Have you read the recently issued paper from the NFSA Standing Committee about the proposed Individual Membership proposed by the NFSA?

If not ask your club secretary to see it. It contains important information about the proposed way the NFSA hopes to raise income in the future to pay for the services that anglers want the NFSA to provide.

This web page will provide you with the important information contained in that paper. It is an attempt at passing the information on to as many anglers as possible in our division via the web site, rather than the paper just remaining with the club secretaries who may not have the facilities to copy the information around.

We are trying to get as many views as we can on this subject to provide feed back to the Standing Committee of the NFSA who issued the paper. E-mail us your comments on the Contact Us link at the bottom of the page

• £5 million - 3rd Party Public Liability Insurance worldwide
• Fish to Catch - Positive and increasing action to secure
  sustainable sea fish stocks for sea anglers
• An Effective Fighting Force - against overfishing and related issues
• A Safeguard for the Future - through properly funded Youth Development and Education Programme
• And Lots More!!

Proposed Individual Membership

The paper is issued by the Standing Committee of the NFSA for circulation to the members member club, and associate members. A fuller report of the working papers prepared by the Hon Treasurer and the Development Officer for the Executive Committee is available on application with a SAE from the Head Office at 51a Queen Street, Newton Abbot, Devon, TQ12 2QJ.

THE NFSA IS PROPOSING A CHANGE

The present system of affiliation by anglers through the clubs is not the most effective for the members, clubs or the NFSA.

At present any information or contact the NFSA has with the angler is achieved through the good services of the club, and if this is to be done effectively it involves cost and increased workload for the Club Secretary, it reduces the likelihood of the individual member having input in how his sport is run. It also means that because of the banded system of payment, the smaller clubs are paying much more per member than the larger clubs.

It is obvious that the affiliated clubs cannot be expected to subsidise their members to the level that is necessary for the NFSA to carry out its immense responsibilities. Therefore it is important that the principle of individual members paying to protect their sport, through the clubs, is understood and accepted. This is the only way that the NFSA will become properly funded and able to carry out and the requirements and responsibilities that have been thrust upon it, and to represent the sport as it needs and deserves.

In 1999 the NFSA carried out a survey which clearly showed that anglers, both members and non members, want much more from the NFSA and in particular to carry out more work on Conservation and Educational Issues.

THE NFSA SURVEY UNDERTAKEN IN 1999 OF MEMBER & NON MEMBER ANGLERS, RECORDED THEIR VIEWS WHICH CLEARLY HIGHLIGHTED THE IMPORTANCE OF THE FOLLOWING AREAS OF WORK AND ISSUES

These Issues cannot be tackled without additional funds, therefore a comprehensive budget has been set to accommodate the views of the members and to carry out the work that they have requested. See Tables 3 & 4.

The Executive, having been tasked by the Standing Committee with looking closer into an individual membership, have agreed that the member clubs should be approached and asked to consider the alternative which offers a better solution for the anglers, the clubs and the NFSA. Therefore it is proposed that the NFSA adopt an individual membership system of affiliation for all its members, and the proposed fee is £10, Family £12, Juniors £1.
Table 5 demonstrates how the IM Fee would be allocated.

BUT WHY SHOULD ANGLERS PAY A £10 ANNUAL FEE (LESS THAN 2Op PER WEEK) FOR THEIR SPORT?

Because this is the amount, per member that is required to properly fund the NFSA and enable it to carry out the work that the members have stated they want the NFSA to undertake. In particular they have demanded increased work in specific areas, these are listed in order of preference :-

*Conservation and Access - Fish to catch
The decline in catches by anglers is well publicised and without fish or fishing venues, there will be no sea angling. The additional funds will enable the NFSA to employ a full-time person to be responsible for the Conservation and Access Issues. It will enable us to carry out more lobbying to ensure that the Recreational Angler is properly represented within the UK and Europe and that their demands are addressed. We must raise the whole profile of angling and promote its socio economic importance. This cannot be done effectively by the present staff and the few volunteers who are expected to produce vast numbers of papers and correspondence on the ever increasing number of issues being raised.

