of the buzz they get from it.” The diary is fundamental to retention, but so too
are the key people in the Table whose job it is to motivate and stimulate. In
Nick’s club everyone gets assigned to a sub-council, guaranteeing involvement,
be it helping with fireworks or organising parcels for the old folk at Christmas.
Retention is about making all members, especially the newcomers, aware
of their worth to the club, and that means helping with their own self
development: Nick goes out of his way to coax his new guys on: “I stress to
them not just to sit passively at meetings, but to take an active part and to
challenge their peers. If the fireworks event happens to have lost money, we
want people to get up and question it. It’s good business and it’s great for
Once yo
u get a t
personal development. When they joined some of our guys wouldn’t say boo
ug from a potential member
,
to a goose, but soon they become practiced debaters, a great skill to have. don’
t waste a moment.
“It’s crucial too to involve inexperienced members to the hilt and to excite
Get him down to the p
them, otherwise they are easy to loose. This was part of the disease: People
ub or o
ut to a f
un meeting and
would turn up and fill in time by talking crap. We threw all that out. The
give him a whale of a time
Chairman’s job is to drive decision-making, to get the business done, never
to let the debate get stale.”
Sadly, not every Table can count on a local event with the pulling power of and the tens of thousands they give to local good causes. And they thrive on the
the Eight Day Weekend. So what are the other key movers in the saving of headlines: “We’ve always been good at publicising ourselves, and we’ve got a
Saffron Walden? Nick doesn’t hesitate. “Unmitigated hard work by everyone, fantastic relationship with our local paper who often feature us on their front
and we mean everyone; total buy-in across the board, and planning, planning, page,” says Nick.” And with an IT expert among their number, the Table naturally
planning, and most importantly for a programme with a difference.” RT582 fronts a slick and up-to-date website.
has done with ten-pin, and the Beaujolais run is old hat. They thrive on a diary With 24 members on the roll, Saffron Walden RT582, has probably reached
that’s innovative, stimulating and exciting. And they think creatively, even ‘off optimum size. The trauma of change over the last five years has radically altered
the wall’ to write it… novel, imaginative capers for guys who work hard for the club, both in the way it functions and in the profile of its people. Where once
Table and want to play hard. the membership was drawn primarily from the town’s affluent middle class, most
They take pride in their community standing, their fireworks night, Santa sleigh current members come from outside the town; and thanks to a policy of making
Tabling affordable, not all need be high earners. A pub landlord, IT consultant,
electrical engineer, sales reps, a commercial pilot, insurance brokers, a taxi
driver, ‘under water ice welder’ and many more – Saffron Walden RT582 is an
eclectic ‘band of brothers’, at one with each other and receptive to extended
friendship: For now the Table is looking beyond its own confines to develop inter-
Table relationships with local clubs like Royston & District RT619, a trend that
may well portend the shape of Tabling to come.
Part of the amazing success of this Essex club lies in self-awareness. It knows
its own strengths and where it wants to be. “We are not a club for the sake of
it; we exist for our community, and we are sustained by our community,”
declares Nick Head.
He believes that the future of his Table should be secure, so long as successive
chairmen honour their obligations to innovate and evolve with the times, and to
‘prune the tree’ when they have to. He is content because his club has clear
purpose: Fun and Friendship yes, but also to put something back into the community.
He is proud that his year saw the biggest single donation the Table has ever made –
£6000 for the Teenage Cancer Trust. “That really means something,” he says.
If there is a threat on the horizon, it’s probably dressed as beaurocracy. The
nightmare of having to prepare a 256-page Risk Assessment for the privilege of
organising the 2008 carnival is still all too vivid, an excruciating reminder that
costly litigation is not the only forfeit for those who seek to bring simple pleasures
to the people. Sadly there may come a time when even Tablers will throw up their
hands and cry, “enough”, and the community will be the poorer for it.
But in the meantime 2011 and the next carnival is not that far away, and
the ‘Magnificent 24’ at Saffron Walden RT582 will soon be starting the cycle
anew, doubtless to the strains of “Don’t Stop the Carnival”.
Want to learn more? Why not go along to a Saffron Walden
meeting or event to share the club’s secret for success.
There are 24 Tablers there who will make you very welcome!
Or contact Nick Head: mobile 07515 991762,
email nick@source-group.co.uk or Jason Thomson:
mobile 07939 300126, email jason.thomson@WSPgroup.com
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