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The State of the Nation
23 May 2012 02:10 PM |
Andrew Welch
in About BN
It’s eight years since I took on this role and a lot has changed. We had a good, strong foundation based on a long history to work from and hard-working people, but members and others often questioned what BN was doing, what its purpose was and whether there was any value in belonging. It’s a long time since we have heard that kind of criticism, with the BN “brand” beginning to really mean something again. We’re far more active and also credible – both in and outside Naturist circles. Whilst we still face many challenges, there have been improvements in attitudes to Naturism out there and the launch of our Three Year Plan – for me, a real landmark – showed everyone that we are getting on with the job in hand, making progress and moving in the right direction.Incidentally, I make no excuse for the fact that this is a long presentation – there’s so many good things going on!
People
Every organisation’s and company’s success (or otherwise) is directly related to the people running it.
- We’re displaying strong leadership
- For a while now, there have been almost no vacant Executive Council (EC) posts
- We have a team of excellent volunteers, including many people doing the work on the website, BN Members' Community and social media sites, plus a recently strengthened and more actively engaged Holiday Advice team
- EC meetings and interactions are conducted in a more business-like way and we are using technology – principally a private section of the BN Members' Community – to discuss, debate, post and comment on papers, and make decisions – saving time and money and moving faster.
- All in all, it is more productive, collaborative, professional, and consistent - which is to the benefit of everyone concerned with BN and Naturism in the UK.
Many good things come from having a larger membership – not least the boost to our finances, enabling us to do more
- It’s brilliant to see that after some years of diminishing numbers – up to falls of 10% per annum, and largely attributable to external factors, ie not a reflection on BN - we are currently at the same level we were this time last year – perhaps the slide is coming to an end
- We have 300-400 extra new members compared to this time last year.
- It’s interesting to note that through all the good and not-so-good times in the last 10 years, the percentage of renewers has been consistent, between 86% and 90%. Many blue chip companies would be pleased to see such a high level of “repeat business”! As the total number of members has fallen each year, this means fewer people are leaving us.
- We’ve developed a questionnaire for all new joiners to find out more about their experience of Naturism and what they hope to get out of their membership. It has been interesting to see that roughly half are joining to be part of the community, meeting others and getting involved on a personal level.
- We’ve issued “lapsed mailings” in the last few years, encouraging past members to come back and at least a couple of hundred take up the offer.
- New streams of revenue have been developed including healthy commission payments that run into the thousands from venues where we host our big events
- Our new website allows anyone – non-members too – to easily make a donation to the cause from the front page.
The landscape has changed hugely, and it would be difficult to think of BN these days without Nudefest, Alton Towers, Blackpool and the vast range of events we run or support….and we are adding new ones all the time.
- Nudefest will run for a week again this year – with a trip to the Eden Project, Newquay Zoo and Newquay Aquarium and more.
- The London Swim concept in the Three Year Plan has become a reality and has been an instant hit – also (unexpectedly) making good money for BN
- This year there are new garden and maze events, a vineyard trip, a weekend of nude yoga, meditation and therapies at the Earth-Spirit Centre, and a music event in a shopping centre in central Birmingham!
- The National Convention was a great leap forward and is likely to become an annual event
- There have been two successful BN Members’ Holidays with another to come this summer and dates for next Spring already announced.
Whatever the prevailing atmosphere, this always has to be a busy and crucial area. To showcase all the work and do it justice would take pages…
- There’s always a lot of work going on behind the scenes. We’re making submissions to government and other authorities, preparing statements on various subjects so the world knows our views and creating and refining policies to help BN and our members work together as a cohesive team.
- There’s support for members (and sometimes non-members) who find themselves in trouble and it has been good to see an increase in members actively supporting those people, sometimes attending court with them.
- We post a huge number of comments on online articles where mistakes, misunderstandings and/or prejudiced comments appear. We also make contact with TV and radio programmes for the same reasons, and write letters to important people
- You will have read in the last issue of the magazine about new member Emma Stokes’ research – we can all say how wonderful Naturism is and what it does for us, but having it proved by academic studies makes a huge difference.
- We’re making a much bigger noise within the International Naturist Federation (INF) and encouraging them to focus on working strategically for the common good.
