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Wednesday May 23rd 2007 Annual General Meeting of the Oxford University Underwater Exploration Group |
o This year has been quite eventful. We started off the year with a new proposal for training and also had to quickly find a new Diving Officer. In November I organised a very successful sponsored swim (which raised £800 in total - with half going to the RNLI) and Annual Dinner. I also organised a theoretical session with a Free Diver which wasn’t very well attended but much enjoyed by all who went! We ended Michaelmas with a Festive curry! Hilary saw problems organising the traditional 10 day ET, whilst Trinity saw problems electing a new Committee and we were forced to hold an Extraordinary General Meeting to review OUUEG’s problems and come up with some possible solutions. Thank you to everyone who was on the Committee this year, and I wish the new Committee all the best! |
Secretary's Report - Alice Ind |
o I updated BSAC HQ’s record of the new Committee Members and worked with the Committee for the stall at Fresher’s Fair (thanks to everyone who did shifts!). We got over 300 eMail addresses at the stall to which we sent info about the introductory meeting. Despite some problems with the renewal forms from BSAC, Membership went fairly smoothly and currently we have 47 Members, 19 of whom were new this year. During the year I have also ordered Training Materials for the Ocean Diver and Sports Diver Courses and tried to keep up with query eMails from people interested in the Club. |
Treasurer's Report - Cherry Alviani |
o It's been a mixed year financially for the club. We made (roughly): We spent (roughly): The main reasons were: The accounts now contain: In future: |
Training Officer - Simon Milling |
o The year started in Trinity Term with an understanding that Training would continue as in previous years - using the pool at Radley and the Grandstand on Tuesday evenings for BS-AC Novice and Sports Diver sessions. It was thought to be ‘a good idea’ to start Novices in the Open Water as soon as possible- preferably before ET. Shortly before Term the idea was floated that we should “contract out” our Training. I was not in favour. The idea was rejected. During discussions it became clearer that pre-ET Open Water Diving would be extremely desirable. 30+ people attended our Intro Lecture. 22 expressed interest in training, and were added to my Mailing List (not all of these were novices). 13 did some pool training. 10 (?) completed their Pool Training. Of those 10, 8 came on a shortened ET and 6 have completed the Practical Lessons as far as Sports Diver. ET was cut to 4 days diving due to a lack of available Instructors (as I understand it). The fact that many Novices had already dived at Horsea in December and/or Stoney in February meant that this shortened ET did not greatly impact the number of Sports Divers we have been able to Train this year. We were also helped by the facts that the weather at ET was perfect, and it was organised and marshalled with breathtaking efficiency (thanks Joy!). Many thanks to all the Instructors who helped with Lectures, with Pool Training, and with ET. Notes: Despite a reasonable number of people achieving Diving Qualifications, very few are planning to dive over the summer. Even fewer plan to take up Committee positions, or continue with Instructor Training. This seems to be a perennial problem. I estimate that we only need 2-3 committed new divers each year to maintain momentum. We are not achieving this. There are many Instructors with sufficient Qualifications and free time to Instruct in the pool, but far fewer able to Instruct in Open Water. Our Instructor population is ageing, tiring, and acquiring time-consuming jobs and families. We need fresh Instructor blood! |
Advanced Training Officer - Samantha Griffifths |
o Over the past 2 Terms I have run 2 Advanced Training Courses. In December 2006 I organised a two day Nitrox course which trained 2 x Basic Nitrox, 4 x Students/OUUEG Members, 4 x Town Club Members and 1 x new Nitrox Instructor. The Advanced Diver Course was started in February 2007 and catered for 2 x Students, 2 x OUUEG Members and 3 x Town Club Members. Over the year we have also completed 2 x Dive Leader Training. Overall the year has been reasonably successful although it would have been good to have run the O2 Admin Course. |
Kit Officer - Julie Hamilton, as Assistant KO |
o The University asked us to make an Inventory so over the last year I have made an approximate list of what is in the Hut with guestimated values for insurance purposes. However this is difficult as people may still have kit out and there is personal kit in the Hut. Outstanding problems that I see for OUUEG kit is lack of records for servicing, keeping track of rented equipment and also equipment that needs servicing/repairing. I’ve had a chat with the OxBSAC KO and they have a really good system to keep track of kit. I’ve now got copies of the forms and lists that they use. I think we also need more organised storage containers and more clarity about what we can and can’t provide for Hire and which kit is OUUEG’s or personal. It would also be better to have a set evening every week for kit transactions. |
Boat Officer - George Hamer |
