Minutes from the Joint Outdoor Pursuits and Water Recreation Division Meeting - 12 October 2016

Joint Outdoor Pursuits and Water Recreation meeting

Date: Wednesday 12 October 2016

Time: 11:00am

Venue: Gateley, 1 Paternoster Square, London, EC4M 7DX

PRESENT:

In the Chair: Gus Lewis (RYA), Robert Louden (The Camping and Caravanning Club)

Deputy Chair: Lynn West (British Orienteering)

MEMBERS: Brendon Batson (Sport and Recreation Alliance), Howard Blackman (British Canoeing), Stuart Carruthers (RYA), John Cousins (Mountain Training UK), Robbie Crow (Jubilee Sailing Trust), Kevin East (Canoe Camping Club), Abigail Elrick (Long Distance Walkers Association), Tom Fewins (Ramblers), Jon Garside (British Mountaineering Council, and Mountain Training England), Mike Gunston (British Balloon & Airship Club), Terry Housden (Fields in Trust), Tim Jones (Sport and Recreation Alliance), Diana King (BGA, BMFA and RAeC), Sharon Lock (The ASA), Paul Lorenzato (British Rowing), Brian Pollard (NCMD), Mark Weston (British Horse Society), Paul Williamson (BASC), Ellen Wilson (Girlguiding), Anna Zee (British Motorcyclists Federation)

ABSENT WITH APOLOGIES: Emma Boggis (Sport and Recreation Alliance), Andrew Moss (Sport and Recreation Alliance), Dominic Goggins (British Cycling), Sue Hornby (British Canoeing), James Legge (Countryside Alliance), Jess Kelly (The Scout Association), Rosemary Napp (Honorary Member), Robert Pettigrew (Sport and Recreation Alliance), Cedric Selby (Honorary Member), Jenny Vincent (British Triathlon Federation), Chantel Scherer (Director of Marketing, Communications and Member Engagement), Adrian Lole (Royal Life Saving Society UK and Deputy Chair)

IN ATTENDANCE: James Allen (Director of Policy, Governance and External Affairs), Kate Lawrenson (Membership Manager and Company Secretary), Hannah Dobbin (Policy Adviser), Rob Tate (Governance Officer), Aquila Burgess (Projects Support Officer), James Boyle (Climate Coalition)

1. CHAIR’S REMARKS

The Division acknowledge the passing of George Cubitt MBE, Vice President and former Divisional Deputy Chair and Divisional Chair who died in April 2016.  

Robert Louden (RL) welcomed both Brendon Batson and Tim Jones, the Board representatives for the Division of OPD and WR, respectively. 

He congratulated the British teams on their success at Rio over the Summer months: 67 medals for TeamGB [27Gold/23Silver/17Bronze] and 147 for ParalympicsGB [64Gold/39Silver/44Bronze].  The meeting congratulated those NGBs present for their achievements. 

If congratulations were being given out, RL stated that the meeting shouldn’t forget those individuals that received recognition in the Queen’s Birthday Honours, although he was not aware of anyone in particular mentioned from the membership.

Members who had left the Divisions this year were:

• British Long Distance Swimming Association

• Marine Society and Sea Cadets

• Young Explorers Trust

• Amateur Motor Cycle Association

New members joining mainly being allocated to Games and Sports Division – most recently Youth Sport Trust.

Members were reminded that the Annual General Meeting (AGM) had been held at the King’s Building, next to Somerset House, on 14 July.  The Community Sport and Recreation Awards were presented and the Alliance would be seeking nominations for the 2017 categories in the New Year. 

RL stated that the Government’s new Strategy was the most exciting thing to have happened for a while as it had recognised the importance of the outdoor recreation sector.  The Alliance and sector should continue to demonstrate value and importance of outdoor recreation in achieving the five key outcomes and to look across Government departments in moving this work forward.

As part of creating the evidence base for outdoor recreation, the Alliance was updating Reconomics in partnership with Manchester Metropolitan University with a view to publish in early Feb 2017.

2. CLIMATE COALITION

James Boyle from the Climate Coalition provided an outline on the organisation and the plans for the “Show the Love” campaign which would take place 7-14 February 2017. 

He explained how the ‘hardline’ climate change message was not appealing to the majority of the public and how the coalition was using the campaign in 2017 to appeal to everyone’s understanding of what it would mean to them though ‘special places, cherished memories’.  Their objective was to reach a new audience and more unusual voices in sport and recreation and they had resources that were available to be used in social media as well as through local communities and activities.  

