We really hope that you enjoy this copy of BSAC Talk. If you have any comments regarding this issue, please let us know by email at maryt@bsac.com

A PDF copy of this issue of BSAC TALK can also be downloaded from the BSAC TALK index page on our website at www.bsac.org/services/talk/index.html.

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HAS YOUR BRANCH REGISTERED FOR THE 2005 CAMPAIGN?

The BSAC's annual Come & Dive campaign has received a re-vamp for its tenth anniversary in time for the biggest campaign yet. Taking place from 26th September - 2nd October 2005, this year's event will see branches charging try-divers for the first time to take part. The £10 try dive fee has been introduced to drive branch participation and cover the costs of hosting the event (£2.50 will cover administration costs at HQ and the remaining £7.50 will be sent to the branch once their try dive night is completed). It should help to convert participation into membership by attracting those truly interested in diving.

To make Come & Dive a nationwide success it is important that as many branches as possible decide to take part in the event, and breathe new life into the BSAC!

IN ASSOCIATION WITH THE CAYMAN ISLANDS

After the success of the 2004 campaign, Come & Dive will have sponsorship and support from the Cayman Islands Department of Tourism for the second year running.

As you are all aware following the BSAC Annual General Meeting in May of this year, the BSAC has some newly elected Council Members.

You can meet all of the BSAC Council Members at http://www.bsac.com/about/meetcouncil.htm and see where their interests lie and also their contact details.

In July BSAC Council is meeting and will be allocating their teams and their objectives for the next three years. Once these teams are formed the email addresses for team leaders will be promoted and if you have anything which you would particularly like to raise specific to that team for discussion you will be able to do this.

In the meantime, existing and new Council Members are keen to attend local branches and carry out Regional Visits and meetings. If you would like to meet them, in some areas this is already happening.

Over the next few months you will see more about the BSAC Council and hopefully meet many of them.

Bob Healey, a newly elected Member is keen to carry out any visits, meetings, formal or informal. Bob is happy to cover all areas from Birmingham to Scotland. Please do contact Bob directly at bob.healey@bsac.com or north.sdo@bsac.com or northwestsnorkeller@ntlworld.com or telephone on 0161 292 6243. Bob would be delighted to hear from you.

To contact other Council Members for visits please email them on the email addresses provided on the website (http://www.bsac.com/about/meetcouncil.htm).

Announcing a stop press call to all BSAC Branches from BSAC HQ. As part of the BSAC Branch Marketing initiative.

BSAC HQ needs to know more about you, our branches.

Qualified divers and new divers, snorkellers and potential BSAC Members all have different needs. So what we need from you is to tell us your needs as a Branch and who you would like to have directed to your branch. Do you want youth Members? Do you want already trained Members? Do you want to stay the same size? When we know this we can try to send you the right person for your branch and target our marketing.

We will soon be in touch with you via our "Branches In Touch" campaign. Please do respond and help us to get this right.

Do Divers fall over in the dark?

At the Divewise conference earlier this year, I asked for help recruiting trainee divers for a research project. This project aims to investigate whether learning to dive has any effect on balance control. As research is due to begin from September, I'm looking for club members to help recruit trainees from their club to participate. A number of clubs have already agreed to help. Would you be prepared to ask your trainee divers when they first "sign up", whether they would be interested in taking part?

This is one of those "easy" research projects where participants are not asked to do an awful lot! The volunteer will be asked to turn up to club evenings, 15 minutes early approximately once per month. They will have their balance tested using a very easy test, and will be asked to complete a questionnaire. As a recruiter, you would be asked to provide any potential participants with a questionnaire and an information leaflet and to let me know if they are interested. Once I have names, I can do the rest.

If you are interested in helping, please contact me on 07962 154949 or at teri.taylor@unn.ac.uk and I will provide you with more comprehensive details of the study. Your help is very much appreciated.

Image Wizard, the BSAC's Public Relations Agency is looking for ways to get the profile of the BSAC raised by placing features in national and local magazines and newspapers.

Image Wizard are going to approach different specific magazines and need case studies, if you are interested in being interviewed and are an accountant, lawyer, train driver, professional golfer etc. Most professions have their own magazines and we want to raise BSACs' profile by including them in as many magazines as possible.

Have you got a story you'd like to tell?

Has diving changed your life? Has someone in your branch found a new career because of learning to scuba dive? Have you got a success story that you'd like to share?

If you have a story that you would like to share and are prepared to be interviewed and photographed, please get in touch with us here at HQ and we'll pass on your details to Image Wizard. Contact Odette Baker on 0151 350 6221 or email odetteb@bsac.com. We look forward to hearing from you!

BSAC Travel Club is working in partnership with some of the leading dive travel operators, to bring you exclusive offers and discounts ONLY available to BSAC Members. You can save up to hundreds of pounds on your holiday with this scheme as a BSAC Member.

Before booking your holiday anywhere, take a look at the travel club at www.bsactravelclub.co.uk and use your exclusive membership benefit to buy the holiday of a lifetime at fantastic BSAC prices.

At the same time while visiting the BSAC Travel Club website, why not subscribe to our BSAC traveller newsletter. We can then keep you up to date with special offers, BSAC travel news and other exciting travel information. Subscribe online at www.bsactravelclub.co.uk/traveller/subscribe.htm

Enjoy your holidays through our travel club and please when you return send us a report for our site where you can share your diving travel stories with BSAC Members.

Happy holidays! Look forward to hearing from you. Please email any holiday reports to odetteb@bsac.com

For all you budding diving photographers don't forget the BSAC Travel Club Photography Competition 2005. Following the success and popularity of the first BSAC Travel Club photography competition two sections have been introduced for the 2005 competition - Allcomers for the experts and Newcomer, for beginners. There are two monthly prizes of a signed book 'Dive Cornwall' by Charles Hood from Dive magazine and 'Essential Guide to Underwater digital Photography' by Michael Aw.

