Forming an social angling club

OK, not thought this through, do I ever, just an idea I have got from reading something else and thought throw it in and see what others think because the idea interests me but I have no experience of this.
Not a club selling fishing rights-just too complicated and more a social club idea, local, could be county but open to all. maybe £5 a year membership, help with anglers sharing cars, help for older, younger, just no one to fish with (safety) and disabled anglers, car sharing. Arranging fishing trips, commercials, day tickets, rivers, piers, beach, invites to clubs, maybe matches, meetings once a month-some pub for get together. Money used to buy a shared club car if enough members, put into arranged fishing trips, website, sea anglers welcome, tackle swaps, boot fair tackle sales, hand your old tackle over, get 50% and 50% towards the club (that from just thinking about current threads and safety, a club offering group fishing)
Just vague stuff off the top of my head for now but interested if anyone has any ideas, problems/benefits; would be interested in joining if one was available locally; any feedback on this?

Sounds a little like the match club my friend belongs to, I don't match fish so have no interest in joining. They're 16 strong mainly retired and run 'matches' at the weekend through the warmer months on local commercials. First wednesday of the month they meet at the pub.

I don't think a membership of a fiver would buy a club car, and even if it did everyone would be fighting to get in it......

Coming down the scale, along the lines of a self help local group, free membership, organized trips, shared costs, safety in numbers, meet and greets, swap local knowledge, get the local tackle shops and clubs on board. Cover all whatever type of angler-Anyone has any experience of that in their area?
I just feel there is a gap in the way we operate and recent threads highlight that to me- forums, clubs, tackle shops, big organizations etc don't quite cover all the gaps or provide all the answers.

Try it. Start a South East England thread and see if you can organise a meet and fish day out somewhere.

It will be a hell of a lot of work for the organiser, particularly if your going to do things like shared club cars. Insurance, maintenance, cleaning etc could be a nightmare. In particular for the low price you could get any old **** head joining mate.

I thought of a similar thing. But more of a thread on FM where member could post if they are looking to find someone to fish with locally or a venues in different parts of the county or wanted to car share to venues.

And having a fish-in where FM members can meet for a weekend fishing

I emailed the moderator/s with the idea asking if I or FM could start thread, but got no reply from any of them so it was a no starter

Fish ins happen, or have happened, on various fishing forums, including this one. Organizing them can be a thankless task. From picking a venue and a date to actually extracting cash can be excruciating.

Non-water controlling clubs also exist all over the country. Many are relatively small and plenty revolve around matches, even if they are more friendly knock ups than full on matches.

One off fish ins can be very good, even if they have just a small element of a match, closer to a friendly knock up. Much depends on the quality of the venue and the distances involved. Matches involving even small amounts of money lost their appeal years ago for me. If I got the urge to participate in a match again, I'd just turn up at one on a local venue that I at least stand a chance of being vaguely familiar with the venue.

On a smaller scale, plenty of forum members meet up to fish together, despite having no connection other than the forum.

If the will is there, anything is possible.

It needs really looking at in a very hard way. Define exactly what you want to offer and in what way, in other words, the objectives of the 'club'. Then look at the risks, usually very few, but you may want to set the club up properly with a a trustee or two and then get insurance to cover you both/all.
There was a time we never gave that sort of thing a second thought; I ran one of the biggest inland sea fishing clubs in the north west in the 70's. We ran coaches (professionally booked) to coastal places and hired boats and skippers to take us out. Sometimes twice to three times a month and never even considered insurance. I wouldn't do that now.
Also I didn't realise everything about having Trustees since most clubs are not an entity in law unless they are a company. Therefore, if something goes pear-shaped (as one of our trips almost did once) it is one of the Trustees that will get sued in Court. For this reason, you need insurance.
Have a look at Jelf Insurance Brokers if you are going down that route. They are pretty reasonable and will advise.

