[shark]

The Independent Review that has been initiated is now underway and there will be a consultation of the membership via a questionnaire and other means.

Ultimately the review will conclude with recommendations on how decisions are made in the BMC and the most suitable organisational structure. These recommendations will most likely to be voted on at the April 2018 AGM. The latest update on the review groups work is here: www.thebmc.co.uk/bmc-governance-review-group-newsletter-may-2017 and the review group are committed to keeping the membership updated on progress.

Given how complicated the BMC has become the review group has a big job on its hands to both fully grasp how everything works at the moment and devise effective changes. This a major undertaking and well done to those volunteers who have stepped up to the plate. There are some impressive and experienced people on the review group and John Roberts 

It is great that fundamental change has been initiated. I hope the recommendations err towards being bold rather than expedient and lead to an organisation which is clearer in its purposes and simpler in structure which facilitates operational decisions to be made more quickly. From a commercial point of view I also hope that any structural legal and tax changes that are recommended are also financially the most effective ones.
 
This may seem an arcane, technocratic topic (I could see a few nonplussed faces at last night's area meeting when Rab was talking) but I anticipate the review will have a major impact on the future of the BMC which is why I think it is important to get involved by participating in the questionnaire and area meeting discussions and of course any voting when that comes round. I know its early doors but wanted to flag up what was going on.

   

[fatneck]

I think this is a good thing! 

[dave]

What this country needs is a strong & stable BMC.

[andy_e]

Nah, the BMC are bolt sympathisers!

[shark]

Expect a questionnaire in your inbox in the near future..

www.thebmc.co.uk/how-bmc-members-contribute-to-organisational-review

Over the last two months, work has been carried out in order to determine if changes should be made to the BMC. But why do we need change, and how can BMC members get involved?

We wanted to keep BMC members updated on the review process. To inform us, we asked Ray Wigglesworth QC, chair of the BMC Organisational Review Group (ORG), why the BMC organisation needs to be reviewed.

Ray said: “The BMC’s written constitution has not been updated in over 25 years. Since then, many changes have been made to company law, codes of governance, and the ways in which BMC members communicate and interact with the organisation. The BMC ORG was formed to investigate and research whether the articles of association should be updated, in order to change the democracy and governance of the BMC. The ORG has the capacity to recommend significant changes, but it’s incredibly important that BMC members take part in the process.

“Feedback from members will be gathered via the membership survey, the focus groups, feedback on the ORG monthly reports, through the Area Meetings in September, November, and February, and ultimately the AGM.

“After getting all the feedback from BMC members, the ORG will then be able to assess and comment on the governance structure of the organisation and how it compares to other sporting organisations. Until then, there are no indications on the likely direction of any outcomes.”

READ: Our interview with Ray for more details about the process

The Membership Survey is fully independent from the BMC. To find out more, read our interview with the members of the ORG in charge of collating feedback:

Who is running the survey and why were they chosen?

The review has been split into working groups. The lead on member research and stakeholder focus groups has been taken by John Roberts, Fiona Sanders, and Rab Carrington. We’ve commissioned an independent market research company, 20|20 Research, to carry out the member research survey. 20|20 Research has worked with a number of similar organisations and the managing director, Bob Peters, is an active hillwalker.

The ORG engaged with a number of different providers including existing BMC members, volunteers, and commercial sports consultancies. As a group, we felt that 20|20 Research could support the BMC independently, represented value for money, and could do so with the level of rigour required to ensure the member research was well designed, analysed, and reported on in the timeframes required. The research will be run in line with Market Research Society guidelines.

How will the survey be executed?

Over the coming weeks, the survey will be released to the membership via email and social media. It’s been designed to be mobile friendly and quick to fill in, whilst gathering the wide range of information we need to make informed and data driven decisions on the BMC’s future supported by members’ responses. The survey will be open until mid-August and then results will be analysed by 20|20 Research and collated into a report, which will be passed back to the ORG. We aim to communicate the results of the survey in early September.

What are the key aims of the membership survey?

