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NRA members will today have received an email written by C Farr.

Two items from it are:

Range Officer's have already had some volunteers get in touch (thank you) and we and the competitors will be very grateful for as many volunteers as possible. There will be several days prior to the meeting for ROs to shoot their events, food and accommodation will be provided as well in line with the number of days you can give us. Here is the link to the on line RO registration form. Please use it as it makes the process of collecting all the data much easier.

Eye protection protection is mandatory. Shatterproof glasses must be worn which provide adequate protection at the sides as well as the front. If they do not, you must use additional side protection in the form of slip on shields or similar.

I would like to comment on both.

Firstly, I was amazed to be told earlier this year that the Phoenix is running at a loss. As someone who has helped RO for a number of years now I do not understand why the RO Staff are getting free meals and accommodation.
I understand that the event would not run without us, but to my knowledge, and I am not the point of contact for my discipline, no one from the NRA has approached us with the idea of getting us to pay (at least) cost for the food or accommodation. I would rather get free entry to a number of comps - say 5 - than free food, as good as it is.
If there was a voluntary payment box in the dining area I would put in.
I believe a closer look is required re what the RO's can expect to get, as well as who is doing what on the RO's days before the competition starts.

Secondly, Clearly someone has a bee in their bonnet re Eye protection, or else it would not have been put in the email. As such I expect that there will be someone looking out for offenders during this and other comps. It may have already been a rule, but I can not think of anyone who I have seen use this style of safety wear, with perhaps the odd exception of those who have had to use some from the NRA Office.
I expect that if the rules are enforced, a lot of people could be disgruntled at not being able to shoot. I hope that the NRA is planing on stocking a good quantity of appropriate cheap eye wear so that shooters can get back on the line quickly.
As a side thought, having some quality examples for sale may not be a bad idea as shooters will realise the long term need and may want something long term,

Regards

DM

Someones maths are not adding up, I have had two people from the NRA tell me that the Phoenix is not making money in the last couple of months.

DM

Off forum that is what I have been told as well. That Phoenix was a loss event for the NRA.

So was Live.

If the Phoenix is making a loss then something is seriously wrong. For the number of days it runs and the attendance if you can't make it pay you couldn't run a p**s up (social event) in a brewery. Let's see the true figures from someone that knows.

The competitor RO's at the Imperial don't get free food and accommodation.

Nor are they allowed to take their cars forward of 1000x, nor do they get three days to pracice before an event.

Phoenix always was over staffed and under subscribed.

(So, sadly, were the pistol (GR) events at the Imperial)


Six men, two days to set up and a day to dismantle.

I shall stop now, I'm upsetting myself

Unfortunately the economics of GR competitions are not my side of the business. I will see if I can find someone to provide a definitive answer.

Given that the Phoenix has a history of being self-organising and by implication self-financing I would doubt that it has ever lost money. Just the view of an old-fashioned TR competitor (returning between us about £7k profit on every squadded comp in the Imperial).

Iain

I think you are being a bit unfair to Iain there running man. All he was saying was that he has had little involvement in the Phoenix as it has been to a very great extent organised from without the NRA and that it is self financing. Gallery events may not be his particular interest but I am sure he doesn't work against them either.
Iain is obviously quite proud of their achievements with regard to the events in the Imperial and wasn't rubbing salt in. Your last comments could sound to me like you have a chip on your shoulder but I am prepared to give you the benefit of the doubt as I'm sure it wasn't ment the way it came across. Once again all this seems to have blown up from some posting made using incorrect information and rumours. I'm sure that given a little bit of time someone will post the true story regarding the financial arrangements for the Phoenix meetings if given a chance.

Perhaps I am being too forgiving considering how dreadfully bad the NRA has been in the past and what a disservice it has given to some shooting disciplines, but I really think that some of the staff are making a tremendous effort now to do the right thing. One thing is for certain they are communicating with shooters now via websites like this, and in recent years every time I have approached the NRA on behalf of our club they have replied and it has always appeared to be a genuine effort to assist.

I have no issues with what Iain posted, I thought it was honest and actually supported Running mans view.

When told by two people who hold positions within the NRA, Not just members or range talk, that the Phoenix loses money, then I think that those statements are a little more than rumours.
They may well be factually incorrect, and for that it would nice to have an Official response, one which Iain has indicated that he will try to get, re profit or loss.
If incorrect then I would suggest that an internal email is sent out to all those that hold positions within the NRA so that this belief is quashed. Clearly it is not healthy for some members of an organisation to believe that certain aspects of the operation are making loss if they are not.

In the mental maths that have been mentioned above I do not see any allowance for any NRA Staff. I wonder if the accountant is including the annual salary for one or more members of staff when looking at the profits. Clearly these Gallery Rifle Action Weekend comps require people working on them beyond the periods of the competitions.

DM

Before things get out of hand, play nice