When the only way is out...

No, not really, but I was left with little alternative. Sad times.

(Edit: Apologies, SS. Didn't mean to rubbish your response. Just feeling totally gutted with the way things have transpired.)

I voted for you. No doubt your reasons are good but I haven't a clue what your reasons are... any chance of a full explanation?
 
I voted for you. No doubt your reasons are good but I haven't a clue what your reasons are... any chance of a full explanation?

Thank you, Tamus. Your support is appreciated.

Quite simply, I feel that BASC has lost sight of certain of shooting's core principles and appears to care little for the consequences. Yes, I do expect high standards and yes, some might think I expect too much, but these are the standards that I was brought up to respect and which, no matter how commercially prudent it may be, I can find no excuse to abandon.
 
Can you please expand? What happened and you decided to leave?

I'm afraid it would be impossible for me to give my precise reasons for leaving without betraying the confidence of others. Frustrating, I know, but, I hope, another reflection of the high standards I seek to maintain.

What I will say is that I have lost all faith and trust in the the chairman and chief executive, neither of whom appear to have a shred of respect for the concerns of the individual member. Some would argue that the best way forward would be to remain a member and seek change from within. From recent experience I have concluded that such noble intentions count for little in the opinion of the current leadership and that the defence of standards comes a very poor second to the nuturing of commercial sponsorship. Obviously, it is in everyone's interests to secure the financial future of the Association but we should not lose sight of the fact that BASC is first and foremost a representative organisation, established to defend the noble standards of the shooting world. My own experience would suggest that key players within the association are willing to compromise the latter in pursuit of the former.
 
The warning signs were there when they started to be picky over the Firearms cases they would support. I joined WAGBI in the late 1960s and this transmuted into BASC of which I remained a member until about 5 years ago but got increasingly uneasy when I looked at the sub, considered what I was getting for my money, looked at the general policies and management and finally decided there were better things to do with that money.
 
I feel the club is getting bigger by the week... I left five/six years ago when I had a legal problem that I made various phone calls over a period of three weeks and not one promise of returning my call was ever honoured the other organisations I am a paying member of helped me out of a tricky situation so BASC dropped from the long list of supported organisations.
 
Know the feeling well, I left after 35 years for similar reasons to the above: unreturned phone calls after contacting them with a problem, just not acceptable. Put my money in to the NGO, totally different experience.
 
Thanks Iwrch. I hear stories similar to yours from time to time and worry me. I have been with BASC a few years now and I have never needed their support on anything (I hope I never will) but whenever I caled to enquire about things I was always met with helpful staff. Maybe we are talking on different level here, maybe you have actually needed their help and they let you down. My question now (and is a genuine one) what are your plans about an umbrella organisation? Are you joining someone else?
 
9 years with the BASc, I never saw the need before ....:oops: Im over the moon, & very happy with the level of expertise & advise. As yet they have never let me down, with return calls or top service.

As said they do put a lot of backing into our sport at a high level , which im sure no other organisation can match, or fund.

I am also quite confident other such associations, ngO, sGC etc also have the compidence to give satisfactory advice too.

The priority is our sport has a good image & laws / rules abided to, we need to keep ourselves in the good eye of the public, & less in the front pages of the tabloids with idiots broadcasted.
 
I fully accept that BASC is not for every one, and there are loads of alternatives on offer.

I could not agree more that the best way to influence BASC or indeed any other club / organisation is to be a member.

But to say that the CEO and Chairman don’t care about the membership is simply daft, why wouldn’t they?

The Chairman is a member of BASC, elected other members of BASC represents their interests – its democracy.

We will always do the very best we can for our members not only in terms of the big picture of our political and media lobbying, through to local events for members, down to help and guidance for individuals when they want it.

Will we always get everything right and will we always be able to help an individual member regardless of circumstances? No of course not, and no one would be daft enough to say they can.

We do our best and will keep trying to get better and better with the help of our loyal members.

As I have said before, if any member has trouble getting though or does not get good service then I am your point of contact.

My name, address and e-mail address is on every reminder letter and the BASC web site, and again I post it here: david.ilsley@basc.org.uk

I am always here to help when ever I can

My sincere best wishes to all

David
 
My question now (and is a genuine one) what are your plans about an umbrella organisation? Are you joining someone else?

I have joined SACS. I'm not sure I understand your reference to an umbrella organisation, but if you mean a general country sports body which includes other activites as well as shooting in their remit then both the SACS and CA come closer than any of the other organisations in the game.
 
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