Hi, I am planning to start an Aikido class next September and I was wondering if someone had tips to start a new club? Also, I struggle finding a cheap place to start the lessons in Glasgow (aroubd the city center or west end - G3,4, 12 or 20). It would help me if you could give me some ideas or locations. And finally, I am completely new to the uk system and insurance and I have to know what kind of insurance I need to have and where do I find it. Thank you for your help! Cydia
Church halls and community centres (not leisure centres) tend to be cheapest. They also tend to have no heating or working toilets, mind.
You could enquire with a local Judo / BJJ club to see if they can rent you some tatami time. I'm part of a small study group and we rent a couple of hours a week at such clubs. As long as you treat their dojo well they don't seem to mind, it's relatively cheap and comes with mats (which I'm guessing you are going to need). Regarding insurance - shop around. People like Perkins Slade sell instructor indemnities and liability insurance. To be belt and braces you should get a DBS done as well as having a qualified first aider and a child protection policy in place. Sounds a bit onerous but once in place they are easy to maintain. Gary
ALL of this ^^^ Though with regards to insurance, you may also want to consider BCKA (British Combat Karate Association - I am fairly sure they cover styles other than karate, but apologise in advance if I am wrong!) £20 per year for adults, £12 per for juniors and £70 per year for Instructors - Plus they are extremely personable and approachable. Also, regarding the DBS checks, I'd highly recommend that these be looked in to in advance of securing a venue / time slot, as they can take a while, for no apparent reason (If you E-mail Brian at BKA he can act as a go between in getting your checks completed.) Worth also mentioning that if you get in contact with any local venues, and speak to them about longevity of booking, you may be offered a 'bulk buy' deal (10% off for 3 months, 15% for 6 or 20% for 12 for example.) Kind Regards Travess
Martial guard (or towerguard?) Are good for insurance. I am guessing you arent a member of the BAA as they would be able to help with insurance and child protection etc. Also first aid training and have a first aid kit with you! Try some schools a lot of them might have mats you can use and if you offered to do a kids club for them you might get a discount of some sort. Or if you are running as not for profit you might be eligible for a type of local grant but I dont know too much about that area and its very variable.
Have you ever run a club before? (Not just inside the uk) For a new club you can probably expect to to spend 2-3 times as much time doing admin and marketing/promotion than actual teaching for the first 6 - 12 months, just while you get started. Hiring community halls/Church halls is cheaper than hiring a room at a gym/dojo, but the latter has the benefit of a pre-existing pool of active people who may be interested in your class. Consider offering a decent free trial period, but after that don't under value yourself - how many years of learning have you taken to get to this level, and how many hours outside of classes do you put in? Insurance is important - for yourself is one level, for your students is the next level. If you're looking to get student insurance then going through an organisation should provide a massive saving (bulk discount for student insurance). I get mine through Martial Guard (Tower Gate), they are helpful when you phone up. For tax/earnings purposes you can set your club up as a limited company, or register yourself as a sole trader ('trading as' YOURCLUBNAME). You may be able to run your club as a 'not for profit' organisation, but this will take some more research and require a bunch of extra paperwork. You may be able to get advice for this through an organisation, as I'm not an expert and things may be different for you than they are for me Having a website that the right people can find easily is very useful, and registering as a Google place helps too. Otherwise, know your target demographic for students, aim your promotion at them (and be capable of being found by people who already know what they're looking for), plan fun interesting lessons and get cracking! All the best
Hi, thanks a lot for your helpful tips. I will have a look at the several places you mentioned and contact the various insurances you named. As I have my first aid certificate, it should help right? I was thinking to do these lesson as a non-profit activity, so I'll see how I can manage with this. @HarryF I have never run an entire club before, but I have already given lessons within my club . What price do you advice? I have been practising aikido for the 5 first years, one hour per week, then the last 5 years I have been doing 3h per week, all this completed with more or less a hundred of hours per year of seminars (for approximately the last 5 years). Once again, thanks a lot, I will come back to you when I have news
First aid certificate should help you with insurance and I am glad someone correct my tower mistake! Are you still going to be working with the club you trained at? They might have some resources they dont mind sharing? Also a facebook group is always good for getting the word out! The price you charge will vary on your costs in theory and I have paid anything between £3.50 to ten pounds and have seen more expensive ones advertised. Maybe think about 4-5 pounds for adults and 3-4 for under sixteens. A way I have seen some clubs operate is that they can buy a "book" of tickets in bulk and then redeem one every lesson for a small saving in overall price. You could do that fairly easily with a book of raffle tickets at least iniially.
Well, the aikido club I used to be part of is in Belgium, so its a bit far from Glasgow ^^ I will think of this, thank you very much
You could contact the 'Glasgow Club' which is run by the city council. it owns and operates about 25 leisure centres across the city. my local one runs several karate classes and an aikido class. even if you decide not to use one of them, they will be able to advise you on the required insurance etc. the extra bonus will be that they all have excellent facilities - showers, changing, cafes and most have pools as well. other than that, community halls, churches or universities all host clubs. I think you'll find that Glasgow has a huge array of martial arts clubs and most will be amenable to letting you use their space. if you're not affiliated to an organisation then all I think you have to do is name your club and ensure that first time attendees are covered by insurance. mats and storage could be expensive which is why an established leisure centre may be better at first. regarding prices - I think more than £5 a session would put people off. you have to acknowledge that you will probably make a personal loss for a while until you get some regulars that cover your hall hire. there are some non - council owned complexes that offer cheaper fees, like the Firhill complex in Maryhill (west end/near town). Good luck and hope you like the city!
