Some of you have been asking about the affiliation rates for the forthcoming year, so this is my usual e-mail concerning Affiliations from around this time of year; albeit a little earlier than usual. Those of you who have monitored the AGM’s for Grand Western and Devon & Cornwall will know about the increase of £2 for Seniors at GWAS (with proportionate increases for other categories) and no increase in the fees for Devon & Cornwall; each maintaining the pro-rating of fees over the second half of the affiliation year; but the regime for Archery GB affiliations has changed radically and only been announced in the last few weeks.
Archery GB has set up just three affiliation categories: Under 21’s, Over 21’s and Disabled and removed the pro-rating of fees in favour of an annualised fee based on the date of payment of fees. They have also increased the fees by £10 for over 21’s and by £7 for under 21’s and Disabled and announced increases for the following two years, in advance.
GWAS Council & DCAS Committee have decided that there is insufficient time to amend our age-groupings and remove our pro-rating (which would require an Extraordinary General meeting to be called) between now and the time that affiliations need to be collected and submitted; instead, for this year, we will merge the existing and new age groups and resolve the situation at our next respective AGM’s (some other Constitutional changes will also be required).
For your Clubs, you might need to consider what Constitutional changes are required to bring your Club into line with the new arrangements
I have summarised the fees and continuing pro-rating of County & Regional fees on the sheet attached (it’s not as complicated as it looks!!).
Clubs will need to prepare for this year’s round of affiliations by registering with Archery GB by 28 August 2024 to submit globally on behalf of members and then complete the renewal process by 1 October 2024 (see Volunteers Newsletter of 5 August 2024). Whether the functionality to submit batch membership affiliations through the Club will be withdrawn after that date, I’m not sure (but I’ll let you know if I find out anything).
Archery GB is also encouraging members to pay their AGB affiliation fees direct to them, rather than through the Club. I would ask you to strenuously resist this; otherwise I see it as extremely difficult to monitor who is a fully paid up member (Club, County, Region & National) if submission of fees to those bodies is piecemeal. Please continue to collect the whole of the fee through the Club.
I have redrafted the Affiliation Submission Forms (as attached) to incorporate the new schedule of categories.
The system of reporting just numbers of archers on these forms remains in place.
Please submit your County & Regional affiliation sheets at the same time as you do the Archery GB submission. This makes it easier for me to keep track of submissions. Thanks.
Each Regional & County Return should be consecutively numbered, so I can keep track of them. Please ensure that the Return No. box is completed showing the consecutive number of the Regional & County Return you are making. We’ll start again at No.1 for your first submission relating to 2024/25, then No.2 for your second submission and so on. I cannot access the “PAY….” number that appears on your AGB invoice, so please don’t use that.
You can still choose how you will submit the payment associated with the Regional & County Affiliation: either electronically (preferred) direct into the bank accounts or by cheque to me by surface mail. If you choose the latter, please put the Return No. on the back of the cheque to facilitate me linking the two together easily.
Even if you’re sending me a cheque payment in the post, you must submit the County & Regional Affiliation Submission Forms to me electronically, along with a copy of the electronic invoice from Archery GB for the archers you are affiliating or a list of archers, their AGB Nos. and their membership category (if the AGB invoice is not available). These should all match.
The new Regional & County affiliation submission forms are attached. These will also be available on the DCAS website, shortly.
Any problems, don’t hesitate to give me a ring.
• 2024.25-GWAS-Club-Affiliation-Submission-Form-Version-1
• 2024.25-DCAS-Club-Affiliation-Submission-Form-Version-2
• 2024-25 Archers Fees for County, Region & National schedule
Regards,
Paul Callaway
DCAS Treasurer
GWAS Affiliation Secretary
Tel: 01209-215537
