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Staffordshire Phoenix rifle club


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What’s going on with our lovely little club ! 
The committee in there infinite wisdom of one decided to not renew with the nra because of costs, and a personal hatred of the nra !.

They decided to try and run a new private range that hasn’t really got any permission to shoot on and it looks like the police have closed it down !

what a disgrace 

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Although I’m not one for airing dirty laundry publicly, I must admit, the decision making that has resulted in this exercise in self destruction is terribly sad.

It was once a lovely little club with so much promise, I hope it does rise again but I sadly doubt it will.

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22 hours ago, Has the phoenix burned said:

What’s going on with our lovely little club ! 
The committee in there infinite wisdom of one decided to not renew with the nra because of costs, and a personal hatred of the nra !.

They decided to try and run a new private range that hasn’t really got any permission to shoot on and it looks like the police have closed it down !

what a disgrace 

My first club: what a mess.  "Prejudices are what fools use for reason"  Voltaire

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They were regulars at Kingsbury and Whittington until Mr Teddy was launched ex-cot with extreme prejudice 😁

I know with certainty because I know the chap that did their range booking for a year or so, until he had an attack of the vapours and flounced off to pastures new 😏

 

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31 minutes ago, Has the phoenix burned said:

He was a nice old chap that used to do the bookings the club went down hill after he left 🤣

Nice OLD chap 😮 😤  The chap I knew was youthful and full of joy (well, full of something 💩

Baaaahhhh

 

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  • 2 years later...

 

Hi Folks

 

An update from another (disgruntled) member of Staffordshire Phoenix Rifle and Pistol club:

 

Basically about 6 months the old guard in the committee threw out two long standing club members that where on the committee, who were always at the shoots, running them, training, work on the range and always made everyone feel welcome (they would even let new members shoot their own firearms!).

After they had been removed/thrown out of the club the committee then sent out several emails to all and sundry say that these guys were bullying the other members of the committee, when in reality they were voicing the concerns of the rank-and-file members (myself including) about how the club was operating and expenditure of club funds etc. We had raised these issues with other members of the committee but to no avail.

 

Since the purge by the old guard of the committee the club is going down the pan, they said in the emails that the club would be a lot more friendly now that the bullies were gone!!!!!, when in reality the shoots are badly run, dictatorial/unfriendly and there are a lot of other issues but I am concerned that I will get thrown out before I can find another club if I say anything else.

 

Therefore, I for one (and some others) will not be renewing our membership this coming year.

 

ATB

 

J. Smith

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This is such a familiar tale with so many clubs, not just shooting organisations. I can clearly not comment on this particular club as I nothing about anyone in it.

Committees seem to contain either chaps reluctantly feeling that as a member of said club enjoying the advantages for some while, that they should contribute and then there are the egotists, who love the opportunity to have some level of control over lesser mortals. The latter are political animals and often ruin the club for all. Often it only takes one or two such arseholes with a small following to completely ruin an otherwise great organisation. The long term effect is that such inadequate individuals, having destroyed the club, have no one to lord it over. It is of course never their fault!

ODRC was a typical example; a club completely destroyed by, I’m told, two individuals. I have personal experience of one extraordinarily disingenuous bully there, who was not only rude and arrogant to club members, but I’m told, tried his attitude on Landmarc and the MOD which was not a great idea.

I’m now a member of three other clubs, all of which are well run by friendly fellow enthusiasts, sans ego 😃 Happy Daze😃

All I want now is for bullets powder etc to become affordable and all in the garden will be lovely 😊 

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2 hours ago, Ralpharama said:

...ODRC was a typical example; a club completely destroyed by, I’m told, two individuals. I have personal experience of one extraordinarily disingenuous bully there, who was not only rude and arrogant to club members, but I’m told, tried his attitude on Landmarc and the MOD which was not a great idea.....

Offas' is still "trading" according to their website but not accepting new members.  I do hope that the 'unpleasantness' has been resolved for the member's sake.

With regard to running clubs it's very difficult to encourage involvement these days.  I feel it's the same for most clubs and societies (accepting golf clubs with all their ballcocks) and I think it's due to social changes where some members see the club just like they see a gym membership or similar;  ie a paid for service, rather than as a group of like-minded enthusiasts getting together in mutual support.  I'd love to hear from anyone that's cracked the problem!

It's usually the same handful of people that go to work parties, volunteer to train others, join the committee etc.   We try to be friendly and supportive at our club but, for some clubs 'pressed men' may not be the best persons to carry the organisational responsibilities and general stress/faff that goes with it.  Sometimes it's misguided enthusiasm and a failure to take people with you that damages relations, sometimes it's just personality types that are capable organisers but just unpleasant to know.  As an ex member of both SPRPC and Offas I'd say I've experienced both!

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I agree with you but there is nothing new about this issue. The 80/20 or 90/10 rules always apply in this case. I run the social media and web site of our club so I am the first contact point for potential new members. When I first meet them , I always point out that we are a "members" club, not a business, and that lays certain obligations on them when they join. One of these is that all members are expected to contribute to ongoing maintenance, etc., and they should play a part. I make sure they understand this point which they always agree to. This gives me some leverage when it comes to work groups and similar exhortations to help. The  rate of new membership applications has quadrupled since COVID and show no signs of slowing down. For the first time in our existence, > 50 years, we have to think about how many members we can  handle?

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Problem is when  someone on the comitee decide they are the one and only decision maker  and decide to run the club to their benifit . Have that situation at the moment sadly and watching the members looking at other clubs .

Its a case of not supporting new disiplines (as they arent interested ) not increasing fees (as they pay for 5 members of their family ) and brining in guests when no one elses requests are allowed  .

No qualified range officers (so insurance possibly void)

No other comitee member having access to club documents (or copies )

My days of shooting with that club are coming to a rapid end .

Unfortunately a club has to be run as a business (to a point) to become self supporting and  survive  , it also protects the availability of the range for the members .

 

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  • 1 month later...
  • 4 months later...
On 11/27/2022 at 12:34 PM, Popsbengo said:

Offas' is still "trading" according to their website but not accepting new members.  I do hope that the 'unpleasantness' has been resolved for the member's sake.

Having been speaking to DIO/Landmarc in Wales, they never want to see ODRC again, a huge shame as they were such a good club.

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Hi all

 

Email sent out last week from the old guard stating that the "larger & longer range" (a quarry) isn't happening, what a surprise.

I have managed to get into a new club thanks to the two guys that got throw out last summer (Some of you know who they are!) and have not renewed with Staffs Phoenix.

Good luck to all the remaining members in that club, you will need it, a lot of broken promises and bad feeling has been generated by the founding members, see my original post.

 

ATB

 

Joe

 

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Meles Meles quoted "complimented by a second, rather larger and longer range, the lease on which has just been agreed". So its not going to happen then? Does anyone actually know whats going on with Phoenix. This "old guard" doesnt appear to know whats what.

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On 12/31/2022 at 5:33 PM, ontoproofer said:

Hi Andy rv

Do they still shoot at Yoxall on there private range and are they still at Kingsbury ? 

The club I moved to don't shoot at Kingsbury.

What is the range at Yoxall as a matter of interest  ?

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18 hours ago, OSOK said:

What is the range at Yoxall as a matter of interest  ?

I think he's referring to the one SPRPC set up in a farmer's field that was closed down soon after

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