It is interesting to us, that the national organisation quotes itself as being the voice of naturism, but how can it be, if as Anna quotes that in a country of approximately 6.7 million naturists, (UK) only 0.13% of those naturists want to be members of their national body?
We have to ask, how do those who are not members enjoy their naturism? We think for the average naturist, home naturism, beach trips, possibly swim meets, and some clubs, must be the established life of UK naturists. If that is considered, there really is no longer a need for a national organisation. As much as we spoken out on the forums of the national organisation for change, and we have at times disagreed with their choices, we also feel there is an important need for them.
It appears, these none members which are around 99% of naturists are currently excluded from organised naturism, and we cannot help but ponder why with such a large field of supporters, the national organisation is happy to sit back and do so little to recruit them?
There does in our opinion appear to be a sense of “You come to us.” Which is a little bit off putting considering these national organisations are supposed to be the jewel in the crown of naturism. There has to be a better way, and maybe there is a need to do more locally, which we feel would be a better a way to scoup up new members. We can understand the financial aspect, and as Anna rightly writes above, a tiered membership structure for those entering the organisation would we feel be a big positive.
The large national events are expensive, in our time in the organisation we found ourselves priced out of the loop, not always by the ticket fee, but by the extra additional expense of travel. Being where we are, there is little on offer locally, which is one reason why we became involved with the Wales group, it gave us access to mainstream naturism, at a much reduced cost, although, considering the milage we clocked up last year, we estimate that three visits to Wales, was equal to one visit to a national event fuel wise, so we did get value for money.
National events really do need to move into a regional aspect, so every region gets to at least be a part of hosting one national event, the problem with that is volunteers, because it is a broad change of direction that would require more hands on deck. We do feel better approaches to recruitment would help solve that issue, as more members spread across the country would mean more willing participants, not only for the UK, but for every country.
We think it is safe to say, most people would drive for at least two hours to attend a multiple day event, we would, what has put us off has been the five to seven hour drives that have been a requirement of attending really big events, in most cases, the fuel bill has matched the ticket prices. That is something that really needs to be addressed by all national organisation no matter where they are, in a sense “The build it and they will come” attitude really does not work for the biggest percentage of naturists.
It is clear, there needs to be more local recruitment drives, and more localised events to attend, and if this can be achieved, not only will that be a huge positive for naturism, it will also provide a more solid back up for national organisations.
Maybe I am over simplifying this but I was expecting a much greater network experience within my national body (and maybe some countries do have this - please let us know). But it seems to me one way of solving the great expense of national body events and the travel (and the rarity of them) would be for the national body to work alongside all the clubs that welcome the national body members and organise regional events on a regular basis throughout the year with the proceeds going towards the upkeep of these clubs and the event's existence also heightening the awareness of those clubs. Why rent land when clubs are sitting on land all over the country? The national body will increase its standing and respect within the country and have better relationships with the clubs. It would be a win win situation. More events spread across the country more regularly, a greater level of interaction between clubs with other clubs, their members and the national body, all clubs having a fundraising/awareness push across the national network of naturists at least once a year, low costs for events, there can still be trips out during these events to local waterparks etc, the national body will be seen as helping clubs to stay afloat, rather than running their own (often rather seedy and adult only) events, there will be no venue dictating of who can take part (ie banning children), and the whole thing will seem community based and community profiting. There may be at times a need to place limits on the amount of visitors that may be less than a large hired field, but as these events would be happening more often and more regionally, the people who couldn't get in to one event in late July maybe be able to get into another event in early August that is actually closer to them.
