Really saddened by the tone of much of this thread and this will probably be my last post on UK Caving. Could BCA be improved? Undoubtedly, but I am convinced that a barrage of negative statements, verging on personal attacks, against current council members will not form a sound basis for a better future.
I have never been a council member or officer of the BCA, but have attended a number of council meetings and participated in a working group and seen first hand some of the challenges that the organisation faces. I have also seen the hard work, much of it behind the scenes, by volunteers driven by the best of intentions (whether you agree with their actions or not). The way to bring about positive change is to get involved and stand on a platform of positive proposals.
I personally believe that the current lack of volunteers stems from the impression people formed during the "troubled years" described by Russel in the first post on this thread. I saw for myself the toxic culture that was at play when many good people were either hounded out of posts or put off the very idea of becoming involved. We saw people try to polarise debates, for instance trying to turn the CROW issue into a north / south battle, we saw some weaponise the constitution to prevent change whilst others threw their toys out of the pram when they didn't immediately get their own way. I think one or two of those posting on this thread could examine the role they played in the creation of that culture. Changing that corrosive atmosphere within the organisation is something that the current council and officers should be applauded for. It is not easy to do, hard to see from outside, but pays massive benefits for caving as a whole.
I see similar tactics at play here, trying to set the argument as one of youth against age experience, when just as many older council members and officers, including two chairs, felt they had no option but to step away. In some cases not just from the BCA but from caving as a whole.
BCA will improve when a greater proportion of cavers want to get involved, publically slinging mud in personal attacks against officers and council members is hardly going to encourage others to stick their heads above the parapet.
I have to note, before the incoming mud slinging, that the above post is my own personal view and not made in my current (if only for a few more days) capacity as CSCC Chair.
Ed Waters
Really saddened if it is the tone of much of this thread that prompts Ed to say "this will probably be my last post on UK Caving" after he appears to have done so much to drain the toxin from caving in his area which seems to me to have led to much of the sniping and soreness we are still seeing, and which must have something to do with a shortage of the enthusiastic volunteers who make changes.
Some have commented that they were unaware of what BCA does. But is that BCA's fault? BCA, like the regional councils it funds, sees itself mainly as a representative body and only reluctantly accepts the national 'governing body' role that wider politics almost mandates, although Association suggests something more cooperative. In Wales, the Cambrian Caving Council has initials which correspond with at least two caving clubs and there are moves for a name change, not least because it is said that regulatory and other authorities belittle it by mistaking it just for a club. It would seem from that that a higher profile might be useful but, again, what for?
Caving, as I see it, is best as a small group activity whose participants take physical, and often intellectual or artistic, pleasure from the activity and environment involved in exploration (which may mean discovery of new passages, biota, or other features, but is just as meaningful in personal ways) underground, principally in caves, sometimes in mines, or even in other man-made structures, where the same basic techniques of progression are used. I do not applaud those who seek to evangelise 'our sport': I would seek only to demand (when required) respect for caves and their environment, and freedom for anyone who comes across caves or caving to find out more and go underground if they so wish, and being aware of their reponsibilities.
In the USA, Italy, among other counties, clubs often count include a higher affiliation in their name (NSS Sometown grottos; Club FAI Citta...): I wouldn't propose ging back to the likes of BSA-Northern Section but while the BCA, CCC, CNCC, CSCC, and DCA web sites do much to tell anyone who
explores them about British caving, perhaps clubs, and their websites, could do more to acknowledge and spread information on their affiliations to their members?