Thanks to everyone who took part in the BvH Members’ Survey; we’ve been busy working on some initiatives in response to your feedback and wanted to share an update on actions we’ve taken so far. It was the third time we have asked for your feedback in this format, and it’s great to see that for the most part you’re happy with the overall Bournville Harriers experience; 75% of respondents are ‘Promoters’ (scoring 9 or 10 in answer to the question: ‘On a scale of 0-10, how likely is it that you would recommend Bournville Harriers to your friends and family?’) and the average score of all respondents was 9.22. That said, our overall score reduced from 90 to 74 since the last survey so we were keen to find areas where we can improve.
The four club values, ‘Performance, Participation, Encouragement and Enjoyment’ underpin all of the actions and decisions we take as a committee, but it’s important to remember that the Committee can only influence what makes the club experience such a positive one. Yet again, the word that came up more than any other, in describing the club was ‘friendly’! It’s very clear that club members are proud to be part of Team Teal and create a welcoming atmosphere open to a diverse range of running abilities.
There were plenty of comments for us to reflect on as a Committee and lots of actionable feedback. It’s not possible for us to address every comment, so we focused our attention on the areas that had the most comments and consistency of feedback from members. If you feel we’ve missed something important, please do let one of the Committee members know.
Here’s a summary of your feedback and the steps we’ve taken to address the main comments that came up from multiple respondents:
| You Said… | We did… |
| On Monday night runs it can be a bit tricky to find someone to run with after the first few weeks | Introduced ‘pace zones’ – signs around the changing block to help members to find similar paced runners |
| More support for injured runners or those with chronic health issues | BvH Recovery Corner Facebook group started to foster peer support that exists informally in the club |
| Would be great if the club had a track or sessions on a local track | Plans for a track at Rowheath Pavilion have been discussed, however, in the short term we’ve explored local options and a six week trial took place at the track at Abbey Stadium. This will continue in the New Year and those who took part will be asked for their feedback shortly. |
| Re-introduce ‘social runs’ | We’ve already held the first of these and will look to hold further social runs in future, helping members to find others to run with regularly outside of the main club sessions |
| More to support faster runners, especially with coaching | Raising awareness that the club’s coaches can support runners with individual training plans and support, for example through holding ‘Meet the Coaches’ sessions and updating the ‘Meet the Coaches’ page on the website. Additional new LiRF and CiRF qualifications to increase coaching levels to support formal sessions at Cofton, Track Wednesdays etc. |
| Provide coaching for specific outcomes – like the eight week 5k focused sessions over the summer | We have started to do this, for example the 10k focused track sessions; and we’ll shortly be announcing the next three blocks of focused training. On Wednesdays in the New Year there will be a further track-based session, leading up to the XC Nationals, which will form a basis for the Marathon focused sessions that will follow on from this leading to Spring Marathon season. On Thursdays there will be a 6-week programme leading up to the Road Relays. Whatever your plan or target there will be a series of reps sessions designed to build towards your target race. Look out for further announcements about these sessions soon. |
| Communicate the outcomes of the Survey! | Better late than never! |
There were a few other comments that we’ve not taken any specific actions to address, but we did want to follow up on some of those themes where we’ll either try to take action in future or where we’ve considered the feedback and concluded that it will be difficult to take action on that at this time:
| Feedback… | Response… |
| Provide a formal alternative to reps on Thursdays | There is already an option for self-organised runs on Thursday nights. Club members can (and do) arrange these. It is difficult formalise this as we do not have the availability of runners at different paces on Thursdays. All runners are recommended to do some form of speedwork regularly and should discuss how to adapt the session with the coach if returning from illness/injury or racing at the weekend. |
| More inclusion for runners who run 14-20 minute miling | The club caters for a broad range of speeds and abilities, however, we cannot provide the best experience or safely accommodate beginners all year round and would not be able to guarantee availability of people to run with for those unable to complete the standard club runs within an hour or so. Those who join via beginners course are supported in transition and encouraged to join the club. We try to cater to the broadest range of runners we can, and once a year provide a high-quality beginners course. It’s felt that we would struggle to provide run leaders and formally support beyond what is currently on offer. |
| Too much focus on performance to the detriment of other club values | Previous feedback in other surveys was that performance was not given enough attention; the committee tries to keep all four values balanced, and encourages members to do the same. All race results are read out at Monday night’s announcements, and exceptional parkrun performances. The Teal Targets competition recognises improvement regardless of speed and the Annual Club Awards recognise a wide range of the Club Values, as does Member of the Month. |
| Less emphasis on performance than there used to be, should be more focus on Relays and XC and less on parkrun | After similar comments in previous surveys the following actions were taken: Introduction of Performance Leaderboard and re-invigorated the Club Records after a long hiatus Introduction of Performance of the Week Introduction of Annual Award for Team Performance of the Year In addition participation in XC and Road Relays has increased and both XC teams achieved promotion in the 19/20 year thanks to significant efforts on the part of the team managers to share the events and encourage participation parkrun PBs and podiums are read out in announcements but parkrun results, unlike those of races, are not. There is no specific club encouragement to take part in parkrun except for the annual mob-match at the John Enright memorial parkrun. A detailed Cross Country page on the website covers all the events and FAQs and all XC races are now advertised well in advance on Facebook and the website. The club pays for entry to Road Relays and XC races from subs (not all clubs do this). |
| The 7.30 start can be restrictive particularly for slower runners, who may spend 30-40 minutes longer completing a club run. An earlier start also makes sense in the winter months to get more runs in before darkness. | Start time has been discussed at length previously and a vote has been taken in the past. It is difficult to change the time without excluding someone. Announcements have been shortened where possible and start promptly at 7:20 now to enable everyone to start their run at 7:30pm. |
| Pick more local and affordable races for the teal targets | The team already try to choose a range of distances and look to support local races (e.g. Wythall & Hollywood, NICE 10k) wherever possible. Members only need to complete 6 Teal Targets to take part in the competition. |
| Getting the showers fixed and the lockers | The Showers are now fixed. We have offered in the past to help with replacing lockers, and will raise with Rowheath again. |
| Some new Monday routes as have been doing the same set since I joined the club | We already have a wide range of club runs (some other clubs have one or two) and it is difficult to increase the number as people tend to get lost when we try new routes as all members are learning the route at the same time. We will consider trialling a couple of additional routes in the Spring using the Social Run format so that we’re able to test and risk assess the routes when it is safer to do so. |
| Could we do something on injury prevention, stretching, strength and conditioning? | We think this is a great idea and we are looking into finding someone to lead a specific strength and conditioning workshop for runners, keep an eye on the website and Facebook for details. |
| Encourage more runners to stay and socialise after training | We’re continuing to consider the possibility of regular after club socials, although we are conscious that not everyone is able to stay after their run due to other commitments. We’ll discuss this further at Committee meetings in future. |
Once again we’d like to thank everyone who took part in the survey for your considered and constructive feedback. I’m sure you’ll also share your appreciation for the Committee and Coaching team for the responsiveness to these suggestions. We’ll be following up with another survey soon, and in the meantime the Committee continue to meet on the second Monday of each month throughout the year when we discuss the survey on a regular basis.