To be honest the above (or something like it) was what I was expecting from my national body and it was my biggest disappointment in how they worked. I found the national body to be working almost like a single entity with very little interest and connection with naturists and naturist clubs around the country, there was no sense of community or interaction and I was left feeling that there was no real care for naturism on a national level and no organised direction towards creating a passionate experience and reason to be a naturist or join the national body. Yet ironically in our 2020 survey the most common reason for wanting to join a national body was not events, discounts or anything else but wanting to feel part of naturism. We were told that in reality only a small minority of the national members currently go to any events: maybe cost, maybe location, maybe lack of interest, maybe not enough space. To me we should be encouraging a greater level of interaction and by bringing out these events into the clubs peppered around the country it seems a perfect way to encourage this. At the moment it does appear (to me at least) that my national body exists for a small group of involved members and is geared towards making as much money from that small group as possible and offers very little to inspire others to join and get involved. Steve and I found the experience rather depressing, and it simply shouldn't be that way. Maybe we had high expectations and ideals, maybe driven by our own passion and love of naturism, and our own very strong belief that naturism needs to involve and inspire everyone and not create a fear around families or a need for women to look for segregation or for single men to feel unwanted, or for people to feel too old or too young. We believe that naturism is all about community and that community includes everyone and that it should inspire many to join national organisations and local clubs, swims and groups and create an amazing feeling of connection on a regional, national and international level. There are so many amazing clubs and swims and other groups out there, some of the locations have been naturist for around a century and we need to encourage people being submerged into this wonderful history and network.
Naturism has a greater number of people than is really considered. Whether we wish to see it as a life choice, a hobby, a past time, something that is a part of your personality or being, close to a religion, or just a fun way to spend a few hours every now and then, it is big. It is popular, it is fundamental, it is easy, it is part of more people's lives than many other social choices, trends and topics, yet it remains hidden, secret and unexplained. Mistrusted, confusing and feared. It is pictured as more of a minority interest than it truly is because we are doing something wrong in raising awareness and encouraging an open and real view of naturism and discouraging people from hiding it. Things need to change, we need to see a different approach towards naturism, and it seems to me that national bodies need to lead the way, they have the history, the members and the duty. Steve and I and the community can do what we do with ANW, individuals can do what they do, some clubs can do what they do to encourage change, but ideally it has to be from the organisations that have placed themselves in the position of representing naturism in our countries.
This is I hope a fascinating topic and can continue to look at this very important issue. It is not about pointing fingers, or running down specific organisations and I hope that it doesn't feel that way. We need to ensure the future of naturism has the best chance possible and our national bodies need to be part of that. Open and honest debate can help highlight some possible answers and we mustn't forget that the good things that are happening are going to be part of the picture as well as the bad things. I look forward to more thoughts about this hopefully from all around the world. Maybe we can help design the best practice for naturist organisations by learning what is working and what isn't working in different countries and pasting together a perfect solution that can be used around the globe.
Because maybe the USA has things to learn good and bad from Canada, and maybe Australia has things to learn good and bad from New Zealand, and maybe through individuals thoughts and ideas on their own experience as members, as non-members and as part of the team running these organisations we can build a better understanding of the various situations.
So please share your good and bad from your national bodies around the world and lets collect together some ideas of what we should encourage all national bodies to do and what we should encourage them not to do.
Shortly before we made the choice to leave our national organisation, there was a lot of debate on clubs and societies, tailored around support. The point was made that national organisations should work more effectively with them, and it was a lively debate. There were those who felt the organisation should offer more in the form of some financial aid for the lesser attended clubs to help them rebuild, some even suggested that grants should be given to help them attract more families and the younger generations.
It was quite a heated debate at times, with a lot of admin involvement, and maybe that is part of the problem, there is a divide of opinion over who gets what.
Something we have noted, is how there does not appear to be a movement towards trying to start new clubs. It is clear there is space for them, but if you look at the clubs currently listed within the national organisation, most of them were established before the 1980’s. The clubs today appear to be the remains of a bygone era, and in some cases they lack members, and need new blood.
This must surely be a great opportunity for the national organisations to help, simply by advertising on their platform, they could drive traffic towards them. Last year we wrote a Members Blog about how there was a disconnect between the large canopy of the large clubs and national organisations and the grass roots, in which we explained that more needs to be done to boost the grass roots of naturism. Our work with NWNS was aimed at the formation of a new society, which sadly now has gone the other way and become a not for profit business. In many ways it would have been the first new club launched for decades, and yet we still feel it was the right thing to support and help launch.
