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Old 17th Sep 2018, 8:18 pm   #23
Sean Williams
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Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: St.Ippolyts, Hitchin, Hertfordshire QRA IO91UW
Posts: 3,517
Default Re: Changing the BVWS

Personally I think just BVWS is fine - no need to spell out what it means.

As has been mentioned numerous times, there is a real need to attract fresh, young and enthusiastic members - the challenge, how to appeal to anyone of the current and previous generation about anything that requires actual work, effort, and above all a physical interest in doing something with your hands?

I've three children - Admittedly two are now of "adult" age, but other than a brief fleeting interest from Callum (now 19, and interested more in cars and moping around with his mates) none of them are the slightest bit interested in any of the old tech I have here.

The cause is a simple one, the move away from real world hands on stuff at school.

Add to this, that the emphasis on not taking risks, or doing anything that could be a danger to your health, it's no wonder we are short of younger members.

It is almost impossible to explain to anyone why we collect all this old clobber, repair or restore it, and then leave it sat on a shelf for use as and when we have the time.

So, if any of the organisations that exist now, such as BVWS want to have a long term future, then we as msmbers have a duty to try to introduce new life to the hobby.

Let's take BVWS events for an example - Harpenden - excellent for those of us already members, or interested, but what does it actually do to invite new enquiring minds?

The same can be said for the NVCF, and a lot of other events that are similar, they are all set to appeal to the target audience - existing collectors and enthusiasts!

A huge challenge, I for one do not know the answer.
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