Sport and recreation was feeling the effects of extreme weather ie flooding of pitches, facilities and had a strong communication network readily available.  Organisations could promote the film, use Twitter and the ‘good news day’ as well as run stunts and local activities, all of which the coalition could assist with.  

James advised how he was talking to Angling Trust, BMC, Ramblers about what their plans were to help with the campaign and anyone interested in joining the coalition he would be very interested in speaking with them. 

Tom Fewins (Ramblers) was pleased that such an important issue was on the agenda and was interested to know how the coalition would drive its objectives to translate into action as the Government’s current agenda was slow to engage with this issue. JB advised explained that they worked through coalition outreach groups such as the Women’s Institute, National Trust and Woodland Trust who would take the coalition’s messages to Government through that route instead of lobbying direct.  He also confirmed that they were UK focussed and had others who were working internationally.  He felt that it was the coalition’s role to help Britain lead on the agenda where possible. 

Di King felt that her organisations would like to become involved and wondered whether film footage they had would be helpful.  JB confirmed that it most certainly would and that they could assist in BGA, BMFA and RAeC using those resources.  There would be a small fee [based on turnover] to join the coalition at around £25 for the smaller companies but he was happy to discuss this further. 

The comment was made not to forget the rights of way network when considering the recreation side of things.  Local councils were slow to repair them when they were damaged.  JB agreed that this was an interesting element to highlight and he would welcome any additional information. 

RL thanked JB for attending the meeting.  A copy of the would be available to see on the Alliance website and you can contact James on james@theclimatecoalition.org 

There is also a short highlights video from 2016 as well as the Show The Love 2016 campaign film written by Michael Morpurgo and starring Jeremy Irons.

3. “SAFETRX” SMARTPHONE APP

Stuart Carruthers (SC), introduced the App that the Royal Yachting Association (RYA) had developed for recreational boating but which offered significant potential capabilities for other outdoor recreational activities. 

SC explained how the SafeTrx app monitored boat journeys and alerts to designated emergency contacts should you fail to return on time.

Using iPhone and Android smartphone technology the tracking and alert system was easily accessible and ideal for those who did not usually register sail plans or carry navigational aids and distress alerting equipment on board (for use in UK territorial waters).  A nominated emergency contact would be alerted and advised to initiate appropriate action.

When an emergency contact called HM Coastguard about an overdue trip, they would have access to the location and SafeTrx Trip data through a secure SafeTrx server. Since the RYA SafeTrx App periodically sent the location data back to RYA servers, the Coastguard's response team could get help directly to the individual, and quickly.

RYA SafeTrx was an accessible tool that leisure craft users could use when going to sea. It was especially useful for those who used smaller boats, open powerboats and dinghies or who did not use tracking and alerting devices on their boats but SC pointed out that it could also be used for those individuals who windsurfed or kite surfed or canoeists.  They could set the App and leave the phone in the car and the same process could be adopted. 

There was a question as to whether there had been any false triggers but SC explained that this had not been the case.  Usually a longer travel/away time was set to allow individuals more than enough journey time to come back and confirm their safe arrival. Jon Garside, BMC, could see the attraction for hillwalkers and climbers.  

Should anyone wish to consider the potential for a land based option SC would be more than happy to discuss how to take this further and you should contact him on stuart.carruthers@rya.org.uk 

4. UK GOVERNANCE CODE

Rob Tate (RT) provided an update on the Government’s new code of governance. RT announced that within the Government’s Sport Strategy, Sporting Future, UK Sport and Sport England (SE) were tasked with creating a combined code of governance, which would become mandatory for any organisation in receipt of public funding. UK Sport and Sport England had been working together on this process since early 2016, and were now close to releasing the Code.

During its development, the Alliance had been taking every available opportunity to make sure the interests of its members were taken into account during the drafting process. In addition to meeting regularly with those responsible for the new code, we responded to the online consultation on behalf of the membership as well as ensuring this was distributed to all members for the opportunity to complete an individual response. The main goal is to achieve a new code, which was aspirational but achievable for the members, by setting a gold standard of governance without being a burden and instead contributing to the development of high performing organisations. Most importantly the Alliance was seeking a code which provided equal coverage of all potential recipients of public funding but which could be applied proportionately, taking account of the broad variety of size and workforce capacity present in our sector.