o Over the year I have organised the permanent renewal of our Radio License, finalised the procedure for the use of the Boat and liaised with Blue Water Horizons about storage of the Boat. I also helped with fixing the trailer (thanks everyone who came down to help!), repaired the kit posts in the centre of the Boat and ordered various small parts. I’ve also arranged for servicing of the Boat in Weymouth. I also tried to arrange for the engine to be flushed over winter repeatedly, but was unable to carry this out myself and nobody else seemed willing to help. I tried to organise some Boat Handling courses but Regional Instructors offering it for a reasonable price wouldn't answer my calls or e-Mails. |
Expedition Officer - Joy Corntwaite |
o This has been a mixed year in terms of diving, the Weekend Training Trips were fairly popular and the condensed ET worked very well in terms of the amount of Training we actually achieved. ET in its original form - 1 week at PK did not excite a lot of interest from Novices,Instructors or Sporties, so a long Weekend was devised. Within 48 hours of the new arrangements being advertised 8 more people had signed up (compared to 3 before) and this is a possible indicator of the type and length of Trips which appeal to our Members. Plenty of Trips are planned for this summer, from a week in the Scillies and Norway(?) to weekends out of Portland, Cornwall and Pembrokeshire and it is hoped that the Club Members will get round to doing lots of diving on these Trips. As for next year I think another winter warm water Trip would be welcome and maybe a summer Exped at the end of June/start of July in order to fit in better with the end of Student Terms. I would like to see more diving happening within the Club and remain happy to help others start their Trip organising career if they would like a bit of support. Organise a Trip and come diving folks- that is what the Club is all about! |
Diving Officer - Craig Wilson |
o I took on this role part way through the year, taking over as Diving Officer in September following Steven Siller’s resignation. Diving over the winter months began with a Trip to Weymouth using the Cub Boat in October, aimed at interesting new Members. After that diving was limited mainly to Novice and Advanced Training Trips to inland sites (Stoney and Horsea), with the first Trip to the seaside being ET, this year in Weymouth. However the calendar for the summer looks extremely busy, with Trips roughly every 3 weeks. Most of these Trips have been organised by the Expedition Officer. It will be interesting to see whether there are now too many Trips for the number of Members in the Club and how many Trips fail to run as a result of shortages of participants. Hopefully this will not be the case, but it may be wise for the new Committee to consider limiting the number of Trips next year if this does prove to bea problem. Also, although some of the Trips already planned (including a week long Trip) utilise the Club Boat, there is little room left in the calendar for weekend Trips to Weymouth using the Boat, as was envisaged when the decision was taken to place it there, meaning it is likely to be under used again this year. In terms of safety, there was one instance of a Member suffering a fast ascent and needing to be recompressed on ET, which is always a shame to report. Any suggestions for changes to Diving Practice arising from this incident will be disseminated. There were also concerns on ET about Members diving with insufficient equipment. This was despite new Members being told several times what kit was necessary. The Club is currently aiming to provide far more kit than previously (such as suits, gloves, hoods, fins and timers/computers). It must be made clear, however that in cases where the Club is unable to provide all the equipment necessary it is the diver’s responsibility to acquire it either through hire or purchase from elsewhere. Diving without the necessary equipment is not an option. It should also be noted that the OUUEG Risk Assessment states that that all Divers must dive within tTables or the limits of a computer in order to avoid DecompressionIllness. This requires carrying a dive timer/depth gauge or dive computer. Also a knife or line cutter must be carried in case of entanglement. On a positive note I saw many more weight checks being carried out throughout the year than previously, often with the Diver concerned shedding many pounds from their weight belt in the process. New divers in particular should take the time to carry out weight checks during the summer to ensure that they are correctly weighted now that they are more comfortable in the water. Remember that diving over-weighted increases the risks of fast ascents as buoyancy is harder to control. It also makes all of your diving activities much more uncomfortable. |
Elections |
o Committee members were elected as follows, unsuccessful candidates being shown in brackets: President – Alex Lewis Secretary – Kieran Finan Treasurer – George Hamer Dive Officer – Paul McCloghrie (Steven Siller) Training Officer – unfilled; Simon Milling acting temporarily Kit Officer – Julie Hamilton Boat Officer – Anthony Dyson Expeditions Officer – Luke Sanders Social Secretary – Cherry Alviani Other positions remained unfilled |
http://www.ouueg.org.uk |
