IainWR wrote:dromia wrote:
My NRA membership used to confer distant shooters some benefits that helped offset the cost of attending Bisley but for reasons that has stopped, if the only thing that NRA helps you with is shooting at Bisley then it cannot be a National organisation.
OK, I'm going to bite.
:mrgreen:
If the NRA is a national organisation independent of Bisley, why should it provide concessions to those who can't use Bisley? But you criticise it for not being a national organisation, then complain there's no discount for living miles away.
You can't have it both ways.
And, Dodgyrog, how would you like it to change? I'm open to input on the bit I'm responsible for! But there are things that simply cannot be done - the law does not permit them - and there are others for which there is no money.
yours
Iain Robertson
Ian you are conflating the issues, understandable as I have written a bit on this in different forums and I don't expect a busy man like yourself to have read and digested all the posts.
In relation to the fees and withdrawal of benefits for those distant from Bisley, this is to illustrate the current irrelevance of the NRA to those who are not on Bisleys doorstep and to show that the NRA currently is Bisley as these "Bisley" benefits was all that the NRA had to offer us.
It is the NRA that I criticise for not being a national organisation not Bisley shooting ground. If it was a true national organisation then it would be doing things for all its members equally and not be subsumed by the Bisley facility.
The hard fact of the matter Ian is that currently the only reason to join the NRA is if you shoot at Bisley as an individual member, if you do not then being a member confers you no benefits other than insurance which can be got elsewhere as can good legal advice both at less cost.
The NRA has to swallow this reality because until it does it will be hard pushed to have meaningful recruitment outside the Bisley catchment. Also old supporters like me now have nothing tangible to help persuade non members to join, we have had the rug pulled from under us by the very organisation we are trying to support.
Read the Journal it is all about Bisley or national team tours that eminate from Bisley, the reporting of NRA regional activity is negligable. That in itself speaks volumes.
The NRA has put itself in a catch 22 situation. If it really wants to change and develop from within being a member led organisation then for that to happen you will need stronger regional presence on council, committees etc. However with the regional membership being proportionatley lower then the chances of regional recruitment is lower. For regional membership to increase then the NRA's regional presence and activity must increase but that won't happen until you get more regional voices/membership.
Not only are you not seen to be relevant by non members but your are loosing your old champions like me.
We are not getting it anyways never mind both ways out here in the regions just now.