BFA Members Day at NDAC in Chepstow on Saturday 30 July 2016

BFA Members Day at NDAC in Chepstow on Saturday 30 July 2016

We’re holding a BFA Members Day at NDAC in Chepstow on Saturday 30 July 2016.

We’ve arranged a freedive safety demo (by Liv Philip), talk on underwater photography by Mark Harris (author of Glass and Water), BBQ, camping and yoga (with Rebecca Coales). And of course for qualified divers*, some time on the Saltfree platform and NDAC attractions.

We’ll cover the costs of diving for BFA members. Our BBQ will be at the Beeches Farm campsite where we’ve also set aside space for the freedive group. There’s a normal Saltfree meet the next day for those staying on.

Places are limited for this event so please sign up today by contacting Rebecca membership@britishfreediving.org stating whether you are diving only or diving + campsite. We’ll need a deposit from you if you’re camping

See you there!

*at least AIDA 2 star or equivalent

Get Snapping this Summer!

BFA Underwater Photo Competition

Picture Credit: Daan Verhoeven (www.daanverhoeven.com)

This summer we’re hosting an Underwater Photo Competition with the great prize of a workshop with renowned freediving photographer Daan Verhoeven. The winning image will also be used on next year’s BFA membership e-cards.

So many of you have told us that you’re keen photographers in your membership applications so now’s the time to get snapping!

To enter the competition we ask that you email us your best image by midnight on Saturday 15 August. The address is photo@britishfreediving.org. Your photo should capture the essence of freediving, as you see it.

We’ll then post your photos onto the BFA Facebook page for one week of voting, allowing everyone to give their view on the best shots.

Prize details: The day workshop with Daan can take place in Cornwall or Chepstow NDAC, but not covering any travel or accommodation expenses and must be taken by the end of 2015.

Just a few rules:

  • The competition is only open to current BFA members
  • One entry per person
  • Pictures should be taken on breath-hold

Good luck!

BFA AGM 8 November 2014

BFA AGM 2014 bubble rings

The annual AGM was was hosted by Salt Free (http://www.saltfree.biz) at the NDAC (www.ndac.co.uk) on Saturday 8th November and we had a great turn out! Despite the chilly weather some of us even went for a dip before the meeting. It was a beautiful day for a dive and we were treated to 20m visibility. There was even time for a bit of bubble ring blowing to end the session before getting down to the serious business of the meeting. It’s been a great year for British freediving, we can’t mention everything, but to give you an idea we’ve seen BFA members breaking national records, winning international competitions, taking and being the subjects of beautiful underwater photography, there was a short film featured by Redbull and spreads on freediving in the broadsheets. We can’t believe it’s almost the end of the year, but its that time when the committee often changes and so we would like to take this opportunity to say goodbye and thank you to Charlotte Sundberg, our membership officer and welcome in her place Rebecca Coales. Thank you all for your continued support of the BFA and the committee; we hope we may continue to be of service to you and our aim is still the same, to help freediving flourish and grow.

From all of us at the BFA, we wish you a Merry Christmas and lots of exciting, wonderful and safe dives for 2015!

Minutes from the Meeting

Location: Salt Free divers, NDAC

Apologies: Adam, Charlotte, David, Liv, Martyn

Present, George, Beci, Bart, Tim, Rebecca, Luke, Jay and Daan

2013/14 Committee
Chair – Adam Dzraga
Clubs Officer – George Miller
Competitions Officer – Bart Lubecki
E Media Officer – Tim Money
Membership Secretary – charlotte sundberg
Press Officer – Beci Ryan
Records & AIDA Liaison Officer – David Tranfield
Secretary – care taken by Georgina Miller
Sponsorship Officer – Jay Cluskey
Training & Safety Officer – Liv Philip
Treasurer – care taken by Martyn Jones

1) Thanks to Charlotte for her time on the committee and warm welcome to new committee member Rebecca Coales who is the new Membership Officer.

2) Apologies were received.

3) Minutes of last meeting were reviewed with no comments or objections.

4) Notification of Committee Members for 2014/15 were announced:

2014/15 Committee
Chair – Adam Dzraga
Clubs Officer – George Miller
Competitions Officer – Bart Lubecki
E Media Officer – Tim Money
Membership Secretary – Rebecca Coales
Press Officer – Beci Ryan
Records & AIDA Liaison Officer – David Tranfield
Secretary – care taken by Georgina Miller and Beci Ryan
Sponsorship Officer – Jay Cluskey
Training & Safety Officer – Liv Philip
Treasurer – care taken by Martyn jones

5) Committee reports, condensed versions were read out.

6) Announcement of Fees – it was unanimously agreed that there would be no change to Membership Fee for 2015.

7) Team Selection for 2015 – AIDA Individual Pool World Championships will be in Belgrade in June. It was proposed that we aim to send maximum number of athletes possible to this event (top three by AIDA ranking plus reserves, captain and coach). Maximum number of athletes is to be confirmed. The individual team members will be chosen based on AIDA Ranked performance from 18 months prior to cut off date. Cut off date 3 months before entry deadline. The Depth World Championships are to be held in Cyprus. Team selection will be the same as for the Pool World Championships.

