My thoughts on the pool situation.

It is with deep concern that I write this message. I think the new committee have made changes which need to be reconsidered and changed.

15 years ago I came into a club that was on its knees and had absolutely no money in the bank. The pool cost 50 pounds each week and we only had 4 or 5 paddlers turning up at a cost of 5 pound. The chairman at the time paid for the shortfall out of his own pocket. Imagine that today!

I turned the pool into a money spinner. I invited all of the local clubs to our session. We started making 50 pound each week. £200 each month! Very quickly the boat stock was completely upgraded. Many of the boats in the plant room were bought from members of the club. Richard’s wave sport is down there for example. If I was to take that boat out for a paddle I would now be charged! Charging people to use boats is not the culture of the club.

Allowing paddlers from other clubs to our pool session is the only reason the club is here. Let’s look at the present committee. I still remember Simon politely phoning up and asking to come to the session. Joining us from Wyre Forest. I didn’t get a call from John or Rich. They just turned up from Wyre Forest and started paddling. We didn’t actually have space for them at the time! How ironic! They have very short memories but I haven’t. The pool attendance will go through peaks and troughs. Make space for non members and paddlers from other clubs. We need them and can make money for the club.

John has set up a new method for attending the pool session using the event system on Facebook. This is not the way it should be done. Rich informs me that this is what the members voted for at the agm. Let’s face it. The agm was a farce. Nobody could actually hear what was being said. How can you vote on an issue without being able to fully hear and develop an understanding of the counter arguments.

A WhatsApp group was set up to organise the pool session and it worked. This method of organisation allowed members to book on and cancel. The roll call changed on a daily basis. It allowed for flexibility. People have busy lives and situations change. One minute your available and the next minute your not. This is modern life and very understandable. Everyone in the WhatsApp group seemed happy with how it was working. Anyone interested in the pool session would come onto the group. This is where the committee got it wrong. Instead of listening to the people on the group they listened to the people not on the group! I still believe this is all down to John and his desire to control everything.

Apparently the Facebook event was set up because members didn’t know we had pool sessions. I find this amazing. There was no secret society. Webcollect was set up by Paul for members to book a place. Why weren’t members being signposted to it? Also, the pool session is the first Saturday of each month. All you have to say to a new member is this….’We have a pool session on the first Saturday of every month. Give Tim a call. Here is his number.” An issue has been made out of nothing.

It has been said that the pool session should be for members first and then rolled out to non members and other clubs. It is for members first. We allowed two non members at the first session in October in order to break even. The method for member booking was webcollect.

I had no support from the committee for that first session. To quote John “Me and Rich organise the Saturday paddle we will leave the pool session to you” I spent lots of time phoning and asking people to attend. I was worried that a Saturday evening would be difficult session to fill. With the help of Geoff we have made it work.

Apparently the pool session has been described as “a session for grade 4 paddlers working on their roll. No other skill development” Instead of attending and observing the session and developing a more informed point of view the committee has accepted this as gospel. The last session involved t rescues, very basic spray deck removal, etc, etc etc. The committee would rather listen to someone they have known for 12 months rather than trust me. Someone they’ve known for years, organised pool sessions for 15 years and rescued their boats and paddles all over the country for years.

Here are some quotes from upset people unable to attend the next pool session.

“ I think this is very poor how they have done this and not honoured previous bookings”

“ It looks like we have had a lucky escape “

“ I’ve had a message back but it’s not very nice “

Some of Jonathon’s fb comments have been described as silly by members of the committee. No they are not. These are heartfelt comments and should be given respect. That’s why young people are not involved with the committee. He supported the way the pool session was being run at the agm in a room full of much older people. This took some courage. Fair play I say.

The system for managing the pool session was changed without a courtesy call to either me or Geoff. Webcollect was the place to book. The WhatsApp group was the place to discuss. The fact that people didn’t know this is down to the secretary. The person who sends our irrelevant information all of the time and thus the important stuff gets missed.