*Education and Training
We have at the behest of our members and Sport England, committed ourselves to providing a certification scheme for sea angling instructors who will be able to provide a proficiency award scheme within 12 months which will include a safety at sea element. This will require more resources in the form of staff and course literature.

*Membership Services
Once we have achieved a larger individual database we can develop a whole new package for the angler and it is planned to provide special offers on tackle, clothing, publications, holidays and insurance services etc. that in the past have only been available to organisations such as RSPB, WWF and others.

*Competitions and Festivals
We will be able to increase our support for International Events, especially the youth teams. The NFSA along with its member organisations will be able to provide the Competitions and Events dictated by the changing demands of anglers, and these include National Championships for Charter Boats and Small Boats, a fast growing sector of our sport.

SOME QUESTIONS THAT MAY BE ASKED !

WILL THE ROLE OF THE CLUBS AND DIVISIONS CHANGE?
Yes, but for the better because the clubs will only need to pay a small registration fee (suggested €10), plus any required enhanced insurance cover. The basic services for the clubs will continue but be improved, with the added bonus that a club will not need to pay the basic third party insurance fee because every individual member will be automatically insured once they are registered with the NFSA. The NFSA divisions will also benefit because 25p for each individual member will be returned to the division in order to help them with their work locally. This for a typical division with 2000 members will mean on annual payment of £500, which will make a great difference to the amount of work that divisions will be able to undertake. We have for too long relied on volunteers being prepared to walk the extra mile, the time has come to make the sea anglers demands a reality.

WILL CLUBS HAVE TO PAY FOR THEIR SOCIAL NON ANGLING MEMBERS?
It is recognised that the larger clubs will have a number of social members who are not anglers and therefore do not contribute to or will not wish to contribute to the work of the NFSA. Therefore in order to address this potential problem for the larger clubs, it is expected that the large clubs will only register those members who are anglers, and it will be those and only those that will be covered by the NFSA Third Party Liability Insurance Scheme which covers members whilst engaged in an angling activity for up to £5 million.

WILL THE PERSONAL MEMBERS BE COMPROMISED IN ANY WAY?
No! because the services already established for the PM's will continue unaffected, but they will also be enhanced by the extra benefits that we shall be able to offer once our database becomes larger and our finances stronger.

WILL PERSONAL MEMBERS BE EXPECTED TO PAY AN INDIVIDUAL MEMBERSHIP FEE FOR EACH CLUB THAT THEY ARE IN MEMBERSHIP?
No! Personal Members will pay only once, and will be provided with a special Card and ID Number that will enable the Affiliated Club to identify that person as being a fully paid up member of the NFSA and entitled to all its benefits. The same will apply to persons that are members of more than one club.

HOW WILL FAMILIES AND JUNIORS UNDER 16 BE ACCOMMODATED?
Families of two adults plus two juniors under 16 years old, from the same family, will be able to register for an extra £2 in addition to either the Personal Membership fee or the Individual Membership fee through the clubs.

In order to encourage Junior Membership through the clubs, the very lifeblood for the sport's future, the Junior Individual Membership Fee is proposed at £1

WHAT ABOUT THE SPORT ENGLAND GRANT?
It is expected that the Grant Aid from Sport England will remain at the same level at £30,000 with some minor adjustments, but it must be remembered that grant aid is only available for specific projects, and these have to be clearly defined. The next four year plan submitted to Sport England will be prepared early in 2001, but will be based on our existing costings for which our programmes are illustrated in Table 6.

THEREFORE: A proposition will be put to the Membership at the next AGM on April 28th 2001, that - "the NFSA adopts an Individual Membership through the Clubs and that the fees will be : - Senior £10, Family £12, Junior £1."

Once adopted the individual method of membership through the clubs will furnish the Federation with the necessary funds to provide a much better service for the members and clubs. It will also enable the NFSA to carry out its function as the Governing Body for the protection & development of the Sport more effectively.

Again it is stressed that the whole concept of the Individual Membership is that those who take part in the Sport, the Angling Members, should pay for its protection and development.