Club growth tips from BSAC's biggest uni club

BSAC's largest club and top recruiter, University of Bristol Underwater Club (UBUC), shares the secrets of its success with other uni clubs.

Top 10 tips to develop a thriving uni scuba club...

1. Show off what you’ve been doing, and make it easily accessible
   We have an easily accessible calendar online with events - it makes it easy to plan and also shows people what’s going on in the club, even if they haven’t joined. We keep an up-to-date blog (with trip reports, announcements etc) on our website and post fun pictures and opportunities to Facebook and Twitter. You can keep less active members in the loop with a weekly email bulletin showing members what the club has been up to. It can include sign-up sheets for dive trips, training opportunities and video compilations, but needs to be written by someone who keeps up-to-date with club activities.
   UBUC website
   UBUC Facebook Page
   UBUC Twitter
   
   
2. Make good use of the Freshers Fair!
   Many students may not realise that the university even has a scuba club! Go out of your way during the Freshers fair and make your presence known. Having leaflets with key dates on them, along with a few sets of assembled scuba gear is always helpful for promotion. Marketing how cool UK diving is to those already qualified as well as newbies can also attract people with higher qualifications who might one day be interested in instructing or boat handling!
3. Organise a try dive
   A great opportunity for people to experience scuba diving in the comfort of the swimming pool before deciding whether to train for a full qualification. We tend to book our university swimming pool for a couple of hours so students don’t have to travel too far to try scuba diving. All of our instructors go for free and trainees pay £5 each to cover the costs of the swimming pool. Our training officer tends to circulate a sign-up sheet to instructors before the event so we can invite students to sign-up during the freshers fair. It worked really well for us this year, with a lot of try divers staying to complete their ocean diver qualification.
4. Run trips for newly qualified and more advanced divers alike
   In the UK try Porthkerris, Lyme Regis, Plymouth, Portland, Skomer, Farne Islands, Babbacombe and/or Brixham. For a bigger club trip abroad (which trainees can aim for and existing members can look forward to), try booking flights to Egypt, Gozo in Malta (Sports Divers and above) or the Azores in Portugal over the Summer holiday or Christmas. We find it helps to organise a regular schedule of trips so people have time to save up and plan them into their busy schedule. At least a month in advance is preferred to ensure there are enough people going on the trip to keep it feasible. We run a lot of weekend trips, but if that isn’t an option try running evening trips during the week or longer ones during the holidays.
5. Make an effort to talk to new members – this is really important!
   It’s easy to talk to people you know, but what keeps newbies coming back week after week is making friends and feeling welcome. This year, our amazing social secs implemented a family scheme where they paired up a ‘mom’ and ‘dad’ with new members of the club as their ‘children’ to encourage people to get to know each other. It was completely voluntary for people to sign-up and worked really well as they also arranged a bunch of nights out where families had pre-drinks together and joined everyone else for clubbing. We have put this at the top of the list because ‘cliques’ simply don’t last. Their members will eventually graduate and move on, with no-one to replace them unless new people join and make friends.
   
   
6. Regular club socials
   One of our favourites is the boat bar crawl. We take our club boats out to Bristol docks and nominate a boat handler to stay sober and drive everyone from pub to pub. Everyone who comes is charged a few pounds to pay for petrol and launching fees. An easier option would be to run weekly pub nights! UBUC have been doing them religiously for years and it’s a great opportunity for new and old members alike to chat about their diving experiences in the pub. Having it at the same place every week helps members to know where to go and when.
7. Make the most of University Grants!
   Most student unions are very happy to help further the growth of their societies. Drop your students union an email and ask about potential grant opportunities! Given the nature of our expensive sport and the important safety equipment that is required, they are often happy to help support the club to buy new equipment. In the past three years we have received funding for regulators, BCs, new radios, marinox kits, and more! Our alumni have also helped fund the purchase of a brand new compressor.
8. Offer semi-drysuits, hoods and gloves for rental as well as BCDs, Regs and cylinders.
   This seems to really help trainees who can’t afford the price of buying a semi-drysuit on top of their own mask, fins and boots at the start of the year. We keep our charges low to keep diving accessible whilst still covering the cost of equipment in the long-run. At the moment, our semi-drysuits can be rented by club members for £7 per day and a hood or gloves for £1 per day. Members simply sign into the Students Union website to pay online without the hassle of cash or cheques.
9. Run a big annual trip in the first week of the Easter holidays
   Every year, our club runs a trip to Porthkerris. More than 50 people came this year including a mix of Ocean Diver trainees, Sports Diver trainees, instructors, boat handlers and qualified divers just there to experience wrecks like the Volnay. Being in the first week of the Easter holidays, people are usually keen to come along straight from uni and then go home afterwards.
10. Help your instructors!
    Instructors are often keen to show people how to dive, but deadlines and expensive travel costs can get in the way. Try offering incentives by telling members about training opportunities a few weeks in advance and asking trainees to pay for their travel costs, entrance fees and/or parking (Vobster quarry offers free entry for any instructor accompanied by four or more trainees). Google docs is a great way to make sign-up sheets that can be emailed at the start of term. It helps us work out how many trainees we can accommodate at each session. Ours are usually held at our university swimming pool on Saturday evenings from 6pm until 9pm. We also take biscuits along to treat everyone when they finish in the pool.

If you would like to get in contact with UBUC for more information please send them an email. The club is keen to hook up with other uni clubs to share ideas, potentially work together and more.