Well it was January’s St Crispin’s and nearly 100 members had gathered in the lecture theatre for the Club’s AGM. For so many to give up their Sunday lunch for sandwiches and slides is either a sign of a revolution brewing or testimony to the support the Club has from members right across the board. Thankfully it was the latter. The AGM is when the Committee reports back on what happened last year and what’s planned for the coming one. For the first time Paul our Treasurer presented not just the accounts from last year but the budget we’ve drawn up for the coming year. At the end of last year we had very healthy cash reserves but this year we’re planning on spending slightly more than forecast income which will slightly reduce these.
It was a pleasure to recognise those members who have been contributing to the Club, often behind the scenes. Alan Mossman and Wendy Dance for social run leading and back marking were each awarded a day with Rapid Training as was Greg Ward for his IT support and for running the Club’s membership data- base for the past 18 years. Mimi Carter-Jonas was thanked for her three years on the Committee responsible for Events, which she will continue to assist with. Sarah Chandler was also thanked for her service as Green Team Leader, only stepping down just before Christmas due to a change in work circumstances. As probably expected, all those standing for roles on the Committee were elected including Alan Hudson to represent the Green Team as the new Green Team Leader and Phil Donovan who takes over for Events and Promotions.
I presented some objectives we have for the coming year for the Club which include continuing our role as a road safety charity actively promoting the RideUP scheme for young riders and strengthening our links with regional Fire & Rescue services, County Councils and BikeSafe.
Given we can no longer claim Gift Aid for Associates (who make up about 25% of the Club’s membership) we will be asking all Full Members who qualify to sign up for Gift Aid. There’s no need to do anything as we will be approaching members for whom we don’t have a declaration.
This year we hope to develop an active off-road/Adventure riding activity and I know people are already working on organising events. This will bring a new avenue for many members, some already have off- road bikes and have experience of green lane riding which I hope they will share with the rest of us. Not sure I’ll be taking my S1000XR off-road though, I think I’ll need something lighter and smaller.
We will also be investing in providing opportunities for Full Members to develop their riding skills on- road. Chris has just announced that the Enhanced Advanced Rides (EARs) have been re-launched. I’d encourage anyone who passed their test over 3 years ago and hasn’t been out for an Observed ride since to consider doing one of these. All our Observers have to do a health check and an Aardvark with Rapid Training in that timeframe because our riding style and skills change gradually over time and an EAR is an opportunity to re-set those and have some fun.
The AGM slides are available to view in the website library in the Meeting Minutes/AGM 2019 folder.
Finally, Spring is on its way….Yes it is… and now is the time to think about destinations that could be visited during the season ahead. There will be more social runs than ever in Slipstream but how about organising a run for a few mechanical motor head Club mates to maybe the Beaulieu Motor Museum, Museum of Army Flying, or Haynes International Museum? Then there’s the MotorGP at Silverstone. Could we have a Club run to a day there?
Keep warm in the saddle.