09/04/2024
ScotSAC Newsletter March 2024
Welcome
Welcome to the first quarterly newsletter of 2024. There has been a lot a of activity in the background from both the Board and the NDC, with plenty more in progress. As always with a volunteer-driven organisation, the pace of progress is limited by the number and availability of volunteers. However, hopefully you are starting to see progress with courses being delivered and implementation of some of the ideas that have come from members, NDC, or Board. This newsletter gives just a snapshot of a few of them.
We are always looking for folks to assist. In particular, if your skill/passion is publicity, marketing or fundraising, please get in touch. We have folks that will value your expertise.
Thanks, Alastair ([email protected])
Local Club (Branch) Promotion and Publicity
One of the key priorities for the Board is to help you grow the membership of our club and to that end we have been looking at Branch information….
Assuming you want new members to join your Branch, is your information in the Branch Finder up to date? If not, how are they going to find you when they hit ScotSAC.com?!
Have a look, and if your information is not up to date, pester your BDO or Club Admin and get them to update the information on your Branch in the JustGo membership system. The existing ScotSAC.com Branch Finder uses the information direct from our JustGo membership system and this will also be true when we move to our new website.
You can use the Map View or List View to quickly find your Branch.
Are all the details correct including:
• Address/Location
• Contact phone number and email address
• Website link
• page link
• Pool day and time
• Type of Branch (Training/Non-Training and whether you accept junior members/what age)
If your BDO is a technophobe, make sure they have assigned at least one other person to the Club Admin role in the Branch. They can ask Kirsty in HQ to enable that access if they don’t know how to do so themselves. Larger clubs may want more than one Club Admin – that is up to your Branch Committee.
Members not getting this Newsletter?
If members of your Branch complain they are not getting this Newsletter (or other communications from ScotSAC or the Scottish Diver Magazine), please check:
Are they a current member? (The Newsletter or Magazine only goes to members with current membership)
Are their contact details correct in JustGo? The Newsletter will only go to the email address they have set in their membership record
Is their phone number correct
Is their home address correct (that is where the Magazine will be delivered to)
Is their photo up to date (or just the one they had at school!)
Are some/all emails from ….com going to Junk Mail? Please get them to add all email from scotsac.com addresses to their ‘safe senders’ list.
Updating their details is easy – they just hit the button in the JustGo membership system which they can log into from www.scotsac.com fill in the fields and save.
If they change their email address through this method, their Username will not change, and they may get confused about why they cannot log in using the new email address as their Username!
Easier to get them to get into the habit of using their ScotSAC membership number for their Username when logging in – that will always work (but they will need to remember their password).
How can your Club Admin help?
In addition to approving new members who register in JustGo and request to join your Branch, your Club Admin can check details for any Branch member including their membership status, renewal date, qualifications/credentials, emergency contacts etc.
They can help before you contact HQ with a query on information for your Branch members.
Ideally BDOs should be a Club Admin as they need to be aware of important information like membership and Instructor rescue refreshers.
They can also run Branch reports at any time if needed for the Branch Committee and download them as either Excel or PDF.
Training Courses Update
It has been a busy time since the start of the year with a significant number of courses run, namely:
• an Examiners course
• a Deep Diving course
• two First Aid/Heart Start/O2 Administration courses
• a Child Wellbeing and Protection in Sport (CWPS) course
• a Nitrox Course and
• a Regional Instructors course.
Plans are being progressed for the next set of courses, and we can already confirm the following:
• Branch Instructor – 20th April 2024
• Deep Dive – 11th / 12th May 2024
• Nitrox – 25th May 2024
Courses are only run where there is sufficient interest so…
Please register your interest on JustGo by adding your name to the Waitlist (in JustGo – Click on Events and Courses>>Click on the relevant course>>Click on Add to Waitlist. Note: Club Admins can also do this for members of their Branch).
If you have any questions, please do contact the relevant Course Director and if you have any problems adding yourself to the Waitlist, please contact HQ..
Updates to ScotSAC Diving Policy and Processes
The following four updates were developed and proposed by the NDC and have been approved by the Board:
Reduction in minimum age for SCUBA
With effect from the start of March 2024, the minimum age for Diver training has been reduced to 12 years old (11 in the pool/classroom). Branch Divers in the age range of 12-14 will undergo the same training as all other Branch Divers but will be restricted to a maximum depth of 12 metres. As per current processes, acceptance of junior members will continue to be a Branch decision and the reduction of minimum age to 12 years old does not change this. Whilst this change is now in force, because the minimum age is documented in Byelaws, it will be subject to member acceptance of the updated Byelaws at the next ScotSAC AGM.
Instructor Rescue Refreshers
Rescue Refreshers are no longer required for any Instructors who wish to teach in the Pool, or to conduct lecture training. This means that any ‘inactive’ instructors can, if they wish, return to a ‘pool only’ teaching status.
For anyone who falls into this category, please discuss with your BDO before recommencing any training.