We’re looking to gather the views of a broad range of members and stakeholders of the BMC, including recently lapsed members. As a democratic membership organisation, it is critical that all recommendations are based on responses from a statistically significant sample of the BMC membership. We’re looking to understand:

Why climbers, hillwalkers, and mountaineers, join the BMC,
How they feel about the democracy and governance of the BMC,
The priorities members feel the BMC should have,
How effective the BMC is against those priorities.

Who wrote the questions in the survey?

The survey was designed by 20|20 Research following a comprehensive brief and a number of design sessions and drafts. The questions were written by the team at 20|20 Research and reviewed by the member research working group and the ORG iteratively and in conjunction with a few core members of staff, who have significant experience in gathering BMC members’ views, to ensure we can reach as many members as possible.

Who will get the survey?

The survey will be sent to all members by email and will be promoted on social media channels.

The survey will be online, however, those members requiring an accessible version of the survey can request a paper version, or to fill in the survey over the phone.

The survey will be anonymous, however, there will be a random prize draw for 3 x £100 cash prizes for those who complete the survey and pass on their details.

How important will the feedback from the survey be for the recommendations you ultimately make? And why?

In conjunction with the survey, we are running a number of focus groups with a variety and wide-reaching set of different stakeholders, including the Executive, National Council, patrons and past presidents, affiliated organisations (Mountain Training, ABC, etc), and more. This will also form an important part of our research.

These focus groups, coupled with the output from the survey, a full review of the articles of association, and a review of governance against current good practice guidance, will allow the group to make recommendations which enable the BMC to move forward democratically, and in the best interests of the membership.

[shark]

Latest update from the Review team:

www.thebmc.co.uk/bmc-organisational-review-group-newsletter-august-2017?s=5

The August newsletter from the independent BMC Organisational Review Group, featuring some results from the focus groups that have already taken place and thoughts on the organisational structure of the BMC.

We are still waiting for the data from the membership survey and there are two outstanding focus group meetings due to take place on 31 August, one with the clubs and a meeting with Mountain Training and other organisations which are linked to the BMC.

The focus group meetings have already provided us, however, with a huge amount of useful information and feedback, which we will use to form the basis of our recommendations. In addition to the views expressed by the persons who have attended our meetings, we have also received some written submissions from a number of persons, including Doug Scott, Dennis Gray, Pat Littlejohn, Stephen Venables, Rodney Gallagher and others.

Some persons have argued that the BMC should be an elite organisation, representing those who push forward the boundaries and frontiers of traditional mountaineering but the majority view is that the BMC should be an all inclusive representative body. In the focus group meeting with the current patrons and past presidents of the BMC, Sir Chris Bonington, Doug Scott, Dr. Charles Clarke, Rehan Siddiqui, Dave Musgrove and Mick Fowler all unanimously agreed, that indoor competition climbing should be included. The young indoor climber of today, or the young fell walker of today, may become a mountaineering star of the future. The young men and women who are members ( or potential members ), of the BMC are its life blood and vital to the continued success of the organisation.

The organisational structure of the BMC

Part of the work we have carried out, in the Review Group, has included looking at the history of the BMC. The present day BMC is a much more complicated and complex organisation, than it was in the 1993 when the first written constitution was drafted. During the 1970s and 1980s there was a gradual development of area and specialist committees. These committees, run mainly by volunteers, do extremely important work on behalf of the larger organisation. Some of the sub committees are small and operate autonomously within their own particular field. In the focus group with the chairs of the sub committees, one of the chairs expressed the view that the BMC was operated from the grass roots, rather than from the top, down. In theory this idea appears attractive but in practice, it may be important to have a nerve centre, at the top of the organisational structure, where all the information is fed and important day-to-day decisions can be made.

It will be important for the membership of the BMC to debate and reach agreement on a detailed and comprehensive aims and mission statement. This would include support for the old traditional values of mountaineering and support for greater contact with the UIAA and other international representative bodies. But it will also include support for the new breed of indoor climbers, who have opened a new chapter in the history of the BMC.

