At our AGM in February, several places on the WEDA committee will become available. We would love you to consider joining us, sharing your ideas and helping the team continue to organise the activities we all enjoy.
What does being part of the committee mean? It means volunteering to help with the behind-the-scenes work that enables the DA to run its rallies, meets and other activities.
What am I expected to do? You can contribute as much or as little as you feel able to. Committee members attend meetings to review the finances and plan the rallies and larger meets that we all enjoy. Meetings are usually held every couple of months on a weeknight via Zoom. You may also be asked to help run larger committee weekends, such as Easter or the FOL. The work is shared across the committee, so everyone can contribute and still enjoy the weekend.
What at the main roles on a committee? The main roles the committee needs to have are:
Chairman*: The Chairman leads committee meetings and makes sure the committee discusses everything it needs to cover. They also ensure that committee members understand what they need to do, when it needs to be completed and whether they need any support with their roles.
Vice-Chairman*: The Vice-Chairman is support for the chairman and is ready to step into the chairman’s shoes if they are unavailable for any reason.
Treasurer*: The Treasurer looks after the DA’s money. They ensure that site fees collected from meets are paid into the bank, pay the DA’s bills and keep records of incoming and outgoing transactions. The Club uses QuickBooks for this work. Previous experience is not required because the Regional Treasurer will provide support and training every step of the way.
Secretary*: The Secretary is the main contact for the DA. They receive updated guidance and procedural documents from Club HQ and the Region and make sure they are issued to the committee. They also prepare agendas and take notes at committee meetings to produce minutes of the meeting that are circulated to committee and Region.
Site Secretary: The site secretary is the person who books all the weekend rallies and THS meets. They liaise with landowners to make and confirm bookings for the weekends, enter the meets onto the club’s database and create the entries for Out and About. They also make sure that the people who volunteer to steward meets for us have all the paperwork and information they need.
The Executive Committee: The Executive Committee consists of the Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer and one other committee member. It makes urgent decisions on behalf of the full committee between meetings. These decisions are reported to the full committee at its next meeting.
The committee also includes a range of supporting roles. If one of these posts is vacant, the DA can continue to operate, although filling them helps to share the workload and strengthen the activities and services available to members. These roles include:
PRO Officer: The Public Relations Officer’s main duty is to publicise the DA and its meets, usually through its social media pages and website. They may also send photographs and articles to HQ for use in the social camping pages of the Club magazine.
Youth Leaders: Youth Leaders organise activities and youth-only camping areas, and they train campers aged 12 to 17 for their Youth Test. They also accompany young people to regional, national and international youth rallies. Youth Leaders must complete the required DBS and safeguarding checks and training, which the Club arranges.
Webmaster: The Webmaster maintains the DA’s website content and social media channels. Previous experience is not required because the Club provides templates and video tutorials to guide you.
Regalia Officer: The Regalia Officer takes orders for any of our logo merchandise, such as fleeces and tee-shirts and acts as a point of contact with the company we use.
Equipment Officer: The Equipment Officer looks after the DA’s equipment and makes sure it is maintained and that the equipment is at the meets / with the stewards who need it.
Countryside Care Officer: The Countryside Care Officer organises countryside care weekends at sites not owned by the Club and working-party weekends at Club sites. These events give us an opportunity to support the sites we use and the people who run them.
Booking Officer: The Booking Officer collects and manages the details of people who book to attend our booked meets and THS meets. They confirm each booking and tell attendees how much they need to pay.
Interested in joining us or finding out more? Please speak to a current committee member before the February AGM. You do not need to decide on a particular role straight away; we would be happy to discuss where your interests, experience and available time could be most useful.
*These roles must be filled for the committee to operate. Without a functioning committee, the DA would have to close.