Instructor Pool Assessments
All trainee Branch and Regional Instructors who have successfully completed all of their pool assessments are now eligible to teach within the pool environment. If a trainee BI or RI is put forward for and has passed their assessment, then they have demonstrated that they have displayed the relevant skills and aptitude for teaching in the pool. If you are not sure whether this applies to you, please discuss with your BDO or Regional Coach.
Deep Rescue endorsement
Deep Rescue (30m) course can now be taught by any Instructors (Branch and Regional) who already hold the award. Pre-requisites for the course have changed to include recent (within previous 6 months) demonstration of the Master Diver Rescue (15m). ScotSAC has a mannequin that can be kitted up and used as the casualty – if you would like to use this in your Branch, please contact HQ to make the necessary arrangements.
Updating your credentials in JustGo
Once you have completed a qualification, surely you want the membership system to know, so that it is reflected on your next membership card (for Diver level) or your Branch reports?
[Note: If ScotSAC receives a query from a dive outfit or agency regarding your qualification, we can only report on what is in our membership system.
Likewise, if you lose your logbook, we only have what is in the system…]The membership system will not know unless you upload your new qualification/Credential.
To do so, take a photo or scan of your new Certificate (Branch Diver, Sport Diver, CWPS, First Aid…) then log into your membership record and click on and
Now you can choose the correct Credential from the list and upload the photo/scanned certificate. It will then go for checking/approval in HQ and once approved will show as an Active Credential against your membership record.
Partnerships and Campaigns
Water Safety Scotland
ScotSAC have formed a partnership with Water Safety Scotland to help promote water safety which is aiming to reduce drowning incidents – as part of this, we have contributed to the WSS Diving Safety Code Diving. During April, WSS will be running a specific social media campaign focusing on safe diving in Scotland so you may see our logo popping up in a few more places!
Our Seas Scotland Membership
Our Seas Scotland are an alliance of Scottish organisations, businesses, communities and individuals who are working to support a move to a more sustainable use of our coastal seas. Our Seas Scotland are calling for a re-establishment of a modern coastal limit on bottom-towed fisheries to restrict damaging fishing from the coastal zones of our seas that are most vulnerable. Our Seas Scotland run a number of campaigns and initiatives, and you can support as an individual through this link If you would like to get more involved and pro-actively represent ScotSAC please do let us know.
Keep our Pools Open
Scottish Swimming had a petition in the Scottish Parliament aimed at keeping swimming pools open as they are so vital not just for swimmers but for other sports such as our own who use them for techniques, training and safety.
This petition was being considered in Parliament on Wednesday 20th March. Thank you to all that signed and supported it.
The petition link is here.
Eyemouth Harbour Trust
Eyemouth are looking to explore and exploit the potential for the harbour to support the Scottish Government’s ambition to grow port capacity on Scotland’s east coast. This is to service the offshore wind power generation sector. The plans are at an early stage at the moment and will change, but ScotSAC and other dive agencies are being involved and consulted in their plans in an attempt to ensure that the location continues to be used for dive charters and accessible for shore dives.
The have a press release that gives more information.
Communications - feedback please
This quarterly Newsletter is one way in which your Board and NDC can keep you updated. We need to know what you want to see included in the Newsletter (and other channels). Please send you thoughts/ideas to [email protected].
You may have noticed that our social media presence is being progressively reactivated with posts on our page now appearing on a more regular basis. If you have news items about your Branch or other items that you would like featured, please let us know or tag the ScotSAC page in your post.
Reminder that at present we have the following member communications:
• Scottish Diver magazine – posted to current members every 2 months and provided to local dive businesses to hand out to customers (potential new members)
• Newsletter – emailed to current members quarterly
• BDO’s update – emailed to Branch Diving Officers monthly
• www.scotsac.com/news section – regular short updates
Scottish Diver
Many of you may not be aware, but the Editor of ScotSACs magazine - Jack Morrison – is a member of ScotSAC, and he is always looking for new articles for the magazine. If you think you might have something to share, however small, please get in touch with him at [email protected].
Updates from the Board and HQ
Changes in your Board or NDC
There is one change to report since the last Newsletter. Earlier in the year, Julie requested not to continue in the Lead CPO role, so the search for a suitable replacement commenced, taking into account Julie’s experiences in trying to take on the role.
We are pleased to report that we have appointed David Law as an external Director and Lead CPO. Retired, but with an extensive background in social work, child protection and lecturing in related law, David is over-qualified for our role in ScotSAC, so we are very grateful that he has volunteered to assist us in getting our child, young person and vulnerable adult policies and processes up to date and working well.
You can find all the members of the Board and the NDC listed on the Directors and post holders link on our website.
BDO Updates
In addition to the monthly email update to BDOs, in Jan/Feb our NDO, Sam, initiated online BDO ‘drop-in’ sessions. The intention of the sessions was to give BDOs an opportunity to hear directly from the NDO on upcoming plans, get to ‘meet’ other BDOs and also to be able to share their thoughts and views.
