Welcome to the Dunland Newsletter!

Welcome to the first of (hopefully) many newsletters from Dunland. We aim to keep our members and visitors aware of the amazing things we are doing and accomplishing. Whether that be updates from the Dunland Council, realm meeting dates, fun activities happening in and around Dunland, celebrations, or even guest contributions. The possibilities are endless.

1. Why this, why now?

With so much going on to bring Dunland current with the Belegarth Medieval Combat Society (BCMS) regulations, the Council felt it was important to have a central way to communicate to the realm and its visitors the goals, achievements, and progress they are making. However, they did not want to limit the newsletter to just announcements. Instead, they wanted to make sure the Realm of Dunland had a way to celebrate every aspect of this sport, this realm, and its fantastic members. Thus, Dunland Happenings was created.

2. So, what is happening?

After weeks of diligent (and sometimes frustrating) work, the Dunland Council has created a set of bylaws that meets the requirements of BCMS. They have also worked hard to create a website to showcase not only the realm, but all of its social media outlets, updates, and announcements. 

3. Bylaws 

While the Dunland Council is certain the bylaws meet all the requirements of BCMS, they want to ensure the realm members are just as satisfied. Dunland will have a realm meeting after practice on August 16, 2025. In case of weather-related cancellation, the meeting will be after the next practice, which will be announced on the socials and website. You don’t have to attend all of the practice to attend the meeting, but why not come and enjoy practice. 

During the meeting, Dunland Council will present the newly written bylaws (many of which are still the same, with just the wording changed to meet current standards) and give realm members a chance to discuss and speak on the bylaws before voting on them. You do not have to read the bylaws before the meeting, though it is highly encouraged you do, so that you have time to form any questions or opinions on them. Also, there will only be one printed copy to be passed around at the meeting due to the length of the document. To read the proposed bylaws, click here.

It should also be noted, that Council is hoping to use these bylaws to get the Realm accepted under BCMS and that further editing of minor details (such as roles of council members, titles of membership or council members, etc.) could be edited later and an update sent to BCMS. Again, the current Bylaw Proposal meets the requirements of getting the Realm accepted as a BCMS official realm.

4. Website

The website is still technically a test site. However, it is about 90% functional. The shop and donation pages are not currently active and the web address is temporary. The Dunland Council is working on purchasing a permanent web address to ensure easy access and searchability. 

On the website, you will find many features aside from just the fundraising pages. This includes, but is not limited to, social media links, a chat forum (for those who don’t prefer social media options), updates, calendars, and more. However, there are two rather important features that the Dunland Council wants to make sure members are fully aware of:

• Social Media Management Hub: The Dunland Council is incredibly grateful to the hardworking members who volunteer their time in managing or helping manage the variety of social media sites the Realm of Dunland utilizes. However, with a variety of people working on a variety of socials, it's hard to keep track of who is doing what and who is updated on important information. So, the Council created a Social Media Managers hub on the website. When you sign up to be a member on the website, managers get a manager’s title that grants them access to the managers-only hub, where they can stay informed of all the fun and/or important things on the socials, thus keeping the other socials just as updated, which keeps all of our members updated, regardless of where they are looking for updates. Phew, that was a longwinded sentence.

• Talk to Us Link: This is probably the most important feature in the minds of the Dunland Council. This link takes you to a Google Form and allows you to tell us anything! Have a problem with the site? Have a suggestion for the realm or the Council? Want to report a conflict? Suggest an event? Maybe you just want to reach out to chat. No matter the reason, the link is available on the site and is fully functional. The best part is it's completely anonymous. When you fill out the form, it may say you are responding from name@email.com, but that does not come through to us at all. The only way for us to know who filled out the form is if you voluntarily answer that question. So, you can feel confident with anything you want to tell us, good or bad or indifferent.

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5. Council Meetings

The Dunland Council believes in full transparency whenever it is possible. As such, they decided to open their meetings up to the public, even allowing for public comments at the beginning of each meeting. Few exceptions will be made to this, and the Council does not see this as something happening often, if at all. However, if a meeting must discuss something that a member needs to keep anonymous about, that would result in a private meeting to honor that anonymity. Rest assured, Council values each Dunland member and future members. If a person needs something kept private, the Council will honor that. If, however, the result of such an unusual meeting is something that affects the safety of the Realm and/or its members, the Council will make that information public, as safety is the first priority of Dunland and Dunland Council.

These meetings will be posted on the website calendar, as well as the social media calendars. Please note, locations of these meetings may be subject to change if there are numerous people attending, as the Council wants to ensure there is plenty of space for each person who wishes to attend. Changes to time and location will be made as soon as possible, including a shout out on social media channels, to ensure everyone is made aware of these adjustments.

6. Are you excited?

The Dunland Council hopes you are just as excited as they are with the direction the realm is going. They aim to have Realm of Dunland officially recognized as a BCMS realm very soon, and have BCMS voting rights around the one-year anniversary of that recognition.

They are also excited to be working on some awesome fundraising events, social events, and so much more. They are working towards repairing and making new loaner weapons, hosting Dunland sponsored events, and growing membership. And they are looking forward to doing all of this with all of you. Besides, Dunland wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for all of you awesome Dunlanders making this realm an amazing place to be!