Spectator Sport

[Bottlebank]

Application form on it's way 

 

[Peter Burgess]

We don't do a "?3 I'm a supporter" option. Sorry.

 

[Peter Burgess]

There have been comments on how a new caver might find themselves not fully encouraged to get involved, but I have seen on a number of occasions when a "lesser" club is treated with caution and less than friendly attitudes from "bigger" "mainstream" clubs. It is not just individuals that need to push themselves into the club scene (or be encouraged to join in) but for clubs themselves to be a bit more trusting of each other. In earlier years I have seen this first hand, mainly in Somerset, when trying arrange leaders or keys for trips. It isn't simply incumbent on the smaller clubs to get themselves known, but on clubs with a degree of control over sites and trips to be a little more trusting and welcoming as well. I think this situation may well have improved markedly over the years, but it is a mindset to guard against. Perhaps sometimes this boils down to the suspicions of individuals rather than clubs as a whole, but one person can tarnish the whole club they belong to by being too offhand with people they don't know.

 

[CatM]

I was trying to make the point that the (reported) good health of the Instructed Caving sector doesn't necessarily lead to good numbers coming into Caving

The former results in the latter and vice versa - if clubs were good at providing caving, instructed and professional caving wouldn't be up to much; people successfully getting the trips they want won't be bothering with organisations that are unsatisfactory in that regard. Why would anyone want to join a club if they can go caving on their own terms with everything provided for them?

Bollocks. Although there's room for both

Anyone joining us gets full instruction, no previous experience required, free on the job training, the opportunity to dig on up to sixty or seventy days a year or more (petrol money only), up to five or six weeks foreign trips (no instructor required although there are occasions when someone who knew what was going on could be handy) plus numerous UK sporting trips (again only cost is petrol), free gear loan, free advice (much of it conflicting), and if they want they can be on the committee (or they can be the committee).

All for ?10 a year plus insurance if they haven't already got it.

Beat that?

No, you can't.

Apply at www.earbypotholeclub.co.uk



p.s. did I mention they can cave in any cave in the UK and many more abroad, rather than simply doing the same old trips again and again?

And there are many other clubs offering pretty much the same!