Hi, We are the West Midlands representatives on Council and we would like to provide a regular ‘Councillor’s Update’ to keep in touch with all CTC members and volunteers in the region. The CTC has a broad membership base and we appreciate your views and feedback as this helps shape how the CTC develops.

Introduction to Dan Howard

I started cycling around 20 years ago, aged 12 when I joined Kidderminster CTC. I’ve served on committee for a number of years, and am currently chairman. I enjoy all types of cycling and have toured by solo and tandem in the UK and abroad. Professionally, I work for an NHS Trust as Deputy Head of Information Management and Technology.

I decided to stand to be on Council for a number of reasons. I would like to help CTC engage fully with current and future members. I’d like to see the organisation grow, and deliver on clear strategic goals and objectives. I’m proud to be part of an organisation which helps and inspires more people to cycle, whatever type of cyclist they are and whatever type of cycling they enjoy.

I’m pleased to join David on Council to represent the region.

Good news for Wolverhampton

Recently Council has reviewed the bids for Local Sustainable Transport Funding. This is the one source for Government funding to support cycling following the demise of Cycling England. We are delighted that our local West Midlands Cycling Champion project led by Beccy Marston and based in Wolverhampton has been extended for another 6 months and that bids are being made for further funding. LSTF monies can be used to extend the development projects that have been so successful in bring new people into cycling. However, they have to be bid for locally and in partnership with local authorities so that our staff need to follow up leads and build relationships all over the country. So far this has been much more successful that we originally anticipated. If you want to know more about Beccy’s work go to  www.ctc.org.uk/wolverhampton or come along to the Birmingham Day of Cycling event at the Mac at Cannon Hill Park in Birmingham on the 28th April where she will be demonstrating our fleet of adapted bikes that enable people with various disabilities to get involved in cycling.

Nuneaton, Birmingham, Vienna (DC)

First many thanks to Ian Bonner who organised a presentation for Nuneaton and Bedworth Councillors and officials on the benefits of cycling for their transport, leisure and health policies. We met in the Town Hall Council Chamber – I presented on health, Ed Healey from Sustrans looked at routes and planning and Ian brought it down to earth with local issues in the town. Councillors were very receptive and are beginning to realise that there are votes in cycling and that improvements and encouragement needn’t be too costly but can have immense benefits to their constituents.

Next week it was Birmingham’s Council House for the Pushbikes debate on whether mayors could be a good thing for cycling. Very topical with the “does Brum want a mayor vote” in May. Mustapha Arif from the London Cycling Campaign showed how high profile candidates like Boris Johnson and Ken Livingstone are vying for the cycling vote. This was followed by John Chisholm’s masterly exposition of long term and sophisticated campaigning with some success in Cambridge. Having a mayor may or may not make a difference but any politician would now be foolish to ignore cycling issues.

Mustapha Arif from LCC addresses Pushbike Public Meeting

Finally, it was off to Vienna to represent CTC at the AGM of the European Cycling Federation. The meeting seemed to run on from 9.00 til 6.00 with endless routine business but it was pouring outside anyway. Most interesting was meeting delegates (often young activists) from new members like Turkey, Belarus, Rumania, Poland, Corfu etc. CTC’s 134 year track record made me feel ancient but Kevin Mayne was excellent at supporting and motivating new cycling organisers. Also useful to learn from established delegations from Denmark, Netherlands and Germany.

Business over it was on to a mixture of renta-bikes, Danish uprights, rebuilt 80’s racers and Bromptons for a tour of new “Urban Cycling Cultures”.  Critical mass meeting points, three bicycle repair co-ops where tools can be borrowed, bikes fixed and weird tall bikes welded together, retro bike shops (classics, Italian coffee and fixies) and one whole shop specialising in heavy duty transport bikes. Finished at a Bike Kitchen which combined eco-radicalism, bike fixing with beer and weekly veggie suppers.

Final day was the Argus Cycling Festival and RadParade – down hill freestyle loops, bike show – lots of high end racers, e-bikes, stylish single speeds and trekking bikes. More interesting were a large selection of second hand bikes including a Raleigh Royale tourer. The RadParade was two circuits of the old Imperial Ring closed to traffic, freezing but great fun.

… and finally …The last Update mentioned the BBC’s series Call the Midwife? Since then Linda Cox from Worcester CTC has given me more background. The series is based on a book by the late Jennifer Worth who used to go regularly on CTC family holidays with her grandson. Jennifer had wanted Miranda Hart to play Chummy because of the “similarity and the fact that MH is a cyclist herself”.
No wonder the cycling scenes are so authentic!!

