We are just under one month away from the British Medical Council holding its AGM and the executive committee facing a vote of no confidence. Whats that? Oh sorry, its the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. So I guess its the citizens of Mumbai who are not happy… no? BMC Software Solutions? No.
Ah ok, its the British Mountaineering Council, and I promise I won’t mention the rebrand. Oops, I did it again - to quote a well known American modernist poet.
Maybe the failed rebrand (doh!) was not handled well but I think a vote of no confidence is a pretty massive and drastic thing to do at a time when the BMC is in a spot where you kind of feel it needs some stability and leadership.
Decisions such as the rebrand (jeez, I just can’t help myself), were made with the interests of the organisation in mind. Further decisions must also be made with the future of the organisation in mind not simply in protecting a body which was set up in 1944 when the landscape of all that “mountaineering” should encompass was different.
If Sport England funding is going to be cut then membership fees will be even more crucial, which means it needs the strength to stay together, to evolve and to represent as many people as possible. And yet it feels from reading forums and articles on the subject that it is unrealistic to be a representative body for walkers, hillwalkers, alpinists, mountaineers, indoor climbers, outdoor climbers, climbers who like green t-shirts, climbers who like slightly worn gear, climbers with 80s clothing, climbers who bla bla bla bla, because of course, we all hate each other and have nothing in common.
More and more people are turning to the outdoors, to hillwalking and, apparently (I don't know this cos I am old), to indoor climbing to satisfy their lust for life. The BMC, in whatever guise it is, has to capitalise on this growth in interest and it has to do so now. This will come through strong leadership, not through votes of no-confidence and in-fighting.
But then again, as I have said before, I am not a member... except I am now.