Three photos from each section will go forward each month to the final for the chance to win a trip onboard Peter Hughes diveboat Wind Dancer in Tobago and a voucher for £300 from Cameras Underwater.

Full details and rules of the competition are available on the photography section on BSAC Travel Club at www.bsactravelclub.co.uk.

There is a poster enclosed with this edition of BSAC Talk, which we would ask you to put on your club notice board. The poster is also the 2004-winning photograph taken by Pedro Vieyra who won a fabulous trip to the Coral Sea aboard the Undersea Explorer.

***COMING SOON - RESERVE YOUR COPY NOW***

A comprehensive manual covering every aspect of seamanship a diver coxswain is ever likely to require. It covers boat terminology, knots, charts, weather, boat handling, engine basics, VHF operations and much more. There is also a detailed section about procedures to take in an emergency right up to and including being picked up by a SAR helicopter.

Available late summer/early autumn.

Illustrated with many detailed diagrams and colour photographs this book is a must for anyone who owns or drives a diving RIB. Retail Price : £20.00 Members Price : £17.00

To reserve your copy now, please go to http://www.bsac.com/legacyorg/shop/manuals.htm

INSTRUCTOR MANUAL

This Instructor Manual covers the latest Diver Training programme. It covers training for all grades from Ocean Diver to First Class Diver. Includes CD Rom with visual aid templates.

Members Price £47.00
Retail Price £94.00

INSTRUCTORS' PROMPT CARDS

3 separate sets of spiral bound BC pocket-sized slates. Sets for Ocean Diver, Sports Diver and Dive Leader + Advanced Diver 'wet' lessons. One lesson per slate with blank reverse side for the instructor's own notes.

Price £10 per set.

DIVE MARSHALLING BOAT SLATE

A4 waterproof plastic slate for recording details of dive group composition, dive details and timings. For an underwater pencil for use with this slate please check out Accessories. Safety details on reverse.

Members Price £4.50
Retail Price £6.00

SEPARATE DIVE PLANNING SLATE

A waterproof plastic slate for inputting full details of Dive plan for underwater use.(This slate is included in the BSAC Decompression Tables) for underwater pencil for use with this slate please check out Accessories.

Price : £3.40

INSTRUCTOR POLO SHIRTS

Hard wearing cotton pique polos. Available in Purple, Royal Blue and Black. Sizes: M, L and XL (Proof of qualification required - add instructor number to membership number when requested)

Price : £15.00

Do you know what's on the BSAC websites? Have you taken a look at what's on offer just lately? If not, how about taking a look now! You can go to http://www.bsacshop.com for all your relevant training support materials, the latest in leisurewear and books on diving almost anywhere in the world! This site is secure so feel free to place an order or order your copy of the BSAC Mailshop catalogue online.

http://www.bsac.org has almost everything you need to know as a member of BSAC. You can find other branches in your area, Coaching info, Stationery Order Forms, Member Benefits and events where the BSAC has a presence. There is a huge range of information on this site such as the Branch Officers Handbook. If you are having a heated discussion in your branch about how the BSAC works then this will put you straight! Everything a new Branch Officer needs to know and even a Clip Art service of BSAC logos for your important advertising posters.

http://www.bsacsnorkelling.co.uk is a must to take a look at if you have young children who love the idea of having fun in the water but are not yet old enough to go scuba diving. This site is real fun!

And, of course, the BSAC Travel Club has its own site at http://www.bsactravelclub.co.uk. Now this site is a real must for anyone contemplating a trip either now or in the future. It has everything for the travelling diver - where to go, what to see, even reports that people have written on various locations across the world so that other people can get an insight into the locations before they go. It's all here! And, if you fancy having a go at writing a travel report when you get back from your trip, you can even win yourself a £15 BSAC Voucher. In most cases you can save at least the cost of your annual BSAC membership by booking through one of the BSAC's Preferred Travel Partners, all you need is your BSAC membership number.

Take a look at any of the sites and see just what you have been missing!

Love diving? Why not make a living out of it?

A fantastic opportunity to join the world's biggest and best diving club - the BSAC.

BSAC Technical Advisor based at BSAC HQ Office, Ellesmere Port, Cheshire.

The British Sub Aqua Club is the UK Governing Body for the sports of scuba diving and snorkelling. We are currently seeking a new member of staff to join our busy Technical Department.

The Role:

The successful candidate will report to the Technical Manager and activities will include:

• all aspects of the department's Coaching work - will include administration duties
• co-ordinating the Coaching provisions on behalf of the National Diving Committee (NDC)
• dealing with membership enquiries via email, telephone, letter writing and website

The Candidate:
Essential

• a qualified scuba diver to at least BSAC Advanced Diver level or equivalent
• a BSAC Advanced Instructor or equivalent
• motivated to work as an individual or as part of a team
• computer literate - ECDL or equivalent
• GCSE Maths and English or equivalent
• professional, confident and pleasant telephone manner

Desirable

• an Instructor in the Instructor Training Scheme
• experience of Coaching scheme activities
• project management skills

To enjoy an excellent working environment within our superb head office, apply now for this valued position within the BSAC Technical Team. Salary will be based on experience.

Please submit full CV to Alistair Reynolds, Technical Manager, British Sub Aqua Club, Telford's Quay, South Pier Road, Ellesmere Port, Cheshire CH65 4FL or email alistairr@bsac.com. For a more detailed job profile, please email Alistair Reynolds.

Closing date for CV's - Saturday 30 July 2005

For more information about the BSAC, visit www.bsac.org

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