16 BDOs attended across the two sessions - feedback from the sessions was good and generated a lot of discussion and a fair amount of useful suggestions. Sam will be looking to schedule in the next BDO ‘drop-in’ sessions sometime in April.
Did your BDO attend? If they haven’t already shared the information gained, quiz them on the session and how it went.
The BDOs also received an offer for Branch members to attend Zoom based Branch and Sport Diver lectures being hosted by Grampian Branch. If these are of interest to you, please speak to your BDO.
Thank you to Grampian for making these available.
Welcome back to the Time-Capsule Branch
The Time Capsule Branch are reforming. Great to have you back, and please do get in touch if you need any help to get fully up and running.
HQ – Caledonia House
Sportscotland plan to close Caledonia House at the end of the year and are looking to find alternative (preferably local to the existing office) accommodation for themselves and the tenant Sport Governing Bodies (including ScotSAC). As Chair, Alastair is already involved in meetings and planning, as is Kirsty. Our current lease to the end of the year will be honoured, but we have to plan on the assumption that the office will move, and worst case will have to find our own replacement accommodation.
Unfortunately, it is highly likely that we will have to pay significantly more for HQ space from next year.
Old style logbooks
We now have replenished stock of the old-style blue dive logbook and so have been able to add the ability to purchase the logbooks in batches. This followed an enquiry from a Branch that wanted to purchase in bulk for their members though at the time of their request, stock was too low to satisfy the request.
We are pleased to say you can now purchase old style logbooks:
• Single (as before)
• Batch of 6 logbooks
• Batch of 20 logbooks
They are available through the Shop in JustGo.
Reminder that members can attend Board or NDC meetings
If you want to attend either a Board or an NDC meeting to see what goes on, especially if you think you might want to volunteer now, or in the future, please let Kirsty in HQ know and we can arrange for you to be invited to the next one. Minutes from both forums are posted to the Documents in JustGo once they have been approved (so expect a month’s lag).
Current Website
We are continuously updating our public website (https://www.scotsac.com/) to reflect changes that have been agreed. Some recent examples are:
• Guidance on Medicals and Safety
• Membership fees as from Jan 2024 on our How to Join/Join Now page
• Updates to Child Protection policies and processes
• Change to lower the age limit for Branch Diver
• Changes to Deep Rescue award prerequisites and assessment
• News page updates
If you spot information that should be changed, please let us know via HQ or to [email protected]. It is a work in progress.
New Website
Work continues on preparation for a new, attractive and easier to maintain website for scotsac.com. The team are working away in the background and have a development site set up to work on, with plenty of existing content and new ideas to develop and test.
More on the plans to come in the next Newsletter.
Reminder of normal HQ working days
Please remember that our HQ office is part-time and only open as follows during normal working weeks:
• Monday and Thursday on 0131 625 4404
• Available by phone only on Tuesday on 07543 673 616
In closing - we are starting to make good progress and there is more to come
My priority when taking over as Chair was to ensure we established a fully functioning, representative and forward-looking NDC with a wide representation of Branch support and to re-establish regular courses so that we meet member demand.
I hope you can see that Sam (as NDO) and the NDC have indeed got that well underway, with not only the courses up and running, new Examiners and RIs in training, but constructive changes also implemented. There are many more in the pipeline.
With the reduction in the age at which we can now qualify Branch Divers, the need to ensure our Child, Young Person and Vulnerable Adult policies and processes are fit for purpose and easy to follow is even more critical and was next on my list. Julie started the work on these P&P and David will pick that up from me and help us get it all in place.
For Branches that accept junior members (under 18 but can be from 7 for Junior Snorkeller and from 11 for Branch Diver), please remember that all your instructors need to be PVG registered and to have completed the Child Wellbeing and Protection in Sport (CWPS) training. This training is available through ScotSAC, sportscotland or often also free via your local authority sports organisation.
To reiterate, whether you accept Junior members and at what age remains a Branch decision.
The key objective from the Board is for us to retain our status as the Governing Body for the sports of SCUBA diving and snorkelling in Scotland and to grow our membership from our current 600-650 level to back over 1000. We can only do this if we have healthy Branches supported by an active Board, NDC and Coaching Team. One way of growing the Branches may be by attracting younger members and enabling them to contribute to building a vibrant, fun and attractive club/branch diving culture.
For your reference, the average age of a ScotSAC member (as at the end of Feb24) was over 48. However, almost all of the larger clubs show average ages ranging from 35 to 45. How do we enthuse the young to join our branches and how do we help grow the smaller branches? What is stopping your branch from growing?
As always, all thoughts are welcome and will contribute to how we take our club forward. Feel free to email me on [email protected], Sam on [email protected] or HQ/Kirsty on [email protected].
Thank-you, Alastair.
New age limit has been agreed for diving within Scotland SAC. We can now train 12 year olds in the pool and also take them to a max depth of 12 m.
