I have been asked by a naturist magazine to write an article basically arguing that National Organisations are failing us and that they do not deserve our blind loyalty. Now there are things that concern me here :
The first is that there are many national organisations and they all offer different positives and negatives - so there is the danger of tarring all of them with the same brush in such an article.
Secondly without first hand experience, being part of each organisation it is very hard to try and figure out exactly where they are getting it right and wrong. To be honest even attempting to work out whether one national body is doing a good job seems an impossible task. Like naturism itself these organisations appear rather hidden to an outsider, even to a member what they are doing may seem rather hard to fathom. What happens to the membership money? What are they doing in relations to laws, public relations, social understanding? What are the doing for naturists in their country, and what is simply being organised by well meaning volunteers and then promoted by the body as their own hard work? What are they doing to support the clubs and venues and events within that country, and what are they expected to be doing? What about the events they organise themselves - do they work, are they cost effective, are they promotionally supportive to growing naturism? What about the suggestion of legal support for their members? Does it work, is it needed and is it a reality? Who is paid by the national body, who is a volunteer, how is the board selected, how do they listen to the individual members needs and thoughts, are they sitting on a big pile of money, are they spending money wisely, or is it being squandered on unknown things and people that may upset their members if reality was known? How do their policies and politics measure up to naturism in their country and the wants of naturist in that country? Do they have priorities that are directed in the right way and how do we judge that beyond our immediate knee jerk reaction? Do they care about the clubs and events around their nation, do they care about the naturists who are their members, do they care about the naturists who are not their members? Without being privy to the boards decisions, their points of view, their debate, the organisations accounts and spending, voting structures and the pressures they are facing how can I fully appreciate and consider any of these answers? Or many other such questions?
Three I have no want to be seen to be attacking any individual organisation, as they are more than just a board, but also they are their members and their country! And even if I felt one deserved to be torn apart, would it not concern other national bodies to think that ANW (through my representation of it) is against the idea of national bodies - which I certainly am not. In fact I believe that national bodies should be an integral part of naturism around the world helping to promote, connect and unite naturism on a local, national and international level. We should not ignore their failings and if we believe they are failing we (each national community) should call for changes - in policy or personal - and we shouldn't simply be members because they exist if we are not happy - blind faith will not encourage change. But we should always hope for a strong and positive naturist national body to exist and support it if we feel it is deserved.
So anyway that is my three part quandary on being asked to write about the possible failing within national organisations. Something I would love to see happen, so some of these answers could be better considered in the future would be to have national bodies that are not so hard to fathom out. To be able to see what they are, who they are, what they do, how they spend and how they invest and grow naturism in a quick and easy way. After all, they are much more likely to gather members if members understood what they are doing and had faith in trust in them, and they are much more likely to expand naturism if such an open and practical approach was taken. I recently came across a link sent from a national body that was supposed to work as a information sharing piece for new naturists and interested parties to learn about naturism, I clicked on the link and it said I had to be a paid member of the national body to read it, surely it defeats the whole purpose of such a work, teach people about naturism and then entice them to join!
I would love to hear your thoughts on this subject, and more positives and negatives about your own experiences with your national body. In the meantime, I am going to be trying to work out how to diplomatically and honestly write this article based on actual facts and not hearsay, ranting and rumour, and without appearing bias or unfair.
At risk of yet again ending up in the dog house, and in order to try and focus some of this discussion, because we do feel there is a need for a voice within naturism that should come from a national level, we have to consider a few points, and one unsavoury point has to be the simple facts. The facts are, National organisations are now a minority within naturism, people no longer feel either a need or a wish to join them.
This was reflected last month in H&E with their survey that highlighted the numbers of business’s which are currently struggling to attract naturists to their venues. Something we picked up on, (and do bare in mind. last year we tried to launch an initiative to help these business's attract more people, in the form of families.) Was that these organisations that are begging for help, put all of their eggs in only one basket, and they are not taking into account the trends.
When asked where they advertised their business, they stated 73% H&E, 52% BN, 6% ANW. It is clear, they are relying on the national organisation, which is in the minority when it comes to the numbers of naturists, because even though there are millions of naturists in the UK, the national organisation has less than ten thousand members.
These business advertisers, are tied to an outdated loyalty that could be part of the cause of their demise, and are not on ANW, (Currently growing faster than any National Organisation) or reaching the rest of naturists, because the UK national organisation, to a degree see others as a competitor to BN. We know this, because during the many discussions we had with a lot of them during the FIN project, they told us that was the inside thinking within naturism. ANW is considered a rival, so they do not advertise there.
As organisers in Wales last year, we made a point of speaking to every person who attended, because as part of our role in creating fun new events, we wanted to make sure our finger was on the pulse of current naturism. What we discovered was actually really surprising for us, because the majority of people who attended, were not members of their national organisation, and had no wish to be, it was something we never expected. So why? It was a good sized list we compiled, that left us startled.
Too expensive.