It makes sense to us, that as Anna adds above, More events spread across the country more regularly, a greater level of interaction between clubs with other clubs, their members and the national body, all clubs having a fundraising/awareness push across the national network of naturists at least once a year, low costs for events, there can still be trips out during these events to local waterparks etc, the national body will be seen as helping clubs to stay afloat, rather than running their own.”
Connecting together clubs and pooling resources can only have a positive impact on naturism, and we feel that should be a primary focus for all national bodies globally. Over the last few years, here in the UK, our national body has raised a lot of awareness and funds via fundraising on sites such as “Give send go” etc.. to rebuild and refit Sunfolk, which was a well established club that sadly the owners were aging and feared it would be purchased by land developers. BN bought the club and have rebuilt it completely to become the national headquarters of the organisation.
We realise they cannot buy all aging clubs, but their fundraising has raised many thousands of pounds for the work. Would it not make sense to set up a similar fund, to act as a pool to offer grants to those clubs who are struggling and in need of some renovation? For us, that appears like a sensible thing to do, especially when there is a fear that clubs are falling by the wayside and being bought by none naturists factions.
If a national organisation has the ability to help raise substantial funds, surely it should work for the betterment of every club. The national organisation is best placed to do this, and in return is seen to be more effective at promoting and sustaining naturism, and yet currently, it does little but take fees for membership, we feel it is a vitally important lost resource.
Supporting clubs at grass roots level, has to be the priority of every national body globally, after all, if those clubs are fit for purpose, they will attract new memberships, who in turn will filter into the national organisations, as Anna states, “It’s a win win.”
This forum is throwing up positives, and providing some real insight to national naturism globally, and people here need to consider these points and get the word out to their national organisations to help be force for change for the positive.
Thanks Rob- and Forums like this were part of our reason for building ANW.
I believe that the boards of these national bodies, or at least a representative from each should be on ANW to read about ideas, to share ideas, so communicate and answer questions, to get involved in debate, to clarify questions that we do not understand (even simple things like What is the Legal Support) and to encourage through conversation and communication members of ANW to join them. Like wise, they can mention ANW to their members and encourage growth here in a "you scratch my naked back and I will rub sun cream on yours" approach. Because there are three things that any well meaning national body organisation forum doesn't have: first the ability to talk honestly without maybe offending the board, two the ability to hear the point of view of people who are not part of the national body (ever or who have left) and third the ability to communicate with members of other national bodies and around the globe. All these things need to be part of open communication to encourage a better approach. So ANW seems a perfect independent place to do that.
It would be nice to see some form of liaison officer for all of the national organisations on ANW, and by the same chalk, a presence from the many business’s that offer naturism globally. A presence here would enhance not only the nationals but all the visibility of the business’s, we have certainly recommended to people we have spoken to in the business community that they consider it.
We have noticed in our dealings over the last two years, a built in fear of reprisal in many of the naturists we talk to, when it comes to national organisations, which does concern us, because how can anything be addressed if people fear to speak? It is an unhealthy state of being that not only is bad for naturists, it does harm also to the national organisations.
We do hope members here see this forum as a safe space, to discuss with respect the kinds of issues that have already been raised, because some of these conversations need to be had, and it is saddening that even here, we see few willing to talk openly about their thoughts and feelings.
We realise, especially with Rob who will debate anything regardless of the subject matter that a lot of people do not want trouble, but the point here is that silence changes nothing, and at times, conversations need to be had for the better of everyone. Just from the google meets where issues do get raised occasionally it is clear that a good number of naturists fear the direction naturism is heading, and we feel, that to openly raise points and look for solutions is the way forward to working together to help redirect naturism towards a bright future, after all, isn’t that why we are all here, and national organisations have forums?
at April 19, 2024 5:55 PM BST 