Best wishes

Dan and David

dan.howard@ctc.org.uk 07825 373579
david.cox@ctc.org.uk 07785 920646

As usual I am sending this out to colleagues who are identified as contacts for local Member Groups, members that I have met at AGMs, events or out cycling as well as other CTC friends.
Please do let me know if you want to unsubscribe from this mail shot or if you know other members who might be interested. I always value feedback and observations from members because without this it is difficult to represent the West Midlands at National Council.
National News
Welcome to Gordon Seabright our new Chief Executive
Gordon will join us on the 1st of March as Kevin departs for Brussels to begin his work for the ECF. There will be a bit of overlap for a proper hand over and we will be paying tribute to Kevin at his last Council meeting in March.
The process of choosing a new CEO was fairly exhaustive with 115 applications, a long list of 10 invited for an assessment centre at Guildford and a short list of 3 candidates selected for further interviews and a presentation to staff a week later. I am delighted about the outcome.
Gordon’s previous experience includes senior roles at the Royal Horticultural Society and I look forward to him taking a fresh look at our strategies, governance and management processes.
We will also begin to work up a new strategic plan looking for opportunities to take advantage of national changes in policy and funding and reflecting the research on CTC’s image and potential that I mentioned last time.
Council’s two policy committees are engaged in scoping exercises identifying the key priorities that we want Gordon to reflect on during his induction and take forward. I think he may have some new ideas about relating to members, supporting member groups and (having been involved in the Chelsea Flower Show) national events. We should get over puns about hybrids, green shoots, dead wood and grass roots very quickly but it will be fun while it lasts.
The Times - Cities Safe for Cycling Campaign and House of Commons Debate
CTC has been very involved in these significant national developments around cycling and cycle safety. For the first time a mainstream national newspaper has taken up the cause of cycling with a front page article, a leader, a series of follow up pieces and an 8 point plan for politicians and the public to sign up to. This as you probably know was inspired by Times’ journalists’ concern about an accident involving a HGV and their colleague Mary Bowers.
I listened to all of the parliamentary debate yesterday and was delighted to see such a positive consensus for cycling from over 70 MPs. They were all keen to contribute and often quoting from letters sent in by cycling constituents from across the country.
While some of the subsequent radio phone ins have shown a bit of an anti-cyclist back lash the general tone of debate has been positive and CTC staff have had a major influence in shaping the key 8 points. In particular the “Safety in Numbers” campaign we launched two years ago was being quoted by many MPs and commentators including Cycling Weekly who this week gave a very positive account of CTC’ role in a two page news article.
Cycle Clips has links to all of this and I hope that you are all lobbying your local MPs to keep up the pressure for more cycle friendly policies and infrastructure.
Charity Registration
This week I have also been involved in a very positive dialogue with the Charity Commission for England and Wales. You will remember that our application to register as a charity following decisions taken at the last two AGMs was successful in Scotland but initially turned down in England and Wales. We asked for a review of this decision and as a result we are now being encouraged to make a fresh application with some tidying up of our objectives. This should be helpful in itself giving greater clarity for future generations. I feel that the substance of our case is now being recognised and that the Commission has a much better understanding of CTC and what we do for public benefit.
Other notes It was good to spend a wintry Saturday afternoon with some other members having a lively discussion about Bike Shops and the Web at Warwick University. The excuse was a young student’s dissertation but I think we would have enjoyed the chat anyway. Thank you to those that came for turning out. I had to drive and was probably the last car to wheel spin my way back across south Birmingham that afternoon as the snow closed in and each minor hill created a blocked road.
Did anyone else enjoy the BBC’s surprise hit series Call the Midwife? Someone described it as All Creatures Great and Small with people – but also with bikes. The midwives from the early days of the NHS in post-war Poplar are all on bikes. In the final episode Chummy, played by Miranda Hart, manages to deliver triplets by bike light having dragged the heavy machine up stairs. I’d thought it was a dynamo but there must have been battery back up! Of course it could be fiction!
After one frustrating week when I thought it too cold or icy to go any distance (I know there are more determined riders amongst you) cycling this winter has been good. Highlight was the Beacon’s Sunrise/Snowdrop Audax which had everything in its 76 miles. Wind, rain, sunshine and a “nasty little hill” at the finish.
Finally, a member in Wolverhampton has contacted me asking about CTC activity in the City. He would like to hear of other members who might be interested in joining him on local rides. Let me know if you would like to be put in contact with him.
Best Wishes David

As usual I am sending this out to colleagues who are identified as contacts for local Member Groups, members that I have met at AGMs, events or out cycling as well as other CTC friends. There were quite a few changes of Member Group officers in the recent round of AGMs. I’ve not taken anyone off the list but please let me know if there are newly elected volunteers who I should add.

