Scuba diving compressor upgrade

The Pitch

Problem statement

Scuba diving is an adventurous sociable physical activity that brings a whole host of fitness and wellbeing improvements to people’s lives. Diving provides participants with a deeper connection to their environment. The need to be ‘in the moment’ while under the water can be likened to mindfulness, which is known to reduce stress. Our volunteer instructors teach local people to dive in the deprived (Index of Multiple Deprivation score=1) former mining town of Nuneaton. But in order to continue we need to make upgrades of our facility that fills scuba tanks with compressed breathing air. Without this facility we can't provide training, and diving becomes more costly and onerous.

Solution

Our compressor upgrade project will enable us to install a new blending panel that safely allows scuba tanks to be filled with compressed air by our team of 5 compressor operators. The project is key to our aim of providing a record number of 'try dive' sessions in the swimming pool this year, and from there recruit trainees who want to learn to dive. Without the compressor facility we won't be able to fill trainees' air tanks without our volunteer instructors spending an additional day per week having them filled at our nearest commercial dive shop and a large additional cost. Continuing to operate our own facility keeps costs affordable and maintains vital skills.

Why are we best placed to deliver?

Marlin Sub-Aqua Club formed in 1999 and is a branch of the British Sub-Aqua Club the sport's National Governing Body. We have a volunteer instructor team of 8 led by our Diving Officer. We have an active training and diving programme, and meet every week, with pool sessions every fortnight and regular trips to the sea. We aim to make diving accessible to all, and have this year invested in equipment for the 1st time to loan to members who cannot afford the £1000 cost of basic kit. This has significantly dropped the financial barrier trainees experience. We have an aim this year to expand to 50 divers and have currently reached 43 which is an all-time high, despite the cost of living squeeze.

Focus Areas

Delivery plan

Budget breakdown

Beneficiaries

50 people

Expected impact

Our objective is to advance the sport of scuba diving by promoting community participation by teaching, developing and enhancing the practice of scuba diving to British Sub-Aqua Club standards. The primarily output of this project is supporting the training and development of 50 people. A members' survey in Dec 2021 showed 67% of respondents reported an increase in physical activity, 60% reported improved mental wellbeing and 73% had improved confidence in their diving as a result of our last project that helped people return to diving after Covid. This project seeks to build on that success by introducing more people to the sport, and improving the physical health and mental wellbeing of participants.

Track record

We ran a 'return to diving' project for 6 months from 1/6/21 to 30/11/21 to get people diving after the Covid lockdowns were lifted. This resulted in 21 try dives/refreshers being completed, and 30 qualifications being awarded (a further 21 were ongoing at the end of the project). A total of 266 dives in open water were completed over 42 days of diving. Although primarily focused on our existing members these activities saw us increase our membership from 29 to 38. Since then we have grown to 43 members and aim for 50 by the end of the year. Our committee and instructor team are all volunteers but are highly motivated to safely increase participation in the sport of scuba diving in our community by providing low-cost but high-quality training and opportunities for diving.