B.C.A.

[whitelackington]

No.

 

[graham]

Then I suggest you try mailto:webmaster[at]british-caving.org.uk or possibly

mailto:secretary[at]british-caving.org.uk might put you out of your misery.

 

[whitelackington]

You should not have to individually ask them, if that is the case The B.C.A. is not working.

 

[graham]

You should not have to individually ask them, if that is the case The B.C.A. is not working.

But you won't get your question asked without asking, will you.

You are presuming too much.

 

[rhychydwr1]

Some nice piccies on:

http://www.opendemocracy.net/arts-photography/turnstile_3853.jsp

 

[whitelackington]

IHAVE EMAILED
the BCA and not had a reply
are they relevant?
Not if they will not update us

 

[paul]

IHAVE EMAILED
the BCA and not had a reply
are they relevant?
Not if they will not update us

Why don' t you volunteer to help then?

 

[Peter Burgess]

I suspect you have not emailed the "BCA" but a particular person in the BCA. Even if you have emailed a generic email address, it is unlikely to be forwarded to more than a very few individuals. What was the exact email address you used? Whoever set up the BCA email addresses would know which particular person/people it has gone to. Perhaps he/she/they have been caving/on holiday.

 

[Les W]

I can personally vouch for the fact that he hasn't emailed the webmaster.

With regard to minutes, they are the responsibility of the Secretary.
BCA's secretary has resigned due to ill health and BCA now needs a new volunteer to take on this thankless task.
I assume that Whitelackington will be volunteering for the post at the next council meeting in October.

 

[graham]

I assume that Whitelackington will be volunteering for the post at the next council meeting in October.

I wouldn't hold your breath. 

 

[cap n chris]

If no-one takes on the role of secretary, does this mean BCA is effectively paralysed or does the work get "shared" among others as an interim measure pending someone taking on the role? I suppose the question is: can BCA function without a secretary?

 

[Les W]

I shouldn't post this on a public forum incase it stops the flood of volunteers queued up behind Whitelackington chasing the completely thankless job of secretary,
but Jenny Potts has agreed to do the job until a suitable Whitelackington candidate turns up.

 

[whitelackington]

I went on The B.C.A. website and straight to the top.
I have emailed The Chairman, two weeks ago.
The point I was trying to make is
unless they keep us informed in a shortish space of time after metings,
they will be irrelavant.

 

[Les W]

And I agree with what you say, but, BCA is pretty much run by volunteers, who have day jobs, and families, and who would also like to go caving now and then, and perhaps get a bit of a life. 
These people are giving their time freely and willingly to try and help British caving and therefore cavers as a whole.
When a volunteer does their best it is very difficult to complain and moan at them, even if they are not living up to other peoples expectations.  :-\

It's your BCA (apologies to the BBC for stealing their slogan) and if things are not going as you think they should, then instead of moaning, step up and offer to help. 

 

[damian]

[...] Jenny Potts has agreed to do the job until a suitable Whitelackington candidate turns up.

:bow:

If only I could give as much to caving as Jenny Potts has done and continues to do. I'm sure those who have rushed to criticise the BCA will remember that she, like everyone else, is a volunteer doing her very best to help cavers go caving. My heartfelt thanks go to Jenny.

 

[Les W]

[...] Jenny Potts has agreed to do the job until a suitable Whitelackington candidate turns up.

:bow:

If only I could give as much to caving as Jenny Potts has done and continues to do. I'm sure those who have rushed to criticise the BCA will remember that she, like everyone else, is a volunteer doing her very best to help cavers go caving. My heartfelt thanks go to Jenny.

IIRC Jenny Potts was the secretary of NCA when it was first formed way back when, some time in the early 70's. Caving is very fortunate to have a few dedicated individuals to do the donkey work.

I did a quick thought experiment and worked out that about 90% of the work within the British caving scene is being done by about 6-8 people, whilst around 4000 people benefit in some way or other from their actions. These unsung hero's of caving are only human and when they repeatedly get criticised for what they are trying to do, it makes a serious dent in their moral. A simple offer to help in some way, how ever small, is a much more worthwhile action than complaining.  :read:

 

[cap n chris]

I went on The B.C.A. website and straight to the top.
I have emailed The Chairman, two weeks ago.
The point I was trying to make is
unless they keep us informed in a shortish space of time after metings,
they will be irrelavant.

But, Whitelackington, you're a member of a caving club aren't you?

If so I think you'll find that your club is required to keep you informed of all BCA news (the club secretary receives a copy of the BCA newsletter on behalf of your club); this requirement to pass on BCA communications to club members is a primary requirement of club compliance as part of its BCA membership. Perhaps you should be badgering your club secretary to find out why they haven't kept you up to date on what's going on at National level?....

 

[whitelackington]

I think The M.C.G. secretary is too busy finding new passage.

 

[ChrisB]

I agree with all that's been said about volunteers, but I also notice that neither the British Mountaineering Council or the British Canoe Union posts their Minutes on their web sites at all. In fact, I know that the BCU doesn't publish its council minutes in any form, and in the past has actively discouraged members from trying to get hold of them. So I reckon the BCA are being quite up front.

 

[cap n chris]

I'm not a canoer (is this a word?) or a kayaker and I have nothing to do with that kind of stuff but I did hear that there was a bit of a "to-do" over administration with regard to a minor falling out over competitive coaching or something like this. Is this misguided nonsense or, if there's a whiff of truth behind it, could it explain a degree of embarrassed secrecy re: withholding minutes?....

I suppose it would solve a lot of problems/admin hassle if withholding minutes became established as standard practice for caving groups, too!.....