So what do you think will actually happen now?
If an above comment “stuff happens” is accurate, I’m guessing nothing?
Sector commanders will continue doing what they do and junior volunteers will potentially remain unsure of their footing and ability to stand up for themselves?
Surely voluteers wanting to volunteer at a unit closer to home would be actively encouraged considering the budget issues we face.
A wing commander once said to me that if the local community does not want to support a local squadron then they will lose the squadron.
I personally took on a squadron through my owm choosing before being pushed into one that I didnt want to take.
I dont think anything different will change.
Wings will continue to build their mini-empires (some good/some bad), they will continue to try and force those less experienced to relocate to struggling units through the typical blackmail of “if you dont go, we will have to close the unit” and some CFAV will buckle to that pressure because they have never experienced it before and wont know how to push back.
It has been said many times before on this forum, often the biggest challenge in this organisation is other CFAV and I cannot see this changing.
The moan on TEAMS starts off sounding like the post originator simply wants to protect his empire. in a thinly vailed wrapper of ‘looking out for their staff’.
Imagine if all 4/5 go into uniform and are immediately poached to other units.
Been there done that.
A bigger question not yet raised is where is the incentive for a Sqn OC to even recruit staff or get then into uniform, if 5 min latee they are poached elsewhere!
It feels like you’re contradicting yourself a bit. Isn’t that all linked?
I find it interesting that RC North suggest in the VoP Thread
not sure how a national campaign (even if we could resource this) would work?
given this is all wesee the ACF doing and is often shared on this forum is this a shortsighted view?
I don’t want to throw any dirt the way of RC(N) - I think he’s done some great bits particularly around CFAV engagement - but the cynic in me sees this as an attempt by top brass to delegate the accountability for poor recruitment performance elsewhere.
This one message suggests that they haven’t even looked for someone within the organisation who has Volunteer Management experience in their paid work. You know, a subject matter expert who could provide some much-needed guidance.
likewise and i do not recall having anything negative to say about his responses so far.
this one did nerk me a bit though
Although they do it, does it work?
Pass
But that isnt the point I’m making or that of RC (N).
The suggestion is there is little understanding how a national campaign would work, not into its success.
There appears to be no recognition that there already is an ACF campaign setup which could be adapted for our needs (and if necessary fix the elements which don’t work)
It’s bizarre that the Scouts, the ACF, the National Trust etc… all spend time and money doing national volunteer recruitment campaigns without having asked the ATC whether they work…
Does this come back to the much higher level of permanent staff this organisation’s have?
National campaigns and advertising raise awareness - top of the funnel in marketing terms. Local action then converts that awareness into active applications, or that is the theory.
So Bear Grylls doing his stuff sows the seed of volunteering in the mind of someone who was a scout way back when, then they respond to a a Facebook post, poster in Tescos or whatever to contact the local group.
TL:DR National and local campaigns should work hand in hand.
And we have the mechanism to direct enquiries where they need to go via - FIND YOUR LOCAL SQUADRON - feature on the RAFAC website.
Except that isn’t where CFAV queries go. They go to Wing.
Recently, some of the standard forwarded enquiries to us have been marked up as spam! 
All of mine have
Am I right in thinking that the enquiries only come through to the squadron generic account too?
I’m currently the only person who accesses ours, and I’ve just deleted Outlook off my phone so I’m not so distracted whilst working.
They go to general account, Adj and OC.