Southern Centric.
Too elitist.
Only interested in promoting profitable events.
Offers no help packages or support for clubs.
Too Segregated, not open to single men.
No longer campaigning enough for naturists.
Does not listen to members.
No accountability.
Too many harsh rules.
Not welcoming.
Overly Political
Toxic Forum.
Too focused on celebrity endorsed culture.
Offers nothing for day to day naturists.
Not doing enough to promote naturism to the public.
These are not our thoughts or comments, this is what naturists actually told us, and we did raise these issues with our national body, who did not listen to us. We will add here, this is the experience of past members of our national organisation, which is the UK, and this may not apply to other countries, we would say if you are in another country, then please post here and share your thoughts.
There is an obvious disconnect, not only with naturists, but also with the general public. We have been vocal a great deal about their resistance towards family focused naturism in the UK, and that needs to change. There is a mindset that if it is not in the national body, it is not worth it, and that has to be addressed, because currently most naturism is conducted outside of the national body. We do see a culture of if it is not profitable, they are not interested, and that needs to change, not all naturism should be about profits, it should be “social focused.”
The national organisation should be encouraging more grass roots, none segregated naturism, sadly, as we saw last year as we did exactly that, we found ourselves seen as competing with the national organisation, which made things difficult. Naturism should be about unity, and spreading the word, not about factions, celebrities, and who does it best, and we do feel the best way to determine if something is going well, should be to count the smiles, not the money.
It is our opinion that there is a need for change, which to a degree must involve a little bit of actually being big enough to really focus on some of the issues we have listed above. If national organisations are being perceived as not in touch, then that does to a degree bleed into clubs and societies, and so the onus is on national bodies to really think through proposals that will address what are some of the major issues they face. Anna has suggested a fairer and more teared membership, which we feel would actually allow people to come back on their own terms.
There is obviously a need to really engage with the public, we suggested, as we posted earlier, if the national bodies want more youth, be where they are at, and look at what they are asking for, and try to help clubs and business's provide it. We feel being where the public are, is the best advertisement they have, so a stand for the national organisation should be considered at events such as Festivals, Large Hobby shows, such as car shows, even race day. We know BN do the homes exhibition, which is a good move, and we would suggest they consider more. Being where the public are, not only highlights their existence, it also is a gateway to those who are naturist and looking for a way into a wider naturist world.
One controversial idea would to be to suggest capped terms for board serving members. One other aspect we feel could be considered as damaging, is that old blood becomes complacent and loses steam, new blood can completely revitalise an organisation.
at April 13, 2024 12:46 PM BST
I would love to fully understand everything that all the national bodies do around the world and see what they do right and what they do wrong. What their different duties and policies are towards various things like their local clubs. I think the whole system- certainly in come countries needs complete unravelling and starting again. Rebuilding from scratch holding on to the positives, and looking at the bigger picture.
There does appear to be a culture of say nothing when you disagree, and it is hard to get any form of public debate, which is one of the biggest problems faced today. We have seen this with the INF, people are happy to privately say things, but avoid going on record, and that really does need to be changed.
It is very clear to us that there is a need for more naturist activities, and more done to inform the public, the question is, are the national organisations prepared to do it?
RnR write: "One controversial idea would to be to suggest capped terms for board serving members. One other aspect we feel could be considered as damaging, is that old blood becomes complacent and loses steam, new blood can completely revitalise an organisation."
First I don't think it should be controversial but instead it should be an expected norm. Maybe in some countries it is? Can anyone share information here? I have an image of Trump being dragged out of the Oval office with his teeth sunk deep into the carpet.
I don't just think it is about old blood being complacent, but also about the idea that if someone is in a position for their own glory and ego they can only be there for so long. There also seems to me that there is a confusion at times as to what are volunteer positions and what are paid positions within this hierarchy which at times can be misleading, and certainly the rumour mill grinds out ideas that some of these people are secretly profiteering from their place, like unscrupulous politicians. Which can be unfair if the rumours are not true, but also unfair if the rumours are true, yet members see these people are giving their energy for nothing. Maybe greater clarity needs to be placed on whether people are paid or not, and if they are also making money through contract work and other such means. There may be nothing wrong with making money from work given but if it isn't done openly it suggest there is. If for example a member of a board owns something or has a service that is regularly rented/hired by the body (say a pool cleaning service or even a bouncy castle), then that should be something people are aware of, it may be totally fair and fine, but if his position gives him the power to do that without people being aware, or possibly going to cheaper or better offerings then that must be seen as underhand and a misuse of power.
I guess there will be the problem of regularly finding new blood but maybe part of the concern of finding new blood in naturist clubs/bodies is partly due to the idea that there has always been people who do things for decades and it dampens the enthusiasm for others to get involved. On the other side there are some people who do an amazing job, and are to be particularly respected when it involves giving away their time, energy and enthusiasm for years for free and there should be a place for them in supporting and helping naturism grow.
