Is it worth renewing CAMC membership

We are members of both main clubs so no bias. Both clubs are non profit making, do not pay dividends to shareholders, have unpaid members committees, and use any excess income to invest in improvements in the facilities offered to club members.

Part of the recent message to members from Nick Lomas (C&MC director general):-

“A true members’ Club
It is vital to remember that the Club is a true members’ Club that is owned by you, the members and run by members (the Executive Committee). They are elected from amongst you and volunteer to be your board of directors. (They receive no pay for their tireless hard work). Thanks to prudent management and years of support from members like you paying their subscriptions and buying our services, we have built up an unrivalled network of sites and Certificated Locations across the UK. As a members’ Club we pay no dividends to shareholders or bonuses to directors so that any surplus funds are used to invest in sites and services for you. This year we are committed to investing in Cayton Village in Yorkshire, Penrhos in Anglesey and Troutbeck Head in the Lake District.“
 
We are members of both main clubs so no bias. Both clubs are non profit making, do not pay dividends to shareholders, have unpaid members committees, and use any excess income to invest in improvements in the facilities offered to club members.

Part of the recent message to members from Nick Lomas (C&MC director general):-

“A true members’ Club
It is vital to remember that the Club is a true members’ Club that is owned by you, the members and run by members (the Executive Committee). They are elected from amongst you and volunteer to be your board of directors. (They receive no pay for their tireless hard work). Thanks to prudent management and years of support from members like you paying their subscriptions and buying our services, we have built up an unrivalled network of sites and Certificated Locations across the UK. As a members’ Club we pay no dividends to shareholders or bonuses to directors so that any surplus funds are used to invest in sites and services for you. This year we are committed to investing in Cayton Village in Yorkshire, Penrhos in Anglesey and Troutbeck Head in the Lake District.“

I can only judge by my own personal experience but if you look at their annual accounts you will see that they do indeed pay substantial salaries to the senior management. The Board of Directors, as with a school's Board of Governors, is indeed full of unpaid volunteers but they are not the ones who do the day to day work, so the message above is a bit misleading. Despite what they say, a glance at those accounts will show that they make a substantial profit (or "surplus" as they call it) every year. They claim this goes in investment at sites, which it may well do but my experience tells me that the facilities at those sites is no better than - or sometimes worse than - the facilities provided by nearby truly private campsites (who, also in my experience, charge lower rates!). Not only that, but those private campsites tend to have fewer restrictive rules about which way round you can park and so on. If it were not for the CLs - which are privately owned and simply registered through the CMC - we would not be members.
 
Bottom line is, after this is all finished do want the clubs and their fine facilities to be available to us, and are we willing to help by paying our fees. It was nice of the C&C to do what they did, but I wish they had not. I value very much both organisations and have enjoyed what they both have to offer. I do agree with others who show favour for the C&C, but I have spent some good times on both of their excellent sites. Here’s hoping that when this is over that they they are both still functioning.
 
I would imagine the cls and the cs will continue with or without their umbrellas
If either of the big clubs folded, the cls or cs will lose their exempt status from the need for planning permission and a site licence, they would need to be “adopted” by another exempt organisation, the Snail Club or a new one perhaps ........... who knows. Certainly we are only members to gain access to the cls these days ......
 
It would be nice if they all came together to obviate the need to support a load of unproductive pen pushers for the privilege of doing business with them
 
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We are members of C&CC ,membership due in June I think . So I emailed them to see if ok to stop automatic renewal and wait for club to start functioning again . They replied stating No , renew as normal (pay) and when we reopen we will then extend the membership you have renewed by the time we have been shut . I guess I could cancel direct debit and start again when club reopens to get same result .
On balance I think we will renew as we value DA camping and as others have said , we would like it there when and if they reopen.
 
Well after some misgivings I have renewed my membership of CAMC.
Dont press me as I really dont know why.
Time and Lockdown lifting will tell if it was a good decision.
Some good and valid points on here from both sides... thanks.
K 🤔😐
 

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