In May 2016, UK Sport and Sport England released “A Charter for Sports Governance”, which revealed the nine principles around which the new code would be formulated. As expected, these could be mapped closely to existing standards of good governance, including the Alliance’s own Voluntary Code of Good Governance and similar codes in the charity sector. Whilst it is expected that the content and overall principles of the new code would be similar to existing standards, the Alliance is expecting that the new code would be more prescriptive in its requirements. Moving forward, the position of the Voluntary Code of Good Governance will be assessed against the new UK Sports Governance Code to identify where the main differences lie. We expect to maintain the Voluntary Code in a similar format, as an introduction into good governance and a stepping-stone for those seeking progression to compliance with the UK Sports Governance Code. Guidance will be provided on the differences between the two codes, and the actions, which would be required to progress to full compliance with the new code.

When asked about timescales, RT informed members that the new code would be launched on 31 October by both Sport England and UK Sport and implemented from March 2017, although he does expect that there will a phased transition after this point, therefore giving organisations the time necessary to become compliant.

5. VOLUNTEERING

JA spoke about volunteering and how this was one of the investment streams for SE.  They were looking to provide £30 million funding over the next four years to help increase the number of volunteers. The money was a bespoke fund aimed at increasing the number of volunteers, by helping reduce the volunteering age, and help increase the skill base of the people volunteering. The SE volunteering strategy was scheduled to be released in November, and would focus on seven sub priorities; increasing diversity, improving digital information, matching service to club, prioritise motivation and needs of volunteers - an intrinsic value, pilot new approach to become innovate, increase resources available into Club Matters, and committing a dedicated budget.

From an Alliance perspective, it was recognised that volunteering was relevant to all of its members.  Earlier in the year there was an opportunity to look at bidding for the Join In Trust assets.  Join In was created after London 2012 to put more volunteers into community sport to enable people to live healthier and happier lives. The Alliance secured this bid and in a partnership would continue building on the sport volunteering legacy Join In had created in this next chapter after Rio 2016 and work to create even more opportunities for sports volunteers across the UK. Through securing the assets, the Alliance would gain access to the data from all the clubs and volunteers that were apart of Join In, access to their website and their branding, local leaders and research.

JA advised that the Alliance was in the early stages of owning the assets from this week but wanted to make the Divisions aware of the progress; more information would be available at the next meeting and the SE Volunteer strategy would also be made available.

6. ALLIANCE’S STRATEGIC PLAN 2017-2021

James Allen (JA) gave an update on the Alliance’s new strategy for 2017 – 2021. 

Current Alliance strategy covers 2014 to 2018 but recognised a lot has happened since the previous strategy was planned.

Externally:

· A new Government, the 2015 Spending Review and a new cross Government strategy

· A review by UK Sport of their approach and a new strategy from Sport England

· A new Sport Governance Charter published with a new code to come

Internally

The Alliance had a new CEO in September 2014, a new independently appointed Chair in January 2016, a new senior management structure which was established earlier this year. Three new Board members who joined formally in July including two new independent members. So the Board has decided that rather than let the current strategy run for its final year it would be better to start with a new plan from 2017. 

JA reviewed what the Alliance was good at and also what it is not so good at and suggested the following;

What are we good at?

· The Alliance is currently a leader in promoting leadership in the sector through the publication of the Fit for Future report.

· Policy and research

· Campaign work – for example Mental Health Charter/Get Your Kit On/Try Your Kit On

· Regular source of comment or views from media

· Carried out a number of specific projects this year not included in the Alliance plan.

· Sports Summit and Leadership Convention get great feedback from attendees

Not so good at?

· Trying to please too many people all of the time especially members – do we need to be a bit more strategic about the things we do?

· Because we take on new work, that was not scheduled, has had an impact on resources and staff capacity.

· Need to be able to tell a clearer story about the impact of the work we do for you and for wider stakeholders

The new strategy would aim to continue the things we do well – and seek to do them better. JA then encouraged members to consider the following three questions; 

1.) What does the Alliance do well?

2.) What ideas should the Alliance start to do?

3.) What should the Alliance stop doing?

Some of the proposed feedback included;

Things we might stop

· The meeting thought that it was difficult to find things for the Alliance to stop doing. However, the comment was made that the organisation could sometimes over communicate electronically and this may dilute the message it was trying to achieve.

