From the Boardroom

Arrivals and departures

We welcomed Nick Mayhew- Smith to the Executive Committee as Clubs Officer. This is a key position within the leadership team which we have been keen to fill, and having somebody with Nick’s experience and knowledge on board to oversee and improve the relationship between British Naturism and its clubs is very good news.

We also welcomed Amanda Lee to the general office, in which capacity she will be covering for Alana during her maternity leave. Many of you will know Amanda from events and her presence on the forum.

Elections

It’s good news that we have nominations for all the Director posts that are up for election this time – President, Vice-Chair and International director – and for the Eastern and South-west regional organisers (in the South-west, the deputy as well). However, we currently lack a nomination for Yorkshire and East Midlands regional organiser. Expressions of interest in that post would be welcome.

For the first time for a very long time, we have a contested election for one of the posts – namely that of International Director, with two excellent candidates competing to succeed Edwin Kilby, who is stepping down from that post following his election as vice- president of the International Naturist Federation (INF). Also stepping down in October will be Jon Williams, the current vice-chair, and Andrew Calow, the current regional organiser for Yorkshire and East Midlands region. 

Although not formally part of the election cycle this time, we must point out that BN still lacks a finance director – although we are ably assisted by Robin Dearle. If you have the right skills and could offer some of your time volunteering for BN, please don’t hesitate to get in touch – we would love to hear from you.

Members will find voting forms with the paper copy of their magazine and voting is also possible online (log in required)

Events: Alton Towers

We received the immensely disappointing news that, as a result of changes to its commercial arrangements, Alton Towers will no longer be able to host our November weekends in a manner which is viable both for them and for us. Our event has been dependent on our having exclusive use of the Splash Landings hotel and the waterpark, something that they can no longer entertain. It has been clear throughout that the decision is entirely driven by commercial considerations, and not due to any antipathy towards British Naturism or the dress-code of its members.

We know that the Alton Towers weekend has been a fixture in many members’ diaries for many years. We gather that BN’s weekend is not the only event  affected by these new arrangements.

Mark Walsh has been looking to create new events to try to fill the gap. A new event at Blackpool is on sale. Meanwhile, British Naturism and Alton Towers maintain a strong working relationship, and will be looking for possibilities for the future.

In more positive news, we are pleased to report that a new venue has been found for The Gathering, the flagship event in Scotland. It will now take place in Stirling at the end of October.

Women in Naturism (WiN)

The Executive Committee welcomed Helen Berriman, BN’s WiN officer, to its April meeting.  It’s well known that British Naturism has significantly more male members than female, a pattern that is repeated in many countries worldwide.  The challenge is how to do more to make organised Naturism more attractive to women, in particular.  Helen put forward a variety of proposals in this regard and more work will be done on this topic during the summer.

Sunfolk

The project to renew and improve Sunfolk to make it into a gold-standard Naturist venue continues.  At the time of writing the weather had led to some minor delays to the work but it is expected that these will be caught up during the summer.

We launched an ambitious crowdfunding initiative designed to generate some funds to build a modernised sauna and a hot tub – both features Sunfolk users had been calling for - and we were successful! Please look out for news of other ways in which you could contribute to an important part of the scheme.

International

British Naturism – and its forerunner, the Central Council for British Naturism (CCBN) – is a member of the INF and has been since it was founded in 1953.  The INF brings together Naturist federations from around the world and our participation means that by joining BN you are a member not only of a national group but also a much larger global community of naturists.

In September the INF will be celebrating its 70^th anniversary at Montalivet in France, where it was founded.  You are invited to join this celebratory weekend – read more in the events section of the INF website. You can also read about the latest activities within the INF in its newsletter, FOCUS, which comes out every two months.

Office address

Since the closure of the Northampton office, we have been using a “virtual” office address.  Unfortunately, the company that offered this service has decided to close down this aspect of its business.  In future, BN’s registered address and its correspondence address will be the same: British Naturism c/o Kilby Fox Accountants, 4 Pavilion Court, 600 Pavilion Drive, Northampton NN4 6SL.

And finally...

Our General Secretary, Tracey Major, marked 35 years of working for British Naturism.  Having joined as part of the youth training scheme in 1988, she has stayed ever since. She oversaw the transition from the old CCBN to today’s British Naturism, and the change from being club-led to member-led.  She supervised the establishment of BN as a company in 2010.  Dozens of executive committee members have come and gone over all this time, and the one constant has been Tracey.

BN President, Mark Bass, summed up his feelings thus:

“Tracey is the heart and soul of the organisation.  She is hugely respected by all members, but I can guarantee she deserves even more than that.  We would not be where we are today were it not for Tracey’s work, commitment and insight.  British Naturism is a hugely complicated organisation and Tracey is the only person to truly understand it.  I know that I would not be here were it not for Tracey.  You have my undying gratitude.”

And so say all of us.  Thank you, Tracey!