Dear Members,
I trust that you have all enjoyed the Christmas festive season, understanding that for many of us it was a very stressful period due to the fires. Fortunately, thus far the damage has been constrained to two ranges, with only a few of our members having suffered damage to personal property. It remains important that as a nation we remain vigilant to the damage fires cause and that we continue to support our friends and neighbors as best we can.
No doubt you are aware that the AGM and Members workshop was held in Brisbane in November last year. As a result of that AGM new members were elected to the Board and it gives me great pleasure to announce those members and their portfolios:
- Chairman: Piers Cambridge.
- Treasurer/ Finance: Tina Thornhill.
- Competitions: Craig McGowan.
- Rules: Matt Pozzebon.
- IT/Membership: Albert van Wyk.
- Strategic Plan/Ammunition: Piers Cambridge.
If you haven’t heard, the Members workshop forum was very productive; there were a number of key issues that were discussed in an open and frank manner. We gained consensus. As a result of that consensus, a number of tasks have been set, including those in the strategic plan, and as such the key activities that we plan to tackle this year are:
- IT Plan – improve our collective IT
- Contact Information – for open messaging
- Powder Supply to the S&T
- Projectile Manufacturing – a study to determine the feasibility of producing our own projectiles
- Trading as Name for the NRAA
- Personal Firearm Insurance
Other key tasks identified: Constitution Review, Junior Development Camp, Membership Benefits/Value. We also received feedback around breach flags, rules sub-committee and the like and so we will address those issues – even though they might not appear in the ‘Top 6’.
I am particularly excited by this Board and the direction we intend to take. First and foremost, we will be consultative – we will openly engage the S&T to garner their feedback and support. Secondly, we will be transparent and open – none of us who are volunteers do this for the money (there is none in case you didn’t know!) we do it for the betterment of our sport. We will therefore make decisions that further our sport and not our own interests. We have a plan – we intend to action that Strategic plan as best we can, noting that there are some hard decisions to be made, some of which may be unpopular. At the end of the day, we must focus on bringing our expenditure down and growing our membership. We need to reduce the administrative burden on our volunteers – easier said than done. Finally, we need to focus on membership and grass-root members. Strong Clubs are ultimately the pinnacle to growth and sustainability in membership. We need to collectively work on growing our membership.
The Board has a big year ahead. We cannot do it alone. We are actively seeking people who want to help – if this is you please make yourself known. If you have a good idea – please let us know. We want positive and constructive feedback.
Finally, thank you in advance for your support. We have a bunch of committed people on the Board and collectively in the S&T – we can achieve some good outcomes for the sport. I look forward to seeing you on the range; failing that enjoy 2020 and good shooting!
