In an ideal world, a club’s twin duties are to support its members, and to promote the hobby – but what should a club actually do?
If your club survives on monthly meetings with guest speakers, and the occasional field day – that’s great… but is it enough?
In a recent survey, we polled over 400 UK amateurs to find out what they expect from their club. Here are the results:
Sorted by order of importance, here are the club activities that are considered a priority:
- Training & Exams
- Skills / Progression
- Club Meetings
- Field Days
- Talks
- Club Station / on-air
- Nets
- Social Events
- Buying & Selling
- Contests
Ideas for club events?
In an idea world, this should be driven by your members. Ask them what they want (informally, or using an online or paper survey form)
Our own survey, outlined above, identifies some ideas, such as:
Skills Development: In the East of England, several groups have held “Skills Nights”. The first of these was launched in Chelmsford, inspired by an idea from Essex Ham and supported by another club in the area. These became very popular events, with other groups in Essex, Suffolk and beyond adopting variants of the idea. Essentially, it’s the chance for members to bring along some “show-and-tell” on airs that they’re interested in, and inspire others. See our Skills Development section for more.
We’ll be adding more ideas soon
