Regional Officers Conference 26/27 September Crewe

REGIONAL OFFICERS AND SPORTS RELATED BODIES FORM 31 JAN / 1 FEBRUARY 2016

REPORT BACK

The Forum was well attended and this was the first time in a number of years where the Regional Officers and Sports Related Bodies have got together in one forum.

After the traditional welcome, domestics and overview of what the two days was going to cover, Andy Shaw opened the discussions by going through some initiatives that were either coming up or were currently in place. These included volunteer initiatives including the new volunteer App which was now available on android as well as Apple.

Health and safety was discussed and delegates were reminded that the new policy is now effective and is mandatory for National and Regional events. Andy asked for feedback on how it is working.

The new National Travel Policy is now operative as at 1st Jan. The policy has upset some groups, especially hillwalking as they are not included. The policy will be reviewed in due course.

The branding of CSSC is now in place and is working very well.

The induction process for new Committee members and volunteers is now in place

A discussion took place on the new awards. Andy reported that a volunteer awareness seminar was being held in Head Office in March to find out what drives volunteers.

Andy then went through the results of the latest membership survey.

He concluded his session by briefly mentioning Partnership Framework, Sport and physical activity fund and the on line shop.

Delegates then broke into syndicate groups to discuss the Sports Programme and events such as DA joint events, taster days, physical activity and SRB & Regions expectations. Feedback was given by all groups during this session

Day 2 started with a review of day 1 and a discussion on Annual awards including the new awards. Sportsperson of the year is to replace the ones for sportsman and sportswoman. There is also a new award for Innovation and volunteer of the year.

Simon Lee then gave an update on a number of issues which included financial performance, new members of staff at Head Office which included a new Chief Finance Officer and a new Director of HR. He also reported that he has taken on 2 new roles looking at membership and recruitment and National member benefits. He then gave an update on recruitment, membership figures which included a question of Offs reports and why we could not have them on the same basis as Ons reports. Simon stated that it was more difficult with the Offs reports because sometimes Head Office do not find out that someone has left until 3 months after they stop paying subs.

Andy Shaw stated that Areas will know about leavers a lot quicker when the new website is up and running.

James Street then gave a presentation on his new role as Member Benefits Manager which will include reviewing and optimising the current benefits as well as developing relationships and establishing new partnerships.

A discussion on My Savings Plus then took place. A point was raised about the lack of places where a member could just show their card rather than loading it with money.

James agree to look at this, as it was early days with my savings plus, but he agreed to try and get more. It was also raised that there were not many local offers. James stated that local offers could be added. He also stated that Regions and Areas could help by maximizing participation and work together to improve member experience. He asked delegates to let Head Office know how it could be improved.

An Open Forum then followed and the following questions were asked:

Q1. How was the National Policy going to be funded?

Answer. Head Office will fund it by 50% a sum of £30,000 will come from Head Office and £30,000 from the Regions.

Q2. Was it true that the Regions will no longer have the 20% cap?

Answer. There was some confusion about this. Andy Shaw thought that it was going to come in on 1st Jan 16 for the following year.

Q3. How will accountability and Governance be cascaded to the Areas?

Answer. It will be done carefully and diplomatically as Head Office did not want to frighten off volunteers.

Q4. Why are membership cards issued in January? Members who pay annually are not aware that their membership may have lapsed

Answer. Head Office will look at ways of improving the system. Q5. Why do Recruitment Executives not have Love to Shop Vouchers anymore?

Answer. Head Office trialed this in London and they concluded that recruitment was going well without them and it was costing a lot of money trying to get new members.

Q6. Why don’t we stop funding Departmental Associations?

Answer. Andy Shaw stated that we need to find out what DA’s do for CSSC and vice versa. He stated that CSSC were not looking at funding for DA’s but they do need to work with CSSC and not against it. He said that the Sports and Leisure Committee need to sit down and have a discussion about this, especially as CSSC have not always been forthcoming in defining what was expected.

The delegates then broke into the final syndicate exercise and they were asked to discuss 2 Areas. Feedback from the groups was given.

1. SRB’s and Regions and how they can work closer together

2. How can CSSC work closer with other affiliates i.e National Governing bodies and Local Authorities.

Andy Shaw then gave a short presentation on Commitment to Change.

Andy Shaw then closed the Forum, thanking delegates for all their contributions over the 2 days and they were asked to complete an on line survey giving their thoughts and comments of the forum.