AIVC Organisation
What you get from the Association
Introduction
The following section is intended to give an idea of the services the Association provides and how it provides them. These services are amended, added to, or removed by decisions taken at the Annual Conference of member Clubs.The Address List
The address list provides the latest addresses of the ALOs, Chairpersons, Secretaries, and Treasurers of all the Clubs; the addresses of the AIVC Officers; and the e-mail addresses for use in the Email Information System. It is issued in the two "quiet seasons" of AGMs: August and January.Public Liability Insurance
All Clubs need to have a Public Liability Insurance policy to protect themselves from possible claims which my arise from an incident at an organised event. Without insurance cover members and officers of a Club could become personally liable for damages resulting from any incident.The Association has a Public Liability Insurance policy which covers all Clubs who pay the Insurance Levy. This policy is provided as a service to member Clubs because in most situations the required levy works out to be significantly less than what it would cost an individual Club to make their own insurance arrangements.
Clubs who participate in the Association Insurance Scheme are charged a levy per member of their Club and payment becomes due together with the General levy each year.
The Association Insurance scheme is not suitable for all Clubs, particularly those who own or lease premises.
The Insurance scheme is covered in more detail in the AIVC Insurance Guide.
National IVC Weekend and Conference
The Annual General Meeting is split into two parts over the Conference Weekend held between 15th March and 30th April each year. Ideally all Clubs should send two delegates (with voting powers) and two Observers to the Annual General Meeting.AIVC refunds the cost of one single return journey by car at the current Conference Travel Rate to each club that attends Conference. This is done by giving a discount off the AIVC General Levy bill which is sent to each club after the National IVC Weekend and Conference. However, the other costs of the weekend are NOT reimbursed by AIVC, and are about £125 per head at 2001 prices for two nights full board plus a Gala Dinner Dance. Clubs with less than 50 members can receive a discretionary AIVC grant towards Conference costs of up to £15 per day for one delegate. However, this should be requested from the AIVC Treasurer before the middle of January so that the AIVC Committee can consider the application.
Newslines and Mail Distribution
The national magazine "Newslines" is circulated to all Club Committee members via ALOs by the MDO (Mail Distribution Officer) each month. Up to one copy per Committee member can be ordered from the MDO. It contains information and articles from members, changes of address and details of Weekends.The MDO will send Clubs' Bulletins or other material to Officers of AIVC and other clubs; this is described in Section 6.
New Members - New Clubs
Central help and materials are available from the National Development Officer to help recruit new members. Assistance to start new Clubs is available. The Association is the national organisation to which all IVCs belong and which currently has 45 member Clubs with a total membership of over 5,000.National Development
Local arrangements are best arranged between Clubs, however the National Development Officer is there to oil the wheels. There are funds available for inter-club Committee meetings.There are problems which are common to many Clubs and the National Development Officer has materials and advice from the rest of the Association.
The News Officer runs a co-ordination service for special AIVC Weekends, sporting and social events, and holidays organised throughout the year by many Clubs, to which members of all other Clubs are invited.
The AIVC Handbook
In addition to being included here on the AIVC web site, each Club and each (AIVC) Officer is sent copies of this Handbook. The Handbook might be kept by the Club Chairperson and by the ALO; but all the Committee should have access to it, and the ALO, Treasurer, Secretary and Conference delegates should have read it.Development Grants
Grants are available for Club development on the following basis but are always subject to approval by the AIVC Committee. Apply via the National Development Officer.New Clubs who are currently non-members of the Association can apply for a grant of £100 + 50% of development costs over and above £100 up to a maximum additional allowance of £150. This type of grant is therefore worth between £100 and £250 to a new Club. The additional allowance can only be paid upon production of valid receipts for all development expenditure. This type of grant can only be paid once and will not be available to the same Club at any other time in the future.
Member Clubs who have a membership of less than 50 people can apply for 50% reimbursement of development costs up to a maximum value of £150. This type of grant can only be paid upon production of valid receipts and is only available to a Club at a maximum frequency of every two years.
Clubs who suffer from a rapid decline in membership can apply to AIVC for assistance.