Hi everyone
Well, we’re still in lockdown but the success of the vaccination programme is a brightening light on the horizon, and it seems that we are finally starting to plot a route out of the Covid-19 lockdown restrictions. So maybe it’s time to start thinking about getting the bike ready for riding, and getting your riding gear ready too.
Thank you to everyone that attended the AGM. This was our first virtual AGM and once we got over a couple of small technical issues at the start it seemed to go very well with opportunities for questions and discussion.
I was sad to say goodbye to Andy Slater and Paul Taylor; it’s been great working with them over the years. It was equally exciting to welcome our new Chair, Barrie Smith, and our new Treasurer, Bjorg Arnadottir; I’m looking forward to working with them on our plans for the forthcoming year.
As a committee we believe that it is important to keep planning for the future, even when there is little prospect of an immediate return to normal activities. Barrie outlined our objectives for 2021 and, whilst we might need to modify the timescales, or perhaps even the objectives themselves, having a plan and modifying it is a much better place to be than having no plan at all.
Do look out for updates in forthcoming issues of Slipstream, and on Groups.io, as to how to get back into riding and our progress towards our other objectives.
We also unveiled a fantastic new website for TVAM. It has, of course, attracted constructive criticism as to what we might have done better and we’ll take this on board as we evolve the website. The new site is completely externally focused so that it better represents what we do to the world outside of TVAM and we hope that it will form a key platform for our ongoing recruitment activities. All internal communications and files for TVAM members have already been moved to Groups.io. We’ve had very warm congratulations and compliments on the website from IAM RoadSmart.
In the meantime, please continue to participate in your Local Team meetings and online activities, and in the virtual St. Crispin’s each month. Phil Donovan and the Events Team (sounds like a group from the 60’s) will be publishing details of some online seminars over the coming months, the first of which you will find on pages 8 and 9, and I hope you will find these interesting and informative.
We are, first and foremost, a bike club, albeit one with a focus on training and riding to Advanced Standard, so stay engaged and help newer members and Associates keep on track, until we can get out on our bikes for social rides, training and trips.
Chris Brownlee
Chief Observer
