested parties as this has been (unsuccessfully) attempted before.
Creation and expansion of scout caving teams:
ASCT is approaching other teams that go caving in scouting and are in the long process of becoming the official body of scout caving. We are discussing various schemes to get more leaders from student caving involved in scouts by streamlining the leader sign off process.
Under 18s caving as part of normal caving clubs:
Information campaign coming soon to an internet near you.
The creation of Karst Hydrology/Geochemistry, and Engineering groups in the model of the CHECC Biospeleology Group:
I?m happy to report that the CHECC Biospeleology Group has been incorporated as a BCRA special interest group, which gives them access to funding and stronger links with the BCRA. It's important to note it's not CHECC only, just that it has been set up as such. We have yet to recruit people in the other disciplines above who want to set these things up.
Student development handbook:
Assisting CHECC with its writing of the handbook. This has been on a back burner due to more pressing recent issues but is largely complete.
There are a number of other projects that we are working on but have yet to see a concrete plan or proposal put forward - this should be resolved by the next meeting.
Meeting member clubs
I'd also like to announce that we'd love to engage with our member clubs to how they can improve things if they are interested in what they can do for Youth and Development. The plan would be ideally having face to face meetings and tailoring a scheme to you - putting you in touch with the relevant contacts, help with running events, applying for funding from relevant sources and helping with unexpected problems.
Well done for getting to the end of that, I tried to make as brief and non waffley as I could.
Rostam.