So long as there is a clear “Aims and Mission Statement”, which has been debated by the membership and approved, then the executive has a mandate to work in a particular direction. If the executive want to change direction, away from the agreed mission statement, they must first obtain the views of the membership.

These are all matters which the Organisational Review Group are debating and considering with a view to making recommendations as to how the constitution of the BMC might be changed and how the interests of the members can best be protected.

We have done our legal research and looked at the best practice in modern codes of governance. Now we are simply waiting for the data from the members survey and the results from the two final focus groups and then we should be in a position to complete our report.

[GraemeA]

Can the BMC stop referring to comps as INDOOR competition climbing. If I remember rightly the BBC was outdoors and things like the DWS in the SW are outdoor. The key thing is that comps take place on Artificial Climbing Structures.

[SA Chris]

Surely as climbing competitions are not allowed to take place on rock in the UK, they don't need to be differentiated as anything other than that name?

[Offwidth]

"There are some impressive and experienced people on the review group       and John Roberts"  just spotted this.... hope JR gets a suitable revenge ;-)

[Muenchener]

Can the BMC stop referring to comps as INDOOR competition climbing. If I remember rightly the BBC was outdoors and things like the DWS in the SW are outdoor. The key thing is that comps take place on Artificial Climbing Structures.

See also Munich, Vail, Arco, Imst. The new one in Innsbruck too?

[danm]

Can the BMC stop referring to comps as INDOOR competition climbing. If I remember rightly the BBC was outdoors and things like the DWS in the SW are outdoor. The key thing is that comps take place on Artificial Climbing Structures.

Fake Climbing Comps OK with you then Graeme? 

[shark]

"There are some impressive and experienced people on the review group       and John Roberts"  just spotted this.... hope JR gets a suitable revenge ;-)

It was my revenge for him doing a gratuitous downward dog in my face at the Depot

[shark]

The Independent Organisational Review Group presented to National Council at the weekend.

A copy of the slide deck is here

[shark]

Latest from Organisational Review group. They are still not giving much anything away. The big reveal is at Kendal on Sat 18th followed by a roadshow to all the Area Meetings:

www.thebmc.co.uk/organisational-review-november-area-meeting-presentations

How to have your say in the future of the BMC

Climbing, hill walking and mountaineering are changing, and the BMC needs to adapt to meet future challenges. A major review of our work is underway, and we need your help to shape the future of the organisation.

What is the BMC Organisational Review?

The BMC Organisational Review Group was formed this May. Its role is to look at the way the BMC currently works – in terms of organisation, governance, and decision-making structures – and evaluate how this reflects current best practice in governance, whilst continuing to act in the best interests of the membership. The group will also recommend new ways to increase engagement and consultation with all BMC members on key issues.

What’s happened so far?

Headed by independent chair Ray Wigglesworth, an eminent QC and climber, the review group volunteers have gathered views from an online survey (with over 5,000 responses), focus groups and individual feedback from across the BMC. They are now balancing these views against information on best practice in sporting organisational structures and modern codes of governance to produce their iniitial report.

What’s the next step?

The review group will launch their initial report at Kendal Town Hall at 2.45pm on Saturday 18 November, as part of Kendal Mountain Festival. All members are invited, look out for more details soon. As soon as the report is public, we will be uploading it to the BMC website and emailing all our members.

Then it’s your turn

The review group will be making various recommendations, but it is your feedback that will help make them reality. We’re asking all BMC members to download the report and then send us your feedback through a quick online survey. The online consultation period will run from 18 November – 22 December, then the final recommendations will go to a vote at the BMC AGM in April 2018.

Don’t miss: your local BMC area meetings

If you’d like to discuss the recommendations in detail, then head to your local BMC area meeting. The next round of area meetings will be attended by two members of the Organisational Review Group, who will present the group’s findings and recommendations. This is an important opportunity for you to discuss the findings and provide feedback to help shape the final recommendations, which will eventually go to a vote at the BMC AGM in April 2018.

Please do take the time to get involved and have your say in the future of the BMC. As Ray Wigglesworth remarks: “We believe that we have conducted the process objectively, dispassionately and independently. We also believe that if the members adopt our proposals then the BMC will have a bright future.”

