General branch

[Rupert Bear]

What is the position and what are the costs/requirements of general branch?
The local branch is a waste of time and the next nearest one is 90 miles away so it is either general branch or nothing.

[PeteM]

What is the position and what are the costs/requirements of general branch?
The local branch is a waste of time and the next nearest one is 90 miles away so it is either general branch or nothing.

[Rupert Bear]

But how does it work? I see the forms and costs but it seems to be you are then your own branch and do what you want? Surely it is not as relaxed as this, there must be some guidelines or is it just don't do anything you shouldn't?

[Edward Haynes]

From the Branch Officers' Handbook Section 3.1.1:

BSAC Direct:
This is a special Branch administered by BSAC Headquarters.

BSAC Direct offers:
? A means of maintaining BSAC membership without joining a Branch.
? No training. However, members may train with a BSAC School or a BSAC Branch and submit their Qualification Record Book to BSAC Headquarters for the award of diving grades.
(End if extract.)

As stated BSAC is a holding Branch, when you go diving you are still expected to follow 'Safe Diving Practices' and (if you are the leader or senior diver) complete a 'Risk Assessment'.

HTH

Edward


But how does it work? I see the forms and costs but it seems to be you are then your own branch and do what you want? Surely it is not as relaxed as this, there must be some guidelines or is it just don't do anything you shouldn't?

[Jeanne]

What is the position and what are the costs/requirements of general branch?
The local branch is a waste of time and the next nearest one is 90 miles away so it is either general branch or nothing.

After being a very active member of a branch for 10 years plus, I also took the decision to remove my membership from what had become a well trodden path of activities both wet and dry, and a mounting pressure on my available commitment doing me and my branch fellows no justice. I have been a General Branch member now for 2 years, and it works for me:

1. I have diver friends from way back both at the branch and General members who are also willing to arrange their diving independently from branch offers, and we do this regularly
2. I feel I have devoted all the time I can to training, both myself and others at this time, and feel the time is to kick back and enjoy the few precious days I have for diving in any year!
3. Being part of the BSAC world with the General Branch membership and taking an active look at what's going on in the diving world at large still provides me with up-to-date information on diving, techniques, holidays, equipment and so on, and so far, I don't feel I am missing an important trick.

Is this for you? It very much depend on what you need and where you are at in your diving career. As other posts say, your training needs should be considered first and those in fact are
served equally well within a branch or a school, the cost basis may however be quite different. Branch training can be long depending on the resource within, however thorough, whilst schools will work pretty much to your schedule and offer the same quality, cost is often the trade-off. You may find it harder to find dive trips as a lone diver, unless you already know charters and fellow divers with whom you can arrange private dive trips, and as a matter of fact, many charters do cater for the lone enquirer as there are often part filled boats going out.

I would not suggest that you look outside of BSAC, as a member I feel this would not be quite loyal, but if you are really stuck...or prepared to move...

Good luck,

Jeanne