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Naturists UK - the listening organisation: December end Update

In our enthusiasm since the Naturists UK news broke early through the pages of H&E Naturist, we were proposing an 'update' every “day or two”! Well, every time the Update was completed from Day 3, it was immediately out-of-date due to more callers joining up, and faster than expected progress on various aspects including our new website which went live Sunday 17th December! But then, just as “Week 1’s” update was ready, it became evident that we should hold off announcing the new site until there was more content in place! We want it to have real 'Wow!' factor on your first visit - and as good things are always worth waiting for, and we were fast running out of 'December' with so much still to do, and it was becoming imperative to announce our special pre-launch Christmas offer... that report never appeared either!

Never mind. Many will already have seen the offer, and many have contacted us and/or sent their cheques, but if you haven’t, don’t worry, there's still plenty of time to get your cheque in the post – but don't delay!

So, where to start on all that has happened in the last two weeks… It seems like two months so much has happened! Taking the opportunity of a quiet spot between another homemade mince pie and tea, and the Jamie Lee Curtis film this afternoon, and a moment to reflect, here’s a full update:

Website. Don’t get too excited as there’s still lots to do and there’s little content there yet except a few trial articles – but it’s looking good, and most importantly, it's all working really well. We’d rather not say where it is, as we want the surprise to be a good one, with a significant amount of content in place arranged in an easy to navigate manner – AutositePHP allows unlimited items and categories within categories, with full search capability, but we want to make it easy for you to find things without too many confusing options, so holding off on going public will let us review things more thoroughly! We’re not late, as the site was never intended to go live until mid-Jan, but as things are looking so good and working well, we wanted to let people see it sooner… but not tell everyone quite yet...

Online Registration. This is almost complete, and while being complex behind-the-scenes with all the membership options, and its linking to PayPal to ensure safe, secure and reliable online payment, with Christmas preparations and other things – having fun! – it’s been a bit longer in coming but worth the few extra days to get it right – so don’t wait if you want to enjoy the 2-for-1 offer (see below), best to get your cheque in the post tomorrow!

Membership. Naturists UK membership is now well into double figures and that was before we announced the 2007 rates! All callers have joined – a 100% success rate! – with some callers becoming joint members with their partner. A very good start but more importantly the feedback we’re getting from callers, letters enclosed with the cheques, and even an article and photographs for publication, are all very encouraging. All have said they wanted to join to support our work, particularly two individuals who both said that for many years they had considered but have never wanted to join BN, the previously only option to join a national organisation, because of the “politics, committees and infighting”, while others who are current BN members have said they don’t intend to renew, particularly in the light of the last two AGMs. Well, Naturists UK is politics free – just good ideas, listening to our members and enthusiasm (if a little too much!) – and intends to remain so! 

Benefits. Most who have joined understand the benefit of supporting an organisation that intends to represent its members and campaign for naturism. It’s more a case of what they can do for naturism through a collective voice, than what Naturists UK can do for them, but we’ve already been contacted for help by yet another individual confronted by police after being nude near a beach in Cornwall. Watch out for news on that later.

If you want us to be more effective in helping individuals – you might find you need such help yourself one day – then don’t hesitate to join. You won’t miss the money but you certainly might miss the help your support could bring you. Of course, we will always try to help everybody, whether they are a member or not, but do you really want to rely on others’ contributions to make Naturists UK a viable organisation to call on, or do you want to be part of it? You've nothing to lose by joining; and everything to lose by not. Don't underestimate the value of freedom and how some are intent on denying us ours!

Events. While on the subject of member benefits, we already have in mind ideas for various events and will work to actively support – providing finance if necessary – events that others want to organise, particularly swims – much needed to keep people in touch throughout the cold winter months.

Our aim is to provide discounted admission for our members, so expect to get back some, or all, of your annual membership fee by attending our events, and our affiliate’s events throughout the year. A win win combination, encouraging more members to support more initiatives and events throughout the UK.

But please do let us know if there is a place you would dearly love to visit sans clothes – let’s see if we can encourage many more to take the clothing-optional approach that has proved so successful at Abbey House Gardens!

Publicity. We received our first membership cheque Wednesday 13^th December, only two days after news broke in H&E and we had our first caller, so we are indebted to H&E for giving us a kick start. I received my copy and have written in response to letters appearing – so watch out for the February’s edition, and of course Naturist Life, which will be out about the same time (last week in January), where you’ll see more great news…

Working with Clubs – promoting naturism. Among our first callers Tuesday 12^th was Mike Gould, co-organiser of the Swindon naturist swim/sauna which meets weekly. Mike joined and also hopes his club will join, given the benefits to clubs that Naturists UK plans to offer, especially as numbers attending need a boost. That's another potential venue adding to the list that we hope will be offering discounted entry to all Naturists UK members – a membership benefit helping to encourage more to support these all important swims and events!

Swim clubs will be able to join at the same low Individual member rate of just £20 pa and will enjoy a full ‘web presence’ and promotion in the fully-featured Naturists UK ‘Club Directory’ – they won’t even need their own website! We’re hoping to get as many signed up before the new season starts and are offering an incentive to join early. Watch this space!

It would also be good to have as many Clubs listed before our 'official' launch in January, so that when we send out our national press release to the over 100 media contacts we have, local newspapers across the country can pick up on the ‘local interest’ aspect of the story, and benefit local swims and clubs, many of whom are struggling to maintain enough members to remain viable.

Costs. In line with our policy to ensure we keep our costs down, keep our membership rates low, and ensure maximum value-for-money, we have selected a bank that will give Naturists UK two full years of free banking – that is, completely free of all transaction charges, potentially saving us £100s or even £1,000s over the period and we are considering schemes that will provide our members with cash incentives that will benefit both Naturists UK and our members – another win win opportunity. Keep an eye out on the website for news in the coming days and weeks.

Listening to our members – more than just web based. You’ve probably already heard that many of our callers do not currently have web access at home and have expressed an interest in receiving newsletter updates by post – something we’re happy to provide for those who request it. Watch out for more news of how we intend to reach many more not on the web!

2-for-1 Pre-launch Christmas Membership Offer. As a special incentive and a ‘thank you’ to all those wanting to be among our first members and support our work, we are offering TWO year’s membership for the price of one. That’s a full 24 months membership from the date the organisation is announced as going live – expected to be around the middle of January.

Our scale of charges for 2007 will appear shortly, but don’t wait for all the details and miss out on this very special offer.

Enjoy the rest of your Christmas break!

Happy Nude 2007!

Richard Collins