COMMENT
Knock, knock
Is there anybody out there?
Is there anybody at all out there? At this juncture if I could get a graphic in here it would be the poster from World War One where Lord Kitchener has his hand pointing directly in front of him with the caption (slightly modified for our use) “Your Council Needs You”.
Why is this now so urgent? To carry out the work that the Council currently does on behalf of its members and everyone else that uses the “great outdoors” we receive support from various government bodies. Fine you might say. However, in this day and age there are more and more organisations like ours requiring support. Coupled to this is the fact the amount of support money available is getting smaller all the time. Some of our money is about to dry up and we will not be in a position to continue to do the hitherto great job that we have done in ensuring that “the great outdoors” continues to be available in all its natural wildness and beauty. There are many threats to the outdoor environment, which we need to continue to oppose, including the indiscriminate siting of wind farms as well the continued negotiations on local access problems that still occur and the future liaison with the extensive numbers of local access forum officers that have come with the new legislation. There is still a lot of work to be done!
But we are being dealt a blow this year; the Government Agency Scottish Natural Heritage has been very generous in the past, supporting our Access & Conservation work, latterly allowing 100% funding for the Officer post, but from March this may dramatically reduce.
So, no longer are there the same previous “handouts “available. Where can we get new money? We will have to fund the work that we do from revenue. Where does our revenue come from? Our members. But presently this source does not give us enough to pay towards an A&C officer salary on top of everything else.
The MCofS has become an influential player as far as government is concerned, in all aspects of the outdoors and we are now regularly included as primary consultees on a diverse range of issues that may affect the hills and crags. We have built up a history of taking a fair but robust stance on the issues that affect walking and climbing and with our participation within Scottish Environment Link, have forged direct links to MSP's and Ministers. But to continue to carry out the work that we are so successful at, with ever decreasing support from government agencies, we need to increase substantially our membership numbers.
So, just who is it we need and why?
We need someone with PR/ Marketing experience prepared to offer the Council some of their time and the use of their skills.
Knock Knock, is there anybody out there that can help? We need your marketing skills to increase our Membership. We currently have 2500 Individual Members but we need to double this quickly if we are to continue to be influential in representing your interests. But with no spare funds for a major marketing campaign and an identified lack of publicity (many Scots based walkers and climbers continue to join the BMC instead of MCofS because they have not heard about us) we need someone with expertise to advise us.
Knock Knock “Your Council Needs You”.
Fred Belcher
Vice President, MCofS.
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