Without you this annual event will stop!
I hope you are aware that the NSRA
Scottish meeting is this year being held
at Lauder in the Scottish Borders. The
meeting starts on Saturday 29th June and
finishes on Friday 5th July. The logic
for hosting the event in Lauder is both
its central location, but also the fact
that we can better control costs. The
local organiser is on the NSRA board and
the landowner is very keen to have us,
so essentially we have the best chance
of getting it right, we owe this to our
members.
The event as you may know attracts
competitors from all over the UK,
literally from Lands End to John
O'Groats.
We have a big challenge on our hands, as
many of you will know the regular
announcement of the next meeting during
the prize giving of the current meeting
has been replaced with doubt over
whether the next event will even occur.
The big challenge we have is that the
event does not cover its costs, this has
historically been for a number of
reasons ranging from poor management to
falling attendance. We now have a new
team on board (Iain Root - Chief
Executive, Phil Martin - Competitions
Manager, Ian Burton - Board member) and
our goal is to improve matters. I do not
think we will turn the event into a
totally commercial success in one go,
but I am determined that we both manage
the costs scrupulously this year and
also start to build a model that is
repeatable into the future.
What I can do is ensure that best
efforts are made to manage the event
more efficiently and identify and carry
forward lessons and hold people
accountable. What we will do for you, is
we will be open to both examination and
new ideas, running up to, during and
after the event.
My details are
iburton@nsra.co.uk,
also there will be at all times a member
of the NSRA board at the event and we
will be identified.
But we cannot do it all.
If you have competed before then I would
encourage you to attend this year. If
you have members of your club, friends
who have lapsed or have never competed,
then get them to come along. Whether you
shoot one competition or many, shoot
with an 80 average or a 99 average we
have a competition for you and most
importantly you will be made to feel
welcome.
Volunteers
In the past we have been rightly
criticised for shipping in bodies, these
bodies cost money, whether this be a fee
or just travel expenses. We cannot
operate the meeting without enough
people helping. to this end I would
encourage you to volunteer or ask a
member of your club to volunteer. If you
are on site all week but are not
competing on Tuesday morning, then
please volunteer for a shift on Tuesday
morning. I want a large number of
volunteers to help a bit, rather than
shipping in costly external resources to
help a lot.
Some jobs require specialist skills,
such as scoring, some do not!
Future
For this meeting to continue into the
future, the NSRA needs to manage costs
effectively (cut its cloth) and we need
competitors to enter competitions. If
either of these does not happen, it is
absolutely certain that the Scottish
Meeting will stop!
I have had to fight hard at Board
Meetings for this event, I now need you
to show that you want the event.
Essentially if every club brought along
another competitor and each competitor
entered another competition we would
make a huge change to our viability!
Ian Burton
NSRA Board Member
Scottish
Smallbore Rifle Association 
