The Tuesday Register - Update

Some people who come on Tuesdays have asked why we have the Tuesday Register, and what happens to the information you give us.

There are a couple of reasons we ask for this information—some to do with the Club and some to do with the Royal Yachting Assn of which the Club is an affiliated member.

Junior Training, the other way up.

Obviously the Club needs the name of everyone who comes to the training sessions; your email address helps us keep in touch with you if and when necessary; the Medical/Consent form let’s us know if there are any existing medical conditions which we need to be aware of before you sail with us; this also asks for permission to use any photos/videos we may take, in our website, marketing etc, and for a contact number which we can use in case of an emergency affecting you.

The RYA asks for monitoring information from all clubs affiliated to them— numbers of adults/juniors; sailing or accompanying people who are sailing— usually parents bringing children. 
This feeds into a regional picture of sailing, and then into a national picture. From this information, and from discussions they have with us throughout the year, the RYA aims to raise funding which then filters back down to regions and clubs like ours. Such funding also supports RYA staff, who meet us, represent us, run training courses and for YSC, will be advising on our lease negotiations (currently underway with Leeds City Council). So, every week when people have signed in, we enter numbers in a spreadsheet and from this spreadsheet, we complete the monitoring forms the RYA needs— we only send them numbers—they don’t require names, email addresses or medical information. We also use this information in grant applications we make ourselves—eg for the Sports Lottery grant we got for the new Herons. We keep the registers and consent forms in a locked cupboard, and at the end of the season we burn or shred them.

We regularly review the information we need to ask for— 2 examples :

• perhaps we should have medical information/consent to use photos emergency contacts for all club members, not just people coming on Tuesdays;
• now people are signing up online for the Tuesdays, this includes their email address, so perhaps we don’t need to ask you to write it out when you first come.

Over the winter we look at things like this, as well as how we might tweak or revise training programmes and other Club procedures. If you want to know more about any of the above, you can talk to Neil McInnes (Training Coach), Andrew Cowling (Club Secretary and trainer); Louise Harding (who fills in all the RYA forms—thank you, Louise!!)