8) Announcement of UK Champions – Congratulations to Mike Board and Liv Philip. Results gathered by Georgina Miller according to AIDA ranked points (Nov 2013 – Nov 2014)

ChairIt was suggested that the Chairman and Secretary collaborate more closely to ensure that emails and responses are organised and seen through to an end point. It was agreed that the Chairman organise quarterly meetings along with a To Do list for each role.

Membership

To get an operating e-membership system up and running with up to date database to allow membership communication via mail chimp to members from all roles.
Build Membership, invest a budget amount for marketing, i.e. advert in Dive Magazines, a stand at the dive show. A suggestion was made to attend a Triathlon show.
What can we offer our members? It was agreed that a quarterly newsletter go out to members and possibility of a members get together.

Clubs

How to build Clubs and members?
Ways in which to include, or not include, other freediving agencies or organisations on the BFA listings of affiliate clubs was discussed. At the moment we list SSI Clubs only if they have AIDA instructors and are teaching AIDA courses. Should we also include other freediving clubs who do not teach AIDA courses on our affiliate clubs in our listings? The topic was discussed and it was suggested that the Club’s Officer build a proposal to be discussed at a later date.
How can we encourage Clubs to recommend BFA membership to their club members, should this be mandatory? It was agreed that it should not be mandatory but we should invite organisers to encourage their members to join by sending information out to them of promotional offers and / or flyers to hand out (maybe for inclusion as part of a welcome pack if already done so by the club).

Sponsorship

Report was given on this year’s sponsors: Elios, Prawno, Beet-it and Bounce Balls.
Ideas for next year’s National and World Championship sponsors were discussed. It was suggested and agreed that the Sponsorship Officer along with the Press Officer should start targeting potential sponsors for 2015.
It was requested that the following be voted upon:
Should the BFA should cover shortfall in sponsorship – i.e. currently, if there are not enough suits provided for all athletes, the team splits the cost between them to ensure all the team are provided for.
Decision: It was voted that the BFA would not cover the shortfall
Should the BFA cover the cost of any extra bags or weight costs incurred by athlete/s to carry kit to an event?
Decision: It was voted that the BFA should in principal cover the costs of transporting goods but covering the shortfall should be done on a case-by-case basis.
Should the BFA pay for a Media package if offered at a World Championship event, to be used by BFA for sponsors and given to athletes for their use, and our promotional material.
Decision: It was voted that the BFA would vote upon this on a case-by-case basis.

Press

It was suggested that we should get sponsorship offers out to members. This could go out with renewals for membership? Offers could also be shared on the Face Book page and website.
A vote was requested on the BFA covering the costs of dive shows.
Decision: Yes but on a case-by-case basis but only with enough information and plenty of time to organise. It was also stipulated that the data base of personal information and contact details go back to the BFA ONLY and not to individual clubs. It was proposed that the BFA pay for one dive shoe and one tri show.
The possibility of a media page for the website was suggested.

Training and Safety: A report was read out at the meeting.

Treasurer: Statement was emailed to committee members on-line. It was decided that rather than set budgets in advance, decisions on finances would be made on a case-by-case basis of proposals. It was agreed that quarterly statements would be very useful to help consider spending. Report on monies spent.

Competitions

The first competition grant was awarded to Apnea Revolution, a London based club. This was their first competition. The first competition grant generated new membership to cover the cost of the grant. The grant and competition were deemed to have been a success.
Grant maximum amounts were agreed:
Pool Competition Grant (maximum £250 Grant)
Depth Competition Grant (maximum £400 Grant)
National Championships Grant (Pool or Depth, maximum £250 Grant each)

AOB:
The possibility of organising an outdoor happening in the summer for freedivers to meet, take part in workshops and take part in games. Bart and Rebecca agreed to have a look into this and report back to the committee.It was proposed and agreed to have a meeting every quarter via Skype to ensure ideas and projects run smoothly and are progressed efficiently.

BFA AGM December 2012

The committee would like to say thank you to Sara Campbell for her time as press officer over the last two years. We are sad to see her leave and wish her all the best with her diving in the future. Also we should say another big thank you to Lia Tseki who is stepping down as membership officer. Your help will be missed!

It’s that time of year again. This year’s British Freediving Association Annual General Meeting (AGM) will take place at Upstairs bier bar, lark lane ,Liverpool L 18 at 12pm. You are all very welcome to come to the AGM, listen, take part and give your views. If you can not make it in person, you are very welcome to join in via skype. We have an account: We_are_the_BFA, password is SteveZissou

The AGM is your chance to find out what the British Freediving Association has been up to over the past year and express your views on what it should be doing in the year ahead. Most importantly, it is your chance to stand for a Committee position and get involved!

