CONTENTS
HistoryMeetings
Rideouts
Fund Raising
Points Scheme
Learners
Activities
Newsletters
Charities
CONTENTSHistoryMeetings Rideouts Fund Raising Points Scheme Learners Activities Newsletters Charities |
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History
On the 9th January:
Wakefield MAG held it′s inaugural meeting on Wednesday 9th January 2002 at the White Horse pub on Westgate. The branch was formed as a part relaunch of Castleford MAG (which had become defunct in Spring 2001), and part trial of MAG′s Local Group Expansion Plan (LGEP) concept, to develop MAG branches in Hub towns (and Wakefield having that much bigger catchment area than Castleford). The branch was formed by the then MAG Chairman, Neil Liversedge.
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We were somewhat successful in our first year, attending MAG rallies en–masse, holding numerous rideouts and other social events, and supporting other Yorkshire MAG branches with their events. We raised MAG membership in the WF postcode area by over 60%, raised funds for MAG and made a very generous donation of £250 to the Wakefield Express Breast Cancer Scanner Appeal. We even hosted a talk by MAG founder and El Presidente, Ian Mutch. For our first year we continued to meet at the White Hart pub on Westgate. The White Hart is a biker friendly pub but we didn′t have a private meeting room, frequently having to ‘share’ our meeting with other drinkers, and had to compete with a very loud jukebox, all in all, not the best venue to hold meetings. |
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At our first AGM in January 2003, we voted for a change of venue and moved a few doors down to the Waterloo, at Westgate End. The AGM also saw the election of a new Joint Rep, Steve Travis, who would be taking alternate meetings. We also changed meeting nights to Thursdays. 2003 proved to be another very good year for the branch. We attended the local Eastmoor carnival procession and show, raising £100 for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance in the process. We were again very active both supporting MAG campaigning activity & fund raising, generating nearly £2,500 for the MAG fighting fund, through MAG event ticket sales, donations from branch funds, payment for MotoX event marshalling (in conjunction with York MAG) and MAG raffle ticket sales. Socially we were also very active with rideouts and other events and by now our regular pub crawls were becoming quite legendary. We made another charitable donation, this time to Lineham Farm Children’s Trust, in memory of Tony Berry, the Leeds MAG Rep who tragically lost his life in a motorcycle accident in July 2003. May 2003 saw Neil resign as Branch Rep and his somewhat sizeable shoes (literally) were promptly filled by Steve Travis, who has remained Rep to this day (the mad fool).
Initially, the Waterloo proved to be an excellent choice of venue. We had the back room all to ourselves, which even had it′s own bar (the perfect venue ?!?). We stayed at the Waterloo for a year but for various reasons, the likelihood of ourselves being able to continue meeting at the Waterloo looked in doubt. At our second AGM in January 2004, we voted to find a new venue. So, for the second time in two years we found ourselves looking for yet another new venue. There are not actually that many city centre pubs which satisfied our criteria for a large private room, secure parking, and reasonably priced drinks (it was fun searching though !!!). We stumbled across the Grey Horse on one of our legendary pub crawls and it certainly ticked all the right boxes – large private room with a PA system if we needed it, secure bike parking (with CCTV) & cheap beer, what more could you ask for ?!?. Only problem was that on Thursday′s the room was used by a Jazz group. So, we reverted back to meeting on Wednesday′s again and moved to the Grey Horse in 2004. The Grey Horse has been our home ever since.
2004 saw the branch host it′s first Post Christmas Auction, which is now firmly established as one of our ‘must attend’ annual events. The auction raised £135, which we donated to the MAG Foundation. We hosted the 20th Anniversary Fred Hill Memorial Run, getting significant coverage in the Wakefield Express in the process. Wakefield MAG members had a big role in the organisation and running of the 1st Yorkshire Pudding Rally, an event we have seen grow in popularity and stature, from our initial ‘shoestring’ set-up to what is now a very professionally run event, under the Magic Action Promotions ‘portfolio’. Early 2004 saw us launch our monthly newsletter, emailed to those Wakefield MAG members (and friends) who cannot attend weekly meetings regularly, but still want to keep abreast of what we are up to. We also launched another annual Wakefield MAG event, hosting the first Biker Quiz Night in November 2004.
