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AWCC - Association of Waterways Cruising Clubs

 

Most members will be aware of the Association of Waterways Cruising Clubs (AWCC), but for new members of our club here is a brief introduction:

The AWCC is not for actual individuals, but is an association for boat clubs and their members.  It was formed in 1964 by four boating clubs in the London/Midlands area. To date there are more than 100 clubs which represent some 20,000 club members.

Brian Hill is the SYBC’s representative attending the AWCC regional meetings.

As with CRT being divided into regions so has the AWCC, which comprises of six regions; London, Midland, North-East, North-West, South-East, and South-West Regions.
The AWCC has become an influential boater’s lobby consulted by CRT, EA, IWAAC (Inland Waterways Amenity Advisory Council), also with district and local councils, and the DETR (Dept: Environment & Transport Regions). The Association also works closely with IWA (Inland Waterways Association), RYA (Royal Yachting Association), NABO (National Association of Boat Owners), and the BMF (British Marine Federation).

Further information can be found on the AWCC web site (http//awcc.org.uk).

All club members can automatically make use of the AWCC’s benefits, which are mainly temporary moorings, help in urgent cases when stranded away from home moorings, and assistance where-ever possible.  In other words, boating clubs help stranded boating clubs as much as possible. club members.

A credit card size ID card is available for each boat if required

All boating clubs pay a small fee so there is no charge to individuals so that proof of the club is an active paid up member to the AWCC, and proof if this may be asked for by a club being visited.

If requiring a mooring, including overnights, most clubs have a no charge (except for Hook-ups), but the club must be notified of your intentions beforehand and each club may not have the same rules as SYBC.  At the present time our club allows visiting boats up to 4 nights without charge plus the cost of any electric used.

There is a Handbook which will be available to view within our club premises soon but at present time it is being updated.  It will list all member clubs, contacts, amenities and more.

The Handbook must not be taken from the club.

Handbooks can be obtained, if required, for a price to be announced as is also the AWCC’s Burgee which goes well next to our own SYBC Burgee.

Many Thanks

Brian Hill AWCC Rep, Slipway Officer.

 

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An Introduction to the AWCC

 

What is the AWCC?

The Association of Waterway Cruising Clubs (AWCC) is a grouping of individual and independent clubs which offer their members facilities related to boating on the inland waterways of the United Kingdom. Membership of the AWCC is open to all properly constituted UK clubs in this sphere, whether they have a defined physical location and base (i.e. moorings and/or clubhouse) or comprise a looser grouping of individual boaters with a common interest. Membership of the AWCC is not open to individual boaters other than by being a member of a club that is an AWCC member. Clubs pay a modest annual fee for membership of the AWCC that then entitles all their members to take advantage of the facilities that the AWCC offers.

What are the benefits of AWCC membership?

There are benefits from membership of the AWCC for both clubs and their individual members.

For clubs, membership provides access to the expertise and shared experience of both the national AWCC officers and members and officers of other member clubs. In particular, the AWCC has experienced officers who can represent the interests of member clubs, either individually or collectively, with other organisations and government departments, including the Canal & Rivers Trust, and the Environment Agency. The AWCC have officers who sit on a number of national waterways advisory bodies and can thus represent the interests of member clubs in those forums.

For individual club members, the AWCC offers reciprocal arrangements with other member clubs, including emergency help whilst out cruising, access to temporary moorings for overnight or longer stays, as well as use of other facilities and clubhouse access. Clearly these facilities will depend on what each club is able to offer, and each club is free to determine their own rules and charges for use of the facilities. Contact details for each club for making arrangements prior to visiting a club are included in the AWCC Handbook which is produced each year, and which is available to members of AWCC clubs for a small fee, as well as being available in the members area of the AWCC website. Version 1.4 (20-11-2019)

AWCC Management Structure

The operation of the AWCC is divided into 6 regions. Each club should have appointed a representative (AWCC Rep) to attend the regional meetings, to represent their club’s interests and to channel information between the AWCC and their club. Each Region appoints a number of regional officers at their Regional AGM, including a Chairman, Secretary, President and Treasurer, to manage the regional business, two of which then represent the Region on the National Executive Committee (NEC). Whilst many of the regional officers may start out as Reps for their Club, this is not a requirement and nominations are welcome from anyone keen to support the work of the AWCC. The NEC also consists of a number of national officers who are elected at the AWCC National AGM, again without the requirement to be a Club Rep. A full list of all national and regional officers is available in the Handbook and in the Members Area of the website.

This structure allows clubs to raise issues at a regional level which can then be escalated to the NEC for further national action where relevant. If you have any issues with the management of the waterways or other boating matters that require action and which fall outside individual club responsibilities, pass these to your club’s AWCC Rep for them to take to the regional meetings from where further escalation can be managed where appropriate.

AWCC Website

The AWCC maintains a website at http://awcc.org.uk. This comprises a public area, which gives general information about the organisation and summary information about its member clubs, as well as a password protected members area where more detailed information about the member clubs and their contacts, access to the AWCC forums and other information such as regional and national meeting minutes is available.

All current members of a Club that is a member of the AWCC are entitled to a login to the Members' Area of the AWCC web site.

As the AWCC itself has no means of establishing whether an applicant for a login is a current member of one of its member clubs, the creation of these logins is handled by officers of the club itself. Therefore, as a member of an AWCC club, you should apply to one of your club officers (as recorded by the AWCC) for them to create your login record. Details of your login ID and initial password will then be automatically emailed directly to you. The club officers recorded by the AWCC and who should have this ability include the Secretary, Membership Secretary, AWCC Rep, Contact for visiting AWCC boaters and Treasurer. In some cases, further club officers may also have the ability to create the login records. To create a login, the only information that is required is your forename, surname, private email address and the club of which you are a member.

The AWCC Rep for your Club is Brian Hill