Tuesday the 16th of December saw members and guests assemble for the South Essex Amateur Radio Society’s Christmas social event in Thundersley.
The evening was very well attended with an impressive selection of seasonal, sweet and savory snacks, a little festive music, the opportunity to catch up with the club’s latest developments, and most importantly, to chat.
The evening started with a welcome and some announcements from Dave G4UVJ and Vic G6BHE, mostly looking at the plans for February’s ever-popular Canvey Rally.
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Training at SEARS
After the club announcements, and the chance to get some tea, proceedings moved on to training. It’s been some years since SEARS was involved in training, and following a suggestion made at the recent AGM, SEARS plans to start Foundation training early next year.
The plans for the SEARS Foundation training courses were outlined by Steve 2E0UEH, who’s passion for training was evident in his presentation. Steve emphasised the importance of getting new people into the hobby and outlined the plans for the SEARS courses. A club’s training is only as good as the team behind it, and for that reason, SEARS is keen to open up the club’s training to all members interested in helping out, in any capacity. As Steve explained, there are plenty of opportunities for club members to get involved – from teaching new potential licencees, helping out with the practicals, supporting the candidates, helping with the exams, and that vital job – making the tea. It was rewarding to see so many people came forward after the talk to offer their services and find out more.
A show of hands revealed that a good percentage of the members and guests aren’t familiar with what’s required learning on the current Foundation syllabus, so Pete M0PSX played a video, customised for SEARS, showing what takes place on a typical Foundation course. This gave a good feel for what course helpers may be letting themselves in for.
For those interested, the following video gives a feel for what’s taught at Foundation-level:
The video ended with a quick peek at some of the SEARS training material, which is based on the Essex Ham Foundation training slides, in use by a number of clubs in the UK.
After the talk, plenty of time for chat and the last chance of the year for club members to swap Christmas cards, catch up with friends, and enjoy the great selection of food and drink available, which was all completely free of charge, with not a donation-pot in sight.
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A great year for SEARS
Congratulations to SEARS for a great evening – good food and drink, plus a friendly atmosphere, wrapping up a great year for the club, which has seen some very successful events, including:
- Making contact with the International Space Station for Winter Gardens School
- A very well-attended Canvey Rally
- Several events to commemorate the downing of the Heavenly Bodies WWII bomber and the start of the Great War
- A move from Canvey Island to the club’s excellent and accessible venue in Thundersley
- Events promoting the hobby
- An influx of new members
- A successful JOTA event on Canvey Island
- A busy calendar of talks and field events
Well done to the SEARS team for a great evening. Keep an eye on the SEARS website for details of next year’s events and club nights – and if you’ve not been before, come along to a club meeting in 2015 and get a taste of the SEARS experience.
Thanks to Kristian 2E0SSX for supplying the photos for this review of the SEARS club night. Most appreciated Kristian!