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2005 saw us add yet another new event to our ever expanding events portfolio when we hosted our first ever Treasure Hunt. Six teams took part in the inaugural Treasure Hunt and a good time was had by all. We also began our long term relationship with Wakefield Hospice, our local charity, by attending their Summer Garden Party. We hosted a bike show at the Garden Party, which proved a popular attraction and good fund raiser for the Hospice. The Hospice were so impressed by our bike show that they have invited us to exhibit at their shows ever since. Early 2005 also saw the branch adopt an informal nickname, chosen by popular demand and very apt – ‘The Lost Riders’, as anyone who has ever been on a rideout with us will be able to testify. 2005 was a big year for Yorkshire MAG, as that saw the Flash Floods hit the Farmyard Party site in Helmsley. By a miracle, no one was hurt but a number of marshals, including Wakefield MAG members, lost a lot of personal belongings and suffered considerable expense. We descended en-masse to help with the clear up operation alongside a good number of other MAG stalwarts. We contributed to the Marshals Flood appeal and Steve Travis, our Rep, became ‘Poster Boy’, appearing on the flood appeal posters (even though he was no where near the site at the time of the flood, the big fraud !!!!) |
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2006 saw us again supporting Wakefield Hospice, this time by providing mobile marshals for their hugely popular Wakefield Hospice 10K race. Marshalling this charity event involves providing an escort for the races wheelchair competitors (1 bike per wheelchair competitor), plus a back marker. The bikes provide protection to the wheelchair competitors from traffic, as the race is held on normal open public roads. This charity event is very well attended, and attracts some seriously good athletes, including Dame Tanni Grey Thompson, the British 10K wheelchair champion. We have helped the Hospice with this event ever since. As well as supporting and attending all the major Yorkshire MAG events, and our own annual events (Quiz, Treasure Hunt, Wakefield Hospice Bike show & Post Christmas Auction), this year we also attended the VJMCC Show at Lotherton Hall, manning the MAG stand, taking memberships and generally promoting MAG. The Wakefield MAG stand at the VJMCC Show at Lotherton Hall is yet another event we keep getting invited back to, and which we are more than pleased to attend and support.
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January 2007 was a significant date for Wakefield MAG, for we were 5 years old. We celebrated our 5th Birthday in March 2007, when 23 of us all went 10 pin bowling. Early 2007 saw us relaunch neighbouring Barnsley MAG, our ‘buddy’ branch. Since then we have held a number of joint events, including a highly entertaining joint Christmas pub crawl in Barnsley. In 2007 we expanded the Bike Show we hold at the Wakefield Hospice Summer Fayre, by advertising it far and wide. The publicity worked and we had a most impressive turnout of bikes, the bike show was a huge success, and was a great attraction at the Fayre. Our aim is now to turn this into a major annual Wakefield attraction. 2007 also saw us host the Yorkshire MAG AGM and post AGM party for the first time. |
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2008 was a significant year as our long standing Rep, Steve Travis, won the prestigious Richard Tegg Award (for services to MAG at a local level) at the 2008 MAG AGC in Bromsgrove, adding to the long list of Yorkshire MAG members who have won it it previous years. Our plans to expand our annual Bike Show at the Wakefield Hospice May Day Gala were most successful this year, with over 50 bikes and 8 trikes in the show (the glorious weather no doubt helped !!!). 2008 also saw the start of another fine branch tradition - mass attendance at Edinburgh MAG's Ag Ol Anns An Achadh Rally. Fourteen of us on ten bikes made the long trek from Wakefield up to West Calder near Edinburgh. The branch as a whole won the biggest club attendance award. This was a combination of numbers and distance travelled and although were weren't the biggest club in attendance, we were certainly the furthest travelled (by a factor of 3 !!!). The prize was a full size broad sword. A brilliant prize but it was certainly interesting transporting it back to Wakefield on the bike !!! 2008 also saw a major upgrade to the Wakefield web site, with a re-design and a huge amount of new content. The aim is for the branch website to be a portal to everything bike related in the Wakefield area. We do seem to have been successful in that aim, judging by the number of hits, referals made and links to the site from many different sources.
