quote name='Alasdair Kirk'
A fantastic thread - thank you Nigel for posting it, and a big thank you John for responding how you did without emotively charging in - not easy, but done well!
Alasdair
I thought it was all going fairly well until now...
[quote name='Simon Bentley' date='16 January 2010 - 11:07 AM' timestamp='1263640028' post='10362']
This is a subject that I continue to see cropping up all over the internet, sneering sideliners with nothing better to do finding any and every excuse to knock things - pretty day to day internet forum activity really, whatever the subject.
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sneering sideliners... well as the only person posting negative comment here I guess that's aimed at me?
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Besides all the associated costs of running 4x4 response I really do think a membership fee shows some dedication. It's always amazing how much interest there is during a major incident like the recent snow and ice and the floods of 2007 but its how many of those that translate to real dedicated members that really matters.
When YL first formed (then Humber-Yorks)in early 2007 we weren't exactly inundated with people wanting to join but when the floods came the membership was boosted massively. But looking back the bulk of those that joined during that time have since failed to renew.
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When exactly do you think/expect people to come forward and volunteer? Generally people respond to something - on the whole no-one cared about Haiti last week, but now they do? Does that make the donation and volunteers helping there now any less important or welcome? Does it really matter what their motives if they are able to actually make a difference out there?
Does it really matter if they dont subsequently turn up to a weekly/monthly meeting or even dont renew in a following year? I'm sure if push came to shove they'd be there to help you next time??? Or does the lack of club commitement mean that their help would no longer be welcome?
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I think John that you have misconstrued what people meant by the wannabees. Not wannabee members, but they wannabee charging around with beacons ablaze rescuing people and wannabe seen as an emergency service etc and just aren't interested in the general run of the mill logistical support that 4x4 Response is really about. Simply replacing conventional transport so that people and services can get through and continue as near to normal service as possible is very much our main function across the network. Sure there are some more active jobs too, recovering ambulances, evacuating people from a variety of places and scenarios etc. But anyway my experience is its these wannabe heroes that don't rejoin when they realise the reality of 4x4 response but they are the first to come out of the woodwork when it rains or snows.
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No Simon, I havent misconstrued anything in regards to wannabees.
There are people that do and there are people that want to sit around in meeting and organise and discuss... sadly clubs can generally be full of the latter and to be honest that does nothing to light my fire.
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The other argument I hear is it should be being paid for by the government - and yes it should - but who wants to pay extra taxes to fund services that are stood around doing nothing for much of the year.
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As an unproven and untested group I think you'd be laughed out of town if you tried to get sponsorship from government, but off the back of events like we have recently seen, I'm sure you'd have a really good conversation starter if you arranged to go and talk to those local emergency planning officer, etc, you'd just been getting calls from. Yes money is tight everywhere, but you never know what they might be able to do until you ask.
