If you buy a minibus lite and get a Permit 19 you can have a 17 seater on a car licence.
sorry mate, but youāre thinking out of your hoop if you think non-MOD sponsored youth groups have it better than us - they donāt, they live a hand-to-mouth existance with every expence being a major, show-stopping, time consuming drama.[/quote]
Our son played football and all were in an athletics club.
These relied and still do on parents doing a lot more than the average parent in the ATC, registration fees, subs, match fees, donations and sponsorship. It amused us that McDonalds of all people sponsored athletics, when the burger haters were in full flow, but they provided loads of kit.
Iāve run the line, time kept, measured, been a record keeper and the man with a sponge and bucket.
The athletics club had success and the kids had a bloody good time and the football team won competitions and several of the lads got onto the books of lower league teams.
Both were progressive as the klds grew and competed.
One of our nephews played cricket upto senior county level and he started doing Sunday mornings when he was 9 at a local side. One of our nieces did drama and dance and now does am dram with theatre group. They do it all and get little funding. My brother, sister in law and brother in law and sister in law, spent, like us, probably thousands over the year of involvement. Being in a soft, easy, cheap organisation like the ATC and seeing what others have to do, I fully appreciate the easy money we access. Public money has to be the least scrutinised money in the world, once itās been doled out.
But for this reason and with public spending comes under closer scrutiny, I think that our senior people are far too complacent about money, just look at the Ā£15000000 seemingly frittered away by OC 2FTS and time it has taken to get gliders operational, anywhere outside the public sector and heād have been long gone. When he does go heāll get a knighthood as a reward for doing little, like seems to happen in the armed forces. Complacency and incompetence has no place in any sphere, but does seem rife in the places where public money is spent. The reason we got into the financial mess we did 8/9 years ago and companies went to the wall was due to complacency.
All Iāve said is we need to get other funding streams if we want to see our cushy existence continue and being what was once the premier youth organisation, we have a product that should be easy to sell. We all sell it locally to our advantage. We may need to retain the RAF / military link for access and some funding, but not for management. Itās easy to sit there and say itās a stupid idea and without the easy money we wonāt be able to do / have x/y/z, but if it comes to not having the easy money due to cuts and some sort of contingency is in place, what then? We all know how HQAC work theyād tell us 6 months later that there are problems.
As you can see I am more than aware of the problems faced by other groups, due to being involved in them via our kids. Plus Iām involved with local groups where the only way to get money is the really hard way.
LA rates and hiring fees for pitches and the athletics stadium were a major headache as was the LA ditching parks where football pitches are. One of my mates is a ref and coach at a local rugby club and he regales me with their financial problems and that their ground is on parkland and under constant threat. Where our hut is could easily become a block of flats or executive The athletics club invites local businesses to their annual awards evening and invited a āstarā (which was a cost) but this was offset by the donations and sponsorship. Where is our celebrity Gp Capt (apart from a wood at the moment)? I canāt see execs not wanting the potential of photo with Carol Voorderman for the company website, personal social media etc. These ladies and gents could then be touched up for a few quid. I invite local organisations to our annual awards night, which realises a few quid. I donāt have anyone with quite the appeal or glamour of Carol locally.
Personally why should we be worried if as I say we look like an F1 driver?