[shark]

https://www.thebmc.co.uk/whats-the-future-of-the-bmc-report-launch-kendal-mountain-festival

Join Steve McClure, Mary-Ann Ochota, key volunteers, BMC staff and the organisational review team at Kendal Mountain Festival to discover the future direction of the BMC.

If you’re heading to Kendal Mountain Festival this year, then don’t miss the launch of the independent BMC organisational review report. This is the culmination of a major review of our work and will be your first chance to view the results and recommendations.

The launch is taking place at 2:45pm at Kendal Town Hall on Saturday 18 November, and is open to all BMC members.

The organisational review team will be there to answer your questions, as well as BMC staff, key volunteers and BMC ambassadors.

The launch is a relaxed event, taking place in the fully-stocked Eden Brewery bar, and copies of the report will be available to take away.

The launch will run from 14:45 – 15:30 and includes time for a QnA session, which can be extended until 17:00 if required. It marks the start of a consultation period which will last until 22 December.

Watch the livestream

We will also be filming and livestreaming (dependant on 4G) the launch. The film will be uploaded to BMC TV the following week.

Please book your place, so that we can plan for the right size of audience.

[shark]

www.thebmc.co.uk/whats-the-future-of-the-bmc-report-launch-kendal-mountain-festival


The BMC Organisational Report was launched at Kendal Mountain Festival and is now available to download

Full report here

Summary here

[A Jooser]

Shark, I do have some concerns re. the recommendations but didn't want to so have hopefully sent you a PM. I may bring the questions raised to my Local Area Meeting, but it's next weekend and about 300 miles away so probably won't manage it. If you are happy for the issue I brought up to be publically aired, please feel free to post my message here.

[shark]

Hi A Jooser

What you raise is something I can escalate if you'd prefer not to do so yourself.

On p46 of the full review you can see there is scope to create a sub group or subsidiary which could address the risk/problem you raise.

Feedback doesn't have be just at an Area Meeting

Simon

[A Jooser]

Yeah, for me this recommendation of a 'clearly defined sub group' (presumably that's a sub group of the BMC although that's not how it's worded in the report) or 'subsidiary within the BMC' does raise some questions. Wouldn't the BMC ultimately be responsible for any legal obligations associated with this sub group or subsidiary? The full extent of such obligations yet to be determined it seems.

I certainly have more questions than strong opinions on this, but the consultation Q&As are only at the National Council meeting or area committees. AA Route Planner says my Local Area meeting is a round trip of over 377 miles and six and a half hours drive so I'm not planning to go. I've seen mention of a 'members consultation survey' but have no idea where to find it. Will this be an online survey or do I need to check my junk mail?

[danm]

As well as the area meetings, there will be an online survey where members will be able to make their views heard. It isn't live yet, but it should be soon.

[cofe]

It's live now.

For anyone who does support the area meetings (I do), and our Peak one is particularly good, I just spotted this:

'Local Areas will have a single vote each at the Members’ Assembly (where previously they had two votes per area).'

[T_B]

The on-line survey software needs sorting out. I loaded the page then went back to read the summary report, then went back to the survey and it said I'd already completed it. Tried a different browser and it's the same story.

[shark]

Also the (previous, online) Membership Research Survey results which formed "the backbone to the ORG report" now up:

https://www.thebmc.co.uk/media/files/BMC%20Organisational%20Review%20Member%20Survey%20Report.pdf

[JR]

The on-line survey software needs sorting out. I loaded the page then went back to read the summary report, then went back to the survey and it said I'd already completed it. Tried a different browser and it's the same story.

Will ask 2020 and see what's going on with that...

What you can do is try this (although you'll need to add more member verification info as it's a public link): https://www.warpsurveys.com/bmc2?id=sm211&s=1

[JR]

The on-line survey software needs sorting out. I loaded the page then went back to read the summary report, then went back to the survey and it said I'd already completed it. Tried a different browser and it's the same story.

Should be sorted now.  Thanks T_B