2009 saw us break all records with our MAG fund raising activity to date. This year's Post Christmas Auction (our 5th) raised nearly £450, more than £100 better than our previous best of £330, allowing us to make a £300 donation to MAG, just from that one event. Our total donation this year was £1400, making it the most we had ever donated in a single year to date. For the fourth consecutive year, Wakefield MAG hosted the Yorkshire MAG stand at the hugely popular VJMC Japanese Bike Show, held in July at Lotherton Hall. This year saw us help marshal the show, alongside our good friends in the VJMC, and which we have continued to do ever since. Our Biker Quiz Nite in November had a record attendance with 13 teams taking part, totalling over 80 people. The back room of the Grey Horse was absolutely packed out, and we had to borrow numerous tables and chairs from the lounge bar. Keeping up with the times, we also launched a Wakefield MAG Facebook Group this year, which has proved to be a good source for generating interest and new members for the branch. We also launched a Wakefield MAG internet forum this year.
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2010 saw us adding to our ever expanding portfolio of annual events, with a Charity Pet Food Run in March, followed by our inaugural Mid Summer Mayhem Party Night in July. Both events are now firmly planted on our annual calendar. Our planned mass attendance at the Edinburgh MAG rally this year was thwarted when the event was cancelled. However, a quick trawl of the MAG events list and we found Colchester MAG's Magpie Rally on the same weekend, and pretty much the same distance, albeit in completely the opposite direction. A most enjoyable time was had by all, and the weather couldn't have been better. However, we were all agreed, as good as it was, we all wanted to return to the Edinburgh rally again !! For the 2nd year running, we attended the City of Wakefield Remembrance Sunday parade and wreath laying ceremony - a jolly decent thing to do we feel. We broke all records again this year with a total donation to the MAG fighting fund, via Yorkshire Region of £1,550 !!!! Once again, we had packed an enormous amount of activities into the year, achieved an awful lot, made a lot of money for MAG (our largest MAG fighting fund donation in the 9 year history of the branch), but above all, had a lot of fun along the way. |
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Wakefield MAG has a large number of committed members and we are particularly proud to have a significant number who were at that very first meeting in January 2002, and who are still active members to this day. So, we obviously must be doing something right.
Meetings
We meet on a weekly basis at the same time & the same place (20:30, every Tuesday at the Thatched House, 434 Aberford Road, Stanley, Wakefield, WF3 4AA). We hold a ′Formal′ meeting every week with an agenda, which typically covers:
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A register of attendees is kept (the ‘Captains Log’) and meeting records (agenda, minutes, vote results, comments & suggestions etc) maintained. Wakefield MAG is entirely democratic and each and every member has a say with what we do and how and when we do it. Important decisions, including anything financial, are always put to a vote. Every new meeting attendee is given a New Member Welcome Pack, which covers who we are, what we do, and how we fit into the bigger scheme of things. We are particularly proud that the branch has been run along the ‘Best Practice’ principles, as outlined in MAG′ s Local Group Expansion Plan, right from Day One.
But the best thing about our meetings is that it is a great opportunity to meet socially and in a fun environment with like-minded friends. |
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As a branch, we hold regular monthly rideouts, from February through to November. These are generally held on the second Sunday of every month, although that is dependant upon many of the other activities we are also involved with. In the summer months, we also hold evening rideouts to other MAG branch meetings and other places of interest. Some of our rideouts are to specifically support National and Regional activities, such as the annual Fred Hill Run and the Leeds MAG Demo Run. For our other runs, we have a specific format so everyone knows what to expect:
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 Wakefield MAG rideouts are very popular! |
Wakefield MAG are prolific fund raisers and we donate hundreds of pounds every year to the MAG Fighting Fund, via the Yorkshire Region. Our predominant fund raising activity is our weekly meeting raffle, where we sell raffle tickets for £1, with the chance of winning up to 2 bottles of quality wine. We also raise funds through branch product sales and other events we host, particularly our highly popular annual post Christmas Auction. In addition to raising funds for MAG, we also make at least one generous charitable donation every year – see below for which charities we have supported (and continue to support) over the years.
Wakefield MAG maintains a member points scheme and every activity/event that our members attend, is logged in our attendance book. Different activities attract different points allocation depending on the level of commitment shown, as follows:
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We warmly welcome Learner riders in Wakefield MAG and are particularly proud that at any one point in time, we always have one (or more) learner riders in our ranks. We have also ‘converted’ several committed pillion passengers, who now ride and own their own bikes. Every member who passes their test is awarded a bottle of wine (or other prize) to celebrate their achievement. All of our ride-outs are always learner friendly as we avoid motorways (which are boring anyway) and always ride at the speed of the slowest rider (which can be Steve our Rep when he′s on his 350cc Royal Enfield Bullet !!!). Many of our learners have commented that it has greatly helped their riding whilst out on our runs, as the ‘pack’ of bikes ensures they are visible, allowing them to concentrate on their technique. It also allows them to observe experienced riders in action, as we do sport a number of advanced riders and motorcycle instructors in our ranks.
