It takes 2 (baby, it takes 2!!)

Here’s a quote

“Many potential members are lost to the Association simply because we are not continually aware of membership needs. There are thousands of young men throughout this country who would benefit from being members of Round Table and if we do not retain this membership awareness, then we deny them the opportunity. The future of the movement is in our hands, not in the hands of future Tablers.”

This could be a quote from the Round Table or 41 Club's AGM last year but in actual fact it was penned over 25 years ago by Nick Lewis, Round Table National Membership & Extension Officer 1984/85 (and now member of Bridgend 41 Club) in the Tabler magazine in 1984.

The point though remains the same now as it did then there must be thousands of young men throughout the country who would benefit from being a member of Round Table. We have launched a number of projects including “The Phoenix Project”. We have a couple of clubs off the ground and working on it but how many people does it really take to make a start? The answer is two. Two committed people who want to make it work. For a great example of this follow the link to the membership page on the web site to see how Livingston Round Table was reborn. If your club has lost its feeder table and you have the enthusiasm and can find just two people to start a new one why not give it a try? Details of how to do it are on the web site or contact Jim Smith, National Membership Officer to find out more. membership@41club.org

“Get Off Your Backside” – but slowly does it.

Maybe it’s the aging bones or just the holidays but getting off our backsides seems to have been a bit of a struggle during the first few months of the year. I just can’t stress enough the importance of clubs doing what they can to firstly support Round Table to increase their membership and secondly to attract those who have left Round Table back to 41 Club.

The good news is that we are now regularly opening new or re-affiliating existing clubs. A number of them are for younger members of 41 Club who have set up new clubs to be active and fully support local Round Tables. The downside is that a similar number of clubs are not paying their capitation and deciding that £10 per annum is too much to continue belonging to the movement that brought us all together.

The initiatives I launched are now all in place. There are press release templates for use and all National Councillors are fully briefed on how to help you. A Council meeting was given over to discussing actions we should take to support the initiatives. Just a reminder that everything we are doing is supporting the revised Purposes and Objects we published previously and that you are encouraged to read out at the start of all your meetings.

“Get One In”

This simple initiative is designed to help you as clubs introduce potential members to Round Table and Circle. Round Table has developed a great series of membership initiatives and these can be viewed at www.roundtablesupport.co.uk. You should also look at how Round Table has updated its image on their new web site www.roundtable.co.uk. The Exec and members of Table are working really hard to grow numbers and as agreed at the AGM in April our membership told us we have to fully support them.

“Phoenix”

Many 41 clubs bemoan the fact that their feeder table has closed. Whilst this initiative is not for the faint hearted it is designed to re-launch a Table or create a new one. Again the details are available (link top right box) but if it is to be done it has to be done properly. Please let me and your National Councillor know if this is something you want to do. I am delighted to tell you that as a result of efforts by Vigo Village 41 Club in Kent working with other Round Tables locally a new Round Table was chartered in September in Bexley. This is great news and shows what can be done with a bit of effort.

“Mind the Gap – Bring 'em Back”

The re-vamped Reach Out project. The aim is to encourage clubs to become active in their community to entice members of Round Table who have not joined the 41 Club before, or to encourage some of those people to set up a new club. We have to provide something that is attractive and I encourage all clubs to look at their programme, look at their community activity and make contact with the lost members.

So let’s all make an effort to “Get Off Our Backsides” and grow all parts of the Round Table family. Let me know what you are doing and all about your successes.