Please do let me know if you want to unsubscribe from this mail shot or if you know other members who might be interested. I always value feedback and observations from members because without this it is difficult to represent the West Midlands at National Council.

National News A lot has been happening since I happily set off for the Alps in July!

Kevin Mayne Firstly, I have to tell you that our Chief Executive Kevin Mayne has very recently been appointed senior role with our European partners the European Cyclists’ Federation (ECF) based in Brussels.

This is a great personal achievement for Kevin and recognition of the way CTC’s work for cycling in the UK is respected by our international partner. Kevin has been a dominant force in our organisation and in cycling for nearly 14 years. When the next history of the CTC is written there will no doubt be a whole chapter on the Kevin Mayne years when the National Office was extensively modernised, membership achieved its all time high of 68,000 and the Club’s annual income rose from £1million to £6 million. There will be many opportunities to congratulate Kevin in the coming months but I have put on record now my thanks for all he has done for CTC and cycling. While we are delighted to see Kevin’s career develop in this way managing the transition and appointing a new CEO is yet challenge for the Council and for staff across the country. This may be a significant change of personality but not a change in our vision and values of CTC.

Charity Registration Next, as you will have seen from the Stop Press item in the latest (and I think excellent edition of Cycle) we have had a bit of a set back with our application to the Charity Commission in England and Wales. In Scotland there was now problem and we are registered but the officer of the English Commissioners did not like aspects of our amended historic Memorandum and Articles of Association (which to some of us is like not liking the King James Bible) and scrutinised historic material on our website which insufficiently emphasised the public benefit of what we do. We have taken new legal advice and are asking the Charity Commission for a formal review of this decision. However, this is a set back and we as Council, staff and advisers should have anticipated some of this reaction and we now have more work to do. We should know the outcome of the Review in the new year.

Staff Restructure As highlighted in the last Update, the ending of some of the CTC’s project funding streams in 2012 means that there has had to be some retrenchment in staffing and a restructuring. This is being done in two phases affecting managerial posts first and then field staff in the new year. The process has been carried out with good human resources advice and practice and negotiation with the union. Some staff have left and others will not get contracts renewed and we are losing some very committed people who have given a lot to CTC and their fellow cyclists over the years. The outcome will mean that there are fewer people to do the work at National Office but there are key regional teams with a wide brief to build our work both by supporting volunteers and attracting grants to continue cycling development work under the new Local Sustainable Transport Fund (LSTF) and other funding bodies. Steve Bailey is responsible for the West Midlands and will be getting around the patch and meeting people in 2012.

CTC Roadshows Over the Autumn I have been to two “Roadshows” , in Manchester and Birmingham, presenting the work that CTC has been doing through BikeClub and Cycling Champions to bring more people into cycling. The object was to celebrate the achievements of projects funded through Big Lottery, Cycling England and the Asda Foundation and develop the partnerships that will create sustainable projects under the LSTF into the future. Most impressive were the presentations, talks, DVDs etc in by people who have benefited from the projects and discovered or re-discovered the joy of cycling.

Council Awayday In October the existing Council went into a sort of retreat at the old Railway Hotel in Derby. This was not quite as indulgent as it sounds but we had an opportunity to better understand our finances and review how we manage meetings and build our relationships with officers and staff (governance is the technical term). However, the most important element was to hear feedback from some independent research we had commissioned on what members and potential members think about the CTC. This was invigorating like a cold shower is when you have forgotten your cape. The most revealing insight was to find that many people did not really understand what CTC stood for nor the full scope of our activities. Our image was seen as inward looking and our campaigns rather serious. If we are to attract new members and support we need to build an emotional affinity with the organisation and bring out more strongly our passionate enjoyment of all types of cycling and get the fun back in! I know many member groups are very good at this and as Council explores what this means for future plans I would be very happy to explore these “image” issues further with local members.

