AGM Minutes 25-11-05

Attendees

12 members attended the meeting:
Mark Gould, David Lightbourne, Steve Taylor, Rod Latchford, Joe Francis, John Woodburn, Steve H. Taylor, Malcolm Brewer, Nigel Shurben, Andrew Small, Tony Deadman, Peter Bell.

Acceptance of Minutes

Last year's minutes were accepted.

Committee reports

Treasurer.
£810.11 in account. Up from £724.72 in 2004, primarily due to cost reduction of moving the meeting venue from WAMDSAD from 22 Cookham Road.
Membership.
55 members for 2005. So far 10 people have renewed for next year.
Social.
Prizegiving could be as last year (at the Elva Hotel in Maidenhead) or Joe Francis offered the facilities of Eton Hall. It was agreed to enquire as to cost (limit £25 per head including wine) before a decision was made. It will be held in late January.
Press.
The website has been accessed throughout the year and is providing a valuable resource for the membership. Andrew Small was thanked for his activities in this.
Affiliation to Wiggle and Amazon did not attract sufficient use to reach the payment thresholds.
Request for update to include photos of our events was received - this is technically possible but please provide photographs.
A request was also made to place the membership list on the site. This is not done due to consideration of the Data Protection Act, i.e. the members' privacy. The site does not provide secure hosting (to allow only members to login and view the list), and the additional cost of such a host would have to be considered if this option were taken.
The race results (including some non-Club events where members have entered) have also been forwarded to the local papers (Maidenhead Advertiser and the Maidenhead Express). This has helped attract a number of new members through the season, mostly by riders participating in the Club 10s as 'Come & Try It' entries.
Race.
Very active year with record attendance in the evening Club 10s. Tony has been overwhelmed on some occasions and we must support him by helping to marshal.
The Border CA has folded due to lack of assistance in running the association and falling Open event attendance. We will continue to run the Easter 15 as an Open event.
Next year's Club events will be similar to 2005.
The Club are hosting the following Open events:
John Woodburn was runner-up the CTT Rudi Project 'Veterans on Handicap' National Championship. The Club offers its thanks to John for all his effort in defending his title.
Better 'Cycle Race in Progress' signs were obtained from the CTT.

Election of officers.

President.
Jim Rogers returned unopposed.
Vice President.
Tony Deadman returned unopposed.
Chairman.
Fred Wells was returned unopposed.
Treasurer.
Malcolm Brewer was returned unopposed.
Membership.
Malcolm Brewer was returned unopposed.
Secretary.
Andrew Small elected unopposed.
Racing secretary.
Andrew Small elected unopposed. Tony Deadman to assist.
Social Secretary.
Tony Deadman elected unopposed.
Press secretary.
Andrew Small returned unopposed.
Ex - Officio members.
John Woodburn (timetrials)
Mark Gould (touring)
Steven Taylor (triathlon)
Nigel Shurben (racing).

Any Other Business.

Affiliations
Continue affiliations to BC, CTT, WLCA and West London Combine.
Entry fees
A lengthy discussion about event entry fees occurred. This arises from falling attendance at Open events resulting in the CTT changing the Club event levy from 20p to 50p. This was discussed in a Committee Meeting earlier in the year and it was financially viable for the Club events' entry fee to continue at £1.
Steve Taylor proposed, and Tony Deadman seconded, that non-members should pay extra. The pro-side considered that the 150% rise in levy may result in financial hardship for the Club if attendance did not reach 2005 levels; while the opposition considered that the Club's purpose was to introduce riders to competition cycling on a non-profit basis. The vote was split 5 for/5 against.
Andrew Small proposed, and Mark Gould seconded, that the entry fee should be reviewed in July to determine the financial state of the events. This was carried unopposed.
Club event marshals
Tony was dismayed by the lack of support for helping him run the evening 10s, particularly early in the season. Support of the membership is vital to allow these events to run safely. A number of solutions were discussed, including limiting entries and introducing a rota system, but the proposal reached was that if volunteers are not found to help time-keeping or pushing-off then Club riders will be volunteered from the entry list. This was carried unopposed on the condition that the membership were notified before the start of the season. Andrew Small agreed to include it in the notification of the prize-giving dinner.
Andrew Small agreed to act as backup for signing on, and will be provided with a spare set of numbers. The first to arrive (Tony or Andrew) will start the sign-on procedure for riders.

It was requested that the first ten spaces in the signing-on sheet were reserved for Club members.

Open event organisations
The WLCA 25 course is being returned to the A404, though the route is not finalized. Time-keeping from a safe location is the major problem.
The large entry fee and uneven distribution of prize-money came into criticism. The Easter 15 will be promoted to try and address this by the use of Birds Hill Golf Centre (a minimal cost for using it as the event HQ) and to reserve a large percentage of the entry fees collected for prize money.
Club clothing
A second order has been placed with impsport for club clothing. A small number of road-jerseys will be kept in stock. The current order is expected to arrive in early February. Clothing sizes