The Scottish Sub Aqua Club

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Joining the Scottish Sub Aqua Club

Contents

• Why join SSAC
• How to join and where to get membership application forms
• Membership fees
• Direct Debit Information
• Renewal of Lapsed SSAC Membership

Why join the Scottish Sub Aqua Club?

The Scottish Sub Aqua Club is recognised by Sportscotland as the National Governing Body (NGB) for the sport in Scotland. The SSAC's main aim is to encourage safe and enjoyable diving for all divers, which includes its members, other divers resident in Scotland and visitors. It does this by maintaining a comprehensive training programme at each and all of its 70 plus branches and by organising dives, expeditions and advanced courses.

The Club is governed by a General Committee, elected annually, and its major subcommittee the National Diving Council.

The SSAC was the first diving club in Europe to adopt the use of Nitrox, and the first to produce a training plan for its use. It was also the first club in Europe to produce a training plan, with appropriate awards, for Disabled Divers. It has an impressive, long-established, safety record which is maintained by extensive training and backed by incident analysis which has been running since the 1970s.

SSAC members receive Scottish Diver magazine, a training schedule, log-book and membership card on joining the organisation. A training manual is currently being developed. All members are provided with insurance cover for protection against third-party liabilities.

The Club provides a library of some 700 books on diving and related subjects.This library is at Club HQ. Non-members may consult books at the Club HQ. Members may borrow books and videos. Charts are available for study at Club HQ.

The club runs an Annual Diving Conference and Diving Officers' Seminar and hosts a midsummer dive festival at Loch Fyne which is open to all divers.

SSAC has branches throughout Scotland, a few in England and even one in Ireland. If you think you'd like to join the club your first point of call is your local branch. Get in touch with them and have a chat with the Branch Diving Officer (BDO), he or she can tell you everything you need to know about starting to dive with SSAC, from arranging a "try dive" to advice on medicals and the SSAC training programme. Divers who have trained with other organisations can cross over to SSAC - the BDO can tell you all about that too!

Branch members pay a branch levy, set locally by the branch committee, and SSAC membership fees. The local branch levy varies depending on the type of equipment the branch has, those who own and run a dive boat or compressor will have higher annual levies than those that don't.

A list of all SSAC branches is available here or contact SSAC HQ. Download member application forms from the downloads page.

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Membership Fees 2008

Notes

• The joining fee is an administration fee payable on first becoming a member of SSAC, this fee is not applicable in subsequent years of unbroken membership.
• * Students should enclose a copy of their matriculation card with their application
• ** Family Membership includes 4 persons (children up to the age of 18 years only) for each additional person please add £2.50 per person to the joining fee
• Branches levy a subscription fee, this varies from branch to branch. Details should be sought from the branch secretary.
• Membership application forms can be downloaded from the downloads page

Updated 08/04/08

Direct Debit Information

If you wish to pay your annual subscription by Direct Debit please complete the Direct Debit Mandate (available to download below) and return it to HQ at least ONE MONTH before your renewal date, any mandates received late will not be collected for the current year. Please make sure that your bank details are correctly entered on the mandate and that your SSAC membership number is inserted on the form in the space provided.

Cancellation of Direct Debit Mandate
If you wish to cancel your Direct Debit to SSAC, you must write to HQ one month before your Direct Debit is due to be paid, you must also inform your bank that the mandate is to be cancelled.

Download the Direct Debit Manadate in pdf or as a Word document.

Renewal of Lapsed SSAC Membership

SSAC members who have allowed their membership to lapse for less than 6 months will be required to pay the usual renewal fee, membership will be backdated to the orignal renewal date. For example if the original renewal date is in January and payment is received in March, the next annual fee will become due in January of the following year.

If membership has lapsed for over 6 months the joining fee and membership fee become payable.

Last updated: Saturday, April 12, 2008