The state of University clubs?

[The Old Ruminator]

Portsmouth PCC in Derbyshire late 1960's.

 

[The Old Ruminator]

This old git on a trip this week realising that there are some squeezes he really cant now get through. Photo with my camera passed through hence the gloves.
Anyone from PPCC out there ?

 

[The Old Ruminator]

PPCC member Pete Rose at Swildons Sump Four. 1960's.

 

[bograt]

O.R., post #40, Knotlow?.

 

[Katie]

I'd say they have parked nearer the entrance to Hillocks but certainly looks like the Knotlow/ Hillocks parking area to me!

 

[bograt]

PPCC member Pete Rose at Swildons Sump Four. 1960's.

Hmm, 'Stinkey' in tandem with a 3 cell NiFe, I can remember it, can others?

 

[graham]

Hmm, 'Stinkey' in tandem with a 3 cell NiFe, I can remember it, can others?

Almost but not quite. Stinky, yes and that is, I think, a NiFe headset, but it's an Edison 3 cell battery back.

 

[bograt]

Yup, surely an Edison 3 cell NiFe??? (as in Nickel - Iron) - alkaline? --- still got one somewhere!

 

[The Old Ruminator]

O.R., post #40, Knotlow?.

Did Hillocks / Knotlow so probably.

 

[2xw]

However, we decided that this year we're going to try and attract non-"sporty" people to the club by actively advertising outside of the Sports Fair. And yes, I know that caving is a challenging activity, but not everyone who caves falls into the category of being a sporty person, hence the quotation marks.

Sounds a good plan to me. At freshers' fair, I tend to actively target the "non-sporty" looking people. By that, without meaning to sound judgemental, I mean I will go and talk to people walking past who look like they're probably active, but who don't look like footballers/rugby players/etc (who are likely to be spending their time playing those sports and not be interested in caving). Yes obviously you can't always tell but sometimes you get an impression. And yes some footballers/rugby players might enjoy caving, but when you have hundreds of potential "customers" going past you have to be a bit picky.

Incidentally, we had a discussion on our forum a while back about different ways to attract (and hopefully keep) new student members; I'd be happy to pass the information along if it would help?

I'm always interested in this sort of thing.

 

[AR]

O.R., post #40, Knotlow?.

Did Hillocks / Knotlow so probably.

Definitely taken at Knotlow, that's Five Lane Ends barn and Hutmoor Butts Lane in the background

 

[Filter]

However, we decided that this year we're going to try and attract non-"sporty" people to the club by actively advertising outside of the Sports Fair. And yes, I know that caving is a challenging activity, but not everyone who caves falls into the category of being a sporty person, hence the quotation marks.

Sounds a good plan to me. At freshers' fair, I tend to actively target the "non-sporty" looking people. By that, without meaning to sound judgemental, I mean I will go and talk to people walking past who look like they're probably active, but who don't look like footballers/rugby players/etc (who are likely to be spending their time playing those sports and not be interested in caving). Yes obviously you can't always tell but sometimes you get an impression. And yes some footballers/rugby players might enjoy caving, but when you have hundreds of potential "customers" going past you have to be a bit picky.

Incidentally, we had a discussion on our forum a while back about different ways to attract (and hopefully keep) new student members; I'd be happy to pass the information along if it would help?

Yes, please, anything to help us along 

 

[CatM]

However, we decided that this year we're going to try and attract non-"sporty" people to the club by actively advertising outside of the Sports Fair. And yes, I know that caving is a challenging activity, but not everyone who caves falls into the category of being a sporty person, hence the quotation marks.

Sounds a good plan to me. At freshers' fair, I tend to actively target the "non-sporty" looking people. By that, without meaning to sound judgemental, I mean I will go and talk to people walking past who look like they're probably active, but who don't look like footballers/rugby players/etc (who are likely to be spending their time playing those sports and not be interested in caving). Yes obviously you can't always tell but sometimes you get an impression. And yes some footballers/rugby players might enjoy caving, but when you have hundreds of potential "customers" going past you have to be a bit picky.

Incidentally, we had a discussion on our forum a while back about different ways to attract (and hopefully keep) new student members; I'd be happy to pass the information along if it would help?

Yes, please, anything to help us along 

PM sent (also to 2xw)

 

[Mike Butch]

Only just saw this thread but it is quite interesting.

The student part of ULSA (LUUCaS) is currently doing quite well, but i don't think it is directly because of the ULSA/LUUCaS structure. Having the support of an older club is a lifeline when a student club is struggling, as LUUCaS (then LUUSS) was a few years ago, but for a student club to grow and thrive it really needs to be student lead. 

Here are a few considerations that has helped us gain and retain new members and might be helpful to others:

- Approaching anyone and everyone to covert them to caving, remembering it only takes one bad year and the subsequent year will be that bit harder.   
- Freshers lack friends, so offer them a bunch of mates and they'll stick about.
- Get as many girls as possible to front the freshers fair stall (even if they're not really cavers), as girls help attract other girls as well as guys, whereas few people will join a group that appears to be just guys. 
- Be passionate about caving and only talk about the best aspects until you've got freshers hooked.
- Make it as cheap as possible to go caving then people will go more often.
- Suss out early who is going to be useful and bring them on to be the next years committee
- Encourage a fresher cohort to share a house before their friends from halls get them. This ensures a core group of people for the following year and provides a party venue.
- Get freshers out on exped at the end of their 1st year and they'll be more keen and more useful for the rest of their time at uni.
- Don't have the same president two years in a row, otherwise the club becomes dependant on them. Spread the experience across many members of the club. This also adds a sense of competition, with subsequent years wanting to better what came before.
- Allow the student committee to make changes, consistency can too easily turn to complacency.
- Do things other than caving, as you would with any bunch of mates, but don't forget the clubs core focus.
- But most importantly enjoy yourselves, caving's about having fun.

These is just what we've learnt works in Leeds. I'm sure there's many more considerations people could add, and a few here which might not be appropriate to every student club. 

CatM what was YUCPC thoughts on the matter? Any chance you could make it public so as to help others?