Our quarterly update about what British Naturism's management team have been concerned with...
Arrivals and departures
Alana, in our general office, has left on maternity leave. We wish her well and look forward to good news soon!
Sunfolk
As you would expect, a considerable amount of time of the management team over the past few months has been devoted to the Sunfolk development. The good news is that, at the time of writing, approval has been given to our contractors to start work. We expect the first phase of the renovations will be completed in time for visitors to Sunfolk to enjoy a splendid 2024 season – perfect timing for the 60th anniversary of BN – with the redeveloped clubhouse. Which brings us to ...
60th anniversary of BN in 2024
The executive committee has been thinking about how to mark this milestone. Ideas range from an anniversary jamboree or rally, a world record attempt (some readers might recall that BN broke the record for the most naked people on a rollercoaster in 2019), to exhibitions and individual challenges. We don’t claim a monopoly of wisdom and, of course, inspiration and ideas from members would be very welcome. It could be an especially exciting year to be part of BN.
Website and forum
The Executive Committee has been discussing the BN website and the members’ forum, and a working group has been created to examine the issues in greater detail. The website needs to be attractive and easily navigated, and its front page needs to be effective both in “selling” Naturism, and in attracting non-members to join BN. The entire site is run on a system called Invision, a highly sophisticated software platform designed for hosting websites and forums like ours. Although it has served us well, Invision is not the only such system and, like all platforms, has some limitations. Nobody should assume we will move away from this system, but it makes sense to review it from time to time.
Financial matters
At this time of the year the attention of the Directors turns to the budget and the annual accounts. We are on target to produce the annual report for 2022 in time to be circulated with the summer magazine, consistently with our rules.
An innovation introduced following the AGM was the possibility of members becoming patrons or benefactors when they renew their membership. This involves offering a higher subscription than the standard one in order to give extra support to our organisation. Naturally we would like to encourage members who are in a position to do so to support BN in this way, and we hope the take-up of this opportunity will enable us to minimise subscription increases in future years.
Regions
Following the decision made at the AGM to make reforms to the way in which regions operate, some relatively changes have also been made to regional boundaries. These are:
→ Cumbria moves from Scotland, North-East England and Northern Ireland (SANER) region to North-west
→ Leicestershire moves from Eastern region to Yorkshire and East Midlands
→ Watford moves from London and South-east (LASER) region to Eastern
These changes took effect on 1 January. If you live in one of the affected areas it will not affect your ability to go to regional events – you can attend events anywhere – but the changes make more sense geographically and administratively.
Regional organisers will be monitoring all the changes made to regions carefully over the coming months.
International matters
The INF will hold its annual European meeting in March in Bonn. For the first time, this normally routine meeting will be accompanied by a conference, the theme of which is “Challenges to Naturism”, making it a much more interesting event.
The INF is marking its 70th anniversary this year with a special event at Montalivet in western France, where it was officially founded in 1953, in September. Everyone is welcome.
Don't forget the Forum Live 'Ask the Executive' session next Monday, 13 March...