There are some things that I feel the BCA could/should be doing differently (and I have made some suggestions to them directly). But everyone will have a different view on these matters.
It is critically important to realise that the BCA can ? and does - add value to British Caving for many people, be that through insurance, the library, the training services, the equipment and techniques group, the CRoW campaign, or the reimbursement of some expenditures to regional councils.
Maybe one of the things they could do better is make more people aware of this!
The BCA are soon going to be seeking a new Chair and Secretary. Getting new people into each of these roles, who proactively want to be there, with new ideas, is critical to ensuring the BCA can not only continue to add value, but also improve the services it offers to its members over coming years (i.e. so that it is not just all about the insurance as several people have said).
It would be nice to see more positivity in these discussions to help encourage those considering standing for a role.
I can certainly speak from some experience; after deciding to stand for CNCC Secretary in 2014, a whole load of anti-CNCC discussions erupted on this forum, which had me very close to throwing in the towel before I?d even started. Rather than having the intended result (of discrediting the former Officers to get them to step down), all this did was dissuade others from coming in to take on the roles and change things ? exactly the opposite to what the critics were wanting.
I think the BCA has a bright future, but only if we can encourage new people into the top jobs. This can only be achieved if the BCA presents itself in an open and engaging way (something that David and his predecessor, Robin, are helping to achieve with the likes of the newsletter) and by ensuring potential applicants are not scared away by negative rhetoric on forums.
There is a fine line between constructive, and destructive criticism. I think the discussions above have thankfully been fairly controlled in their tone (thank you everyone), but I can see what route they are potentially headed down if we are not careful.
Certainly, a few more posts like that of Pitlamp (above) would be nice to see now and again.