AGMs I manage to get to 4 AGMs this year and thoroughly enjoyable they were too. Peter Mathison managed to get to most of the others. Thank you for welcoming me. Most were well attended this year, several ended with copious servings of food, especially Coventry where pies arrived at 10.00! It was good to see the sound organisation of each group and the way new members were being attracted especially by introductory rides, good support and interesting things to do on a bike like visits to wildlife centres or trips to the Brooks factory and Aston Hall. I would particularly like to pay tribute to Bob Tinley (Coventry CTC) who has stepped down after 17 years as secretary. At CTC North Birmingham John and Beryl Bedford (Secretary and Treasurer) stepped down – John having served 22 years! Perhaps I should say stepped up because he continues as Chairman. Their colleagues proposed them for a well deserved CTC Certificate of Merit

CTC Council The recent round of elections have produced some changes at Council. Locally, Peter Mathison will be stepping down after nine years of impressive service. Peter has been a great mentor for me with his years of cycling and business experience and his local knowledge of the club. Nationally he has been a Trustee of the CTC Trust, played a key part in the purchase of our “new” National Office building and chaired the important Awards Committee. No doubt he will be able to up his mileage in 2012 but his wisdom will be missed on Council. This time around I was re-elected (thanks) and I am pleased to welcome Dan Howard from Kidderminster as a new Councillor. Apart from his impressive cycling career (3 Paris Brest Paris rides – on fixed, trike and tandem !!), Dan has held office in Kidderminster CTC and has a strong background in IT and governance from his professional roles. He joins Colin Brown and Roger Crosskey (London Region) and John Radford (Yorkshire and Humber) in a refresh of Council membership and I look forward to working with them.

Cycling Although that fixed wheel (probably going to sell it) followed by a hard tandem ride has done some damage to my knees, I did get some good riding in this Autumn. A visit to our daughter in Connecticut was interrupted by a freak (wrong kind of snow) storm which pulled down stacks of (still got their leaves) trees down. This wasn’t quite the Fall we were looking for and it wiped out a lot of power lines resulting in 2.4 million people including us losing power. It still a frontier society in some ways. We evacuated to a sunny Washington but my usual cycling group were out with power saws clearing bike paths. I managed one beautiful sun blessed ride around the Connecticut estuary starting nostalgically in “Essex”. Highlight of the Autumn was the Worcester Challenge Ride organised by CTC. Spurred on by Tony who I’d met a Coventry AGM I did the longer 92 mile ride and it was fabulous. The views and the light in the Teme Valley were exquisite and although I know the area I would never have thought about joining up 20 hills in quite that way. I’ve now retired from the NHS so as long as CTC business doesn’t grow to completely fill the vacuum I’m hoping knees permitting to get a lot more mid-week rides in during 2013.

Best wishes for Xmas and the New Year

David

The meetings to miles ratio has been just about right in July and August – one Council meeting and then a lot of cycling.

Council Meeting 16th July

This was a key meeting with two main themes. Firstly, the AGM decision means that the CTC is now acting as a charity with charitable aims. We reviewed the complex work programme needed to put this commitment into effect by preparing the documentation for registration with the Charity Commission, closing the CTC Trust and bringing its assets back into the Club.

The other business of the meeting was discussing the process of developing the budgets for the next financial year. Like most organisations in the voluntary (and other) sectors we are preparing for a reduction in income especially as some grant aided projects complete in 2012. This was to be expected and the projects will leave a legacy of cycling development in many parts of the country. The net effect will also be a reduction in the overheads that we can use to support the CTC activities. On the positive side the CTC is currently involved with partners in bids under the Local Sustainable Transport Fund and these will support new cycling development projects and posts but the income is less certain. The benefits of Gift Aid should also begin to support CTC budgets and activity later next year.

A group of us stopped at Hatton Lock Café the other Tuesday and I was pleased to see some of the Coventry members there. We all made it a bit crowded and as we started moving furniture around, I was concerned about disturbing a couple with a dog in the corner. I needn’t have worried, they were very friendly and it turned out that one of us had been at school with the lady and the gentleman was the son of the late Joseph Milford Blakelock a well known tourist and CTC member whose obituary was in Cycle’s Dec 2010 edition. They had recently donated some of his memorabilia including a Winged Wheel metal café sign to the Coventry Transport Museum.

David

P.S. As usual I am sending this out to colleagues who are identified as contacts for local Member Groups, members that I have met at AGMs, events or out cycling as well as other CTC friends. Please do let me know if you want to unsubscribe from this mail shot or if you know other members who might be interested. I always value feedback and observations from members because without this it is difficult to represent the West Midlands at National Council.