Interesting thoughts, appreciate them. I can see the problems involved which is what I was trying to avoid; insurances, trustees, legalities, formalities etc. I thought I was being ambitious in my opening post, just a rattling off of thoughts..
My thoughts are turning this way-lots of anglers locally of all types, sea, coarse, fly, two good tackle shops, two sea angling clubs, two or more coarse angling clubs, a couple of fly fishing clubs, lots of visiting anglers. But know one knows each other really, none of its joined in any way. I know its the way of anglers, everyone works out what they want and gets on with it but there is something kind of missing, no one meets up, no one knows whats going on; nothing social you could turn to.
I just feel there is a void that could be filled someway. The internet and forums don't really do it for this kind of thing-take Crissh's post for example-too wide spread, too impersonal, who are the people really, would you get on with them. Where do you go if just want to meet and have a chat with other anglers which could lead on to other things, share some fishing and costs, afraid of fishing alone, inexperienced and want some local advice, got a rod to flog sort of thing or just wouldn't mind a bit of social with some same interested people, let the missus wash the dishes once a month or bring her along, I am being vague I know but what if you saw an advert in your local paper or tackle shop, once a month at the Dog and Duck, Anglers Social Group, all welcome, have a chat and a pint, would you go?

I have been in a small club for years that used to be subsidized by the firms social club,We used to get a coach to various rivers canals etc, if a few wanted a knockup match they did the others went for the day, the firm has now sadly gone but the fishing club remains, We now fish commercials, use our own cars. The person who organizes the venues has the thankless task of going through a list trying to please everyone,I used to organize days out for the lads I worked with, I stopped doing it when some venues wanted a decent deposit and I struggled to get the money off the lads, the excuses being on the lines of what if I cant make it on the day,
I have met 2 members off here and had good days on good venues with great company, I would be interested in a fish in around the northwest area, I don't mind travelling about 30 -35 miles to go to venues. Again a get together could be more of a social as well, bring any tackle you want to sell, get venue info, share transport.

markcw said:

I have been in a small club for years that used to be subsidized by the firms social club,We used to get a coach to various rivers canals etc, if a few wanted a knockup match they did the others went for the day, the firm has now sadly gone but the fishing club remains, We now fish commercials, use our own cars. The person who organizes the venues has the thankless task of going through a list trying to please everyone,I used to organize days out for the lads I worked with, I stopped doing it when some venues wanted a decent deposit and I struggled to get the money off the lads, the excuses being on the lines of what if I cant make it on the day,
I have met 2 members off here and had good days on good venues with great company, I would be interested in a fish in around the northwest area, I don't mind travelling about 30 -35 miles to go to venues. Again a get together could be more of a social as well, bring any tackle you want to sell, get venue info, share transport.

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I don't think internet arranged fish-ins are the solution Mark, something permanent and local is more what I am thinking about.

Mark, I meant local to your own area, Mine is the north west, Yours is south east, and done on a regular basis if possible, and with each member of the group, choosing a venue, I have been out wit mikench and wetthrough . One venue twice with mike ( I think he likes that one :wh ) and wetthrough ( Gordon) turned up to introduce himself, Then all 3 of us went to another venue, unfortunately the pool I wanted to go on was closed due to fish spawning, so we went on another pool at the venue, We are going back there again, At the moment I have "chosen" the venues purely on having fished them before, Mike and Gordon have mentioned a couple of venues which we will be going to, It would be good if more members from the area joined us, I think we are 3 easy going blokes who got on with each other from the off, A friend of mine who is not an FM member joined us at one venue, He said both Mike and Gordon were decent blokes. I think the only reason I have chosen the venues as well is that I along with my friend fish lots of commercials and have an idea of which will give a good day out for someone who has never fished them, So if anyone in the Northwest area which covers Lancs, Cheshire, Greater Manchester and Liverpool fancies a day out , get in touch and it can be arranged, Canal anglers especially welcome, we don't discriminate.

markg said:

what if you saw an advert in your local paper or tackle shop, once a month at the Dog and Duck, Anglers Social Group, all welcome, have a chat and a pint, would you go?

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Are you buying? :w

Every time I see this thread title it looks like forming an anti social angling club....sounds great lol.

Go for it mark! The mention of thankless tasks by someone earlier hits the nail on the head but (some of) it could work. The thread idea on FM is a great idea.

Thanks OCF , there are plenty of commercials around here, some clubs let you take a guest on their waters, and the day ticket price for a nearby canal is less than a commercial,( that is if you see a bailiff on the towpath to collect the money ) I would be willing to check venues for availability if we can get a fish in/social off the ground. Weekdays or weekends, depending who would like to participate.