All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy…
The benefits of belonging to a CERN Club are numerous for you as an individual and for CERN as an Organization!
At CERN there are nearly 50 Clubs, run by teams of keen and dedicated volunteers, each offering sporting, cultural or technology-related activities. Becoming a member of one of those clubs will enable you to carry out your preferred hobbies and interests and at the same time, it will enhance your non-professional relations amongst other colleagues working at CERN and also facilitate your (and your family’s) integration in the local area. Joining a CERN club will help your widen your circle of friends and help you understand the work carried out by your colleagues in different domains within CERN. CERN clubs are open to people from the local area, which also means you can mingle with people from varying backgrounds and nationalities from the region, again aiding integration and your language skills. It gives CERN people the opportunity to explain to our friends from the local area what exactly we do at CERN.
Many CERN clubs take part in competitions, exhibitions, tournaments and the like, often to a high level and often with a great deal of success, which can be perceived as positive for CERN's image. It is widely considered favourable when the workforce of an Organisation manages to strike a good work-life balance, benefitting both the individual and the organisation as a whole. If employees are involved in extracurricular activities and encouraged to do so by the organisation, studies have shown that top talent is attracted and retained. As a result employees demonstrate more commitment and flexibility to the organisation. If employees are exposed to new ideas and people, they tend to be more creative and of course, if they take up a physical activity, they are likely to be healthier. Employees tend to be more productive in their work if they have carried out some form of physical activity during the day. Moreover, there is a significant reduction in the risk of employees suffering a burn-out if they manage to strike a good work-life balance.
CERN Clubs are run under the supervision of the Staff Association via the Clubs Coordination Committee (CCC, http://staff-association.web.cern.ch/sociocultural/clubs). The CCC consists of a President, nominated for a three-year mandate by the Staff Association, and of persons acquainted with the running of a club, who are elected by the Clubs’ Presidents. Clubs can be supported financially both by the CERN Staff Association and the CERN Administration. Where possible, the Organization provides CERN clubs with the necessary infrastructure, such as access to rooms and IT resources. All CERN Clubs are immensely grateful for this assistance, which enables them to introduce new activities to their club members, invest in new equipment, thus respecting obligations related to safety in carrying out their activities and participate in competitions and tournaments, for example.
Each Club sets out its statutes and elects a committee, comprising of at least a President, a Secretary and a Treasure. Clubs have the obligation to submit an annual report on their activities and their financial status along with any requests for financial assistance. These requests for subsidies are managed by the CCC. The Clubs also benefit from a Space Manager who is nominated by the Staff Association to manage the CERN Club infrastructure (requests for space, works, etc.). As one can imagine, space, or the lack of it, is a big problem for CERN Clubs. Fortunately we have recently managed to set-up space sharing where two different clubs occupy the same room at different times of the day.
The web site http://home.web.cern.ch/cern-people/clubs has information about the various clubs which are active at CERN. It is most likely that you will find at least one activity you might be interested in signing up for. Should you notice that there is an activity missing, do not hesitate to contact the CCC who will be able to advise you on the procedure for setting up a new Club.