· Another comment was made regarding quantity over quality regarding the communications and to make it more relevant and a plea to have more advance notice to help NGBs with planning time/budgets eg Reconomics launch in February 2017 was helpful to know now. 

Areas to develop

· On communications – the member to member engagement element and whether this could be incorporated on the website.  An on-line forum may not be the way forward but something along those lines.

· Get more Government Departments to work together – although JA confirmed that the Alliance was working on this eg its concussion and children obesity work.  The Government’s strategy helped in this respect as they were targets the Government had to deliver on.

JA proposed a road map today to publication

· Consultation with members at autumn round of divisional meetings

· October 2016 – Board consideration of draft strategic plan

· Mid November 2016 – Final Draft of plan agreed

· Late November/Early Dec 2016 – publication of Strategic Plan 2017

If members had any further thoughts or views JA encouraged them to contact EB, eboggis@sportandrecreation.org.uk or Andrew Moss chair@sportandrecreation.org.uk.

7. BREXIT

The Divisions had previously received the paper outlining the potential impact of Brexit on outdoor recreation and had been tasked with thinking about any issues that required further discussion. 

Mark Weston, BHS, was concerned that EU farmer subsidies would cease when Britain left the EU and that more should be done on lobbying to ensure that these remained ‘on the table’.  TF agreed that he would be delighted for any help from the Alliance regarding lobbying for EU subsidies as there did not appear to be enough work being done in this area. 

There was some discussion on issues that were as a result of Brexit.  These included the current exchange rate and the costs of attending training camps and the impact on aviation regulations.  Most of the EU directives had been incorporated into UK law and would therefore remain.  It was the repeal process that may have the greatest impact and the meeting agreed that there was a need for vigilance and no complacency in this regard as it might prove possible for MPs to remove current protections that apply.  A suggestion to lobby shadow ministers was also made.

RL summarised the discussion by stating that the Divisions needed to influence the way Britain left the EU and not those issues that were being felt as an impact of the decision to leave. 

He asked members to use the paper as a template to take the work forward and if there were further comments to send them to the Alliance.   

8. LEGAL STATUS OF RECREATIONAL LAND

Di King(DK) explained how the BMFA had been advising two member clubs on difficulties with using their flying sites, which both clubs had been using for several decades.  The difficulties had transpired when the land had transferred to a Leisure Trust or Wildlife Trust and they were trying to prohibit the model flyers. 

RL agreed that this could affect the membership across the country; the change of stewardship could cause problems and there was a need to negotiate.  A gentle approach was deemed to be the best way forward and there were some helpful suggestions provided as to how DK may take these forward for her clubs. 

9. AOB

9.1  Adventure Activity Licensing Authority

John Cousins, Mountain Training UK, reported that within Sporting Future, it had stated that it would move the licensing authority within DCMS.  He had met with representatives in April to discuss this but recently it had been decided that it would remain with Work and Pensions and the Health Executive.  There would also be a review before the end of the year which would likely mean that nothing would change to the current scheme; this was not what was intended by the Sporting Future document.  

Hannah Dobbin stated that should anyone be interested in joining the group to look at this further to get in touch otherwise the working group would progress this further and keep the Divisions informed. 

9.2  RL reported that the Forestry Commission land in Wales had been passed to Natural Resources Wales.  This may have been missed by a lot of people as it had not been widely announced.  This would also take place in Scotland and RL suggested members look into this if they thought they would be affected.  

9.3  2017 Divisional Elections for Chair and Deputy Chair

RL advised that the Divisional Elections were due next year.  Anyone could be considered for the positions but only authorised Representative Members or Honorary Members could nominate and, in the event of a ballot - vote.  

For Outdoor Pursuits, RL was eligible to stand as Chair again but unfortunately Lyn West had completed her six years as Deputy Chair.

For Water Recreation, both Gus Lewis and Adrian Lole were eligible to stand again as Chair and Deputy Chair, respectively.

10. MEETING DATES FOR 2017

· Thursday 16 February

· Wednesday 11 October

11. DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

· 2-3 November, Manchester – Leadership Convention

· 24 May 2017, Kia Oval – Sport Summit

The meeting concluded at 13.40 pm and RL thanked the Board representatives for attending the meeting and the Alliance staff for the agenda and contributions to the discussions. 

Minutes from the Joint Outdoor Pursuits and Water Recreation Meeting 12 October 2016

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