I’m still getting 2-3 media approaches a week from TV, radio and print – we must always exploit them, other organisations and companies would give a lot to have the attention we get. Without too much effort I was quoted on the front page of the Daily Telegraph in March, you couldn’t pay for such exposure.
- ZKK’s My Daughter the Teenage Nudist Channel 4 documentary brought us to the attention of a huge number of people
- We’re seeing a greater number of women members involved in media and promotional work – including letter- and article-writing, taking female friends to events, and appearing on radio and TV. There is something about women promoting Naturism that helps people overcome some of the barriers.
- The second Great British Skinny Dip takes place in July – a big chance for promotion across the country and we ran a winter version too. Not enough clubs and swims joined in either, but the results were good for those that did.
- An advertising poster has been sent in the last month to Naturist resorts in France, Spain, Croatia and Greece aimed at making Naturist holidaymakers from the UK aware of all that is going on at home.
- BN Magazine keeps getting better. It’s an excellent publicity tool and properly reflects who we are and what we’re up to. Every issue gives a great overview of BN and Naturism in the UK and beyond.
Our youth group – very much part of BN, but aimed at showing younger people that there are active Naturists of their own age around – goes from strength to strength under its new leadership.
- A network of leaders/helpers around the country is being created, with more events – including a big Olympic themed one in August – being arranged
- We’ve introduced a temporary reduced membership fee for anyone under 30, and are allowing a one-off visit to events from non-members – to “try before they buy”.
- YBN has a profile on Facebook allowing people to find out more and keep up with news and activity without committing themselves, a good springboard to more. There are 30 million people in the UK using Facebook – do the math!
- We’ve also been working with students to create Naturist societies at Universities. Not only is this good for the students based in them, but makes it easier for other groups to form elsewhere.
It’s essential for us to use the tools available to us in the virtual world and we’re making the most of them
- Our new and improved website was launched in January. It’s full of information, with new features yet to come and - administratively - a breeze to use compared to the previous one! It’s also integrated with the BN Members' Community which brings many benefits to members, but also allows a tantalising glimpse for non-members into what’s available if they join.
- It would be hard to know how we’d get on these days without the BN Members' Community. It’s always being improved and updated and many thousands of you are using it to discuss, share information, chat, find out information, view pictures and much more. Event tickets are being sold via the BN shop, where there are also attractive new products.
- We have active profiles on Facebook and Twitter, with more places to come, spreading the word and raising the profile on a daily basis, getting our message out and news and updates on our activities to millions of people.
All underway, keep an eye for further news…
- We hope to finalise the move to being a Company Limited by Guarantee – it’s 95% done – by the end of the year
- The structure of British Naturism and the regions was created in 1964 and hasn’t changed all that much. Is it still what we need? We’ve been discussing ways to improve it to get the effective organisation we need today
- The new website and its integration with the BN Members' Community has given us lots of time- and effort-saving possibilities. We’re working towards allowing all members to update their own database information and hope to bring in “Anniversary renewals” – join in May, renew next May – rather than the current system of everyone’s membership becoming due in January.
- We’re currently adding a basic listing to the website of as many Naturist holiday destinations – both at home and abroad - as possible. It’s overdue that a popular site like ours has such a thing. At the same time, website advertisers will be offered an improved package – enhanced listings with more information, access to the BN Members' Community to be able to promote themselves, and – best of all – the ability to list “late availability” holidays. No such thing exists anywhere for Naturists and so we plan to make a big noise about it, help our advertisers and drive more traffic – and potential members - to our site.
- Lots of items in the Three Year Plan are being treated as priority, just to pick out two – 1) “Synergistic” groups – we’ve embarked on the project aimed at raising the profile of Naturism via websites, magazines, clubs and groups etc. of three “target markets” – swimming, camping and caravanning, and “mind, body and spirit” – yoga, meditation, therapies etc. ie people who do what we do, but currently (ugh!) with clothes on; and 2) Campaigns Manager and Volunteer Co-ordinator – two very important posts we want to create to help with the workload – and enable us to do much more, effectively. These are intended to be paid roles, and so our financial situation is key.
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