We need to fill a few gaps in the BFA Committee this year and really hope you will use this chance to give something back to the sport you love. Without the BFA, we may not be able to compete at International or organise recognised competitions, will struggle with teaching insurance and won’t get our records recognised properly. If the Committee positions are not filled, then there is a good chance the BFA won’t be able to continue – so please consider whether you might be able to give an hour or so a week to give something back. To continue, according to our Constitution, we must appoint at least a Chair, Membership Secretary, Training & Safety Officer and a Treasurer. At the moment chair and training have someone who definitely wishes to stand for election, however membership role needs to be filled! It is currently be care taken by Liv Philip.

The Committee posts can all be managed wherever you live, as long as you have internet and email access a couple of times a week. Whilst it would be helpful, to us and to you, you do not need to attend the AGM to stand for a position.

The BFA Committee positions are:

Chair – Currently Brian Crossland, who will stand again. The Chair manages the organisation of the Committee in terms of the AGM, leads discussions on new developments for the organisation, keeps a bit of an eye to make sure all the Committee members are fulfilling their post’s requirements and generally keeps email and other discussions under control. The Chair sometimes also ends up covering roles in the short-term when vacancies arise and acting as a point of contact for other Committee members when they are on leave.

Clubs – Currently Georgina Miller, who will stand again. The Clubs Officer manages the recognition of BFA affiliated clubs, answers questions from club organisers and members, supports the clubs in developing their activities and advises on how to set up new clubs.

Competitions – Currently Ed Wardle, who will be standing again. The Competitions Officer supports anyone in the UK organising AIDA-ranked competitions, oversees the competition from the BFA’s point of view and may work with the E Media and Press Officer to help promote the competition. If organisers do not come forward, the Competitions Officer may be required to proactively seek out and encourage members to organise competitions.

E Media – Currently Martyn Jones, who will be standing again. The E Media Officer runs the BFA website and e-communications. Some technical ability is required for this post.

Membership – Currently care taken by Liv Philip after Lia tseki stepped down. The Membership Officer keeps track of who the current members are, processes membership applications, sends out membership packs and works with the Sponsorship Officer on building member benefits. Some technical ability required for this post.

Press Officer – Currently Sara Campbell, who will be stepping down. The Press Officer liaises with the media (mostly the UK dive press and dive websites) to publicise records, competitions and other freediving stories and acts as a point of contact for media with queries about freediving. A new appointee will be provided with lists of contacts but it would be helpful if they had some previous PR or writing experience. The Press Officer needs to work closely with the E Media Officer and the Sponsorship Officer, to ensure all stories are covered on the website and that Sponsors get sufficient coverage in return for their support.

Records and AIDA Liaison Officer – David Tranfield who will stand again. This position is responsible for liaising with the AIDA International Board and AIDA Judge list, sending information on any AIDA International Level votes (about 10 a year) out to the Committee, monitoring responses and sending back our reply. This post also handles the management and recognition process for UK records, based on the UK record rules you can download from the BFA website, and liaises with the Press and E Media Officers to make sure the records are publicised. It would be helpful if the person appointed to this post were an AIDA Judge.

Secretary – currently Gary Mac Grath, who will be stand again. The Secretary manages the BFA E-newsletter and other communications with members, takes minutes at the AGM and provides secretarial support to the other Committee members as required.

Sponsorship – currently Jay Cluskey, who will be standing again. The Sponsorship Officer manages our relationships with sponsors and builds new sponsorship agreements. Sponsorship normally relates to the UK Team but it would be great to achieve more general sponsorship for freediving in the UK.

Training & Safety – currently Liv Philip, who will be standing again. This post oversees freedive training within the UK, working with the AIDA Education Committee to advise instructors on matters of training. It also has a wider remit, usually working with the Clubs Officer and sometimes with the Competitions Officers, to advise on matters of safety and is responsible for keeping the Open Water and Confined Water BFA safety advice sheets up to do date. The Training and Safety Officer needs to be a qualified freedive instructor.

Treasurer – currently Gareth Cantin, who will be standing again. The Treasurer produces the annual BFA accounts for the AGM, keeps an eye on our finances, makes a final decision with the Chair on major expenditures, runs the BFA bank account and PayPal account.

ALL the Committee members are actively involved in voting on AIDA International matters, discussing and putting forward the UK’s views on the development of the sport through AIDA, selection and support of the UK Team at AIDA International competitions and supporting the BFA in various ways in its purpose of “promoting freediving recreationally and competitively, in safe environments”.

Voting Process – In line with the BFA Constitution, anyone who wishes to stand (or re-stand) for a post, should send an email submission, stating the post or posts for which they would like to be considered along with a short CV or manifesto explaining why they think they would be suitable. This should be sent in by the 17th November to committee@britishfreediving.org. Where more than one person stands for a post, that post will go to a majority vote of BFA members. Any vote will be sent to all BFA Members by 24th November. You have two weeks to vote and the results will be announced at the AGM on the 9th December.

Thanks again for your support and we look forward to seeing you at the AGM.