Check out our Learn to Ride page if you haven′t yet learnt to ride a bike. |
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Wakefield MAG is a particularly active MAG branch and we certainly keep ourselves busy with numerous activities throughout the year. We have a number of annual events which we host, including:
We attend all the major MAG rallies including Into the Valley, Edinburgh MAG′s Ag Ol Anns An Achadh Rally, Farmyard Party, Yorkshire Pudding Rally and many more. We also provide numerous marshals to help run all the major Yorkshire MAG events. We have an excellent relationship with the Wakefield Hospice and support a number of their fund raising events, including marshaling the wheelchair competitors in their annual 10K Race. We also find time for regular rideouts, pub crawls, parties and other social events. One thing is for certain, you don′t have time to be bored being a member of Wakefield MAG !! |
 
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Newsletters
At Wakefield MAG, we are conscious that the majority of our membership don′t actually attend our weekly meetings on a regular basis. We probably get about 20% of our membership attending meetings regularly (the national average is around 10%). There are many reasons for this – work, other commitments, or maybe that meetings just aren′t your thing. However, we still want to keep you up to date with all the latest MAG National, Regional and Local news & views, on a regular basis. To this end, we launched our monthly newsletter in 2004 and since then, these have been emailed, on a regular basis, to all our members (and friends) who have supplied us with their email address. At the present time, we have very nearly 100 e–mail addresses on our distribution list. 2008 also saw the newsletters published on this website. If you can’t attend our Wednesday meetings regularly, the newsletter is the next best thing to keep you up to date with what we are up to. We can also post the newsletters to members (and friends) upon request, although a contribution to the postage costs would be most appreciated.
Charities
Although our primary fund raising efforts are for the MAG Fighting Fund, we do make regular generous charitable donations, and have supported a number of charities throughout the years including:
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Yorkshire Air Ambulance
YAA operate a lifesaving rapid response helicopter service across Yorkshire, ensuring seriously injured persons are never more than an average 10 minutes away from hospital. YAA also give paramedic care to patients within the crucial ‘Golden Hour’. They can access areas which are difficult or impossible for road ambulances to reach quickly, thereby ensuring life saving paramedic care can be more quickly administered than via the conventional Ambulance Service. YAA are an independent charity and only receive funding in the form of the paramedic secondment from the Yorkshire Ambulance Service. It costs in excess of £6,900 per day to keep both Yorkshire air ambulances in the air. |
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National Association for Bikers with a Disability
NABD is the world leader in the field of motorcycling for people with disabilities. NABD operates a system of financial grants to help with the cost of special adaption work to bikes, scooters, combo′s and trikes, necessary to suit the needs of disabled riders. In addition to financial grants, they provide research and assistance with adaptions, assessments & training, advice and support. NABD′s belief that ‘when it comes to motorcycling, a disability should not be a handicap’ |
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Wakefield Hospice
Wakefield Hospice is our local charity and in addition to donations, we also support a number of Wakefield Hospice Fund Raising Events throughout the year. Wakefield Hospice is a specialist unit offering holistic care for people who have advanced, progressive illnesses. Hospice care is free of charge to patients who have been assessed as in need of specialist palliative care. In addition to the In-Patient unit and Day Therapy unit, the Hospice also provide Bereavement Support and a Chaplaincy service. |
 
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Wakefield Express Scanner Appeal
An appeal, launched in January 2002, by the Wakefield Express newspaper to buy a new scanner to help combat breast cancer. The appeal topped its initial target and the new scanner is now installed in the specialist breast care unit at the local Clayton Hospital. |
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Brain Injury Rehabilitation Trust
The Brain Injury Rehabilitation Trust (BIRT) helps people regain the skills lost as a result of brain injury, whether caused by road accident, assault, stroke or illness. BIRT is a division of The Disabilities Trust and is the means by which The Disabilities Trust provides its brain injury services. The Disabilities Trust is a charitable organisation which provides services to people with physical disability, learning disability and autism as well as brain injury. |
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Lineham Farm Children′ s Trust
Kids from schools all over Leeds come and stay at the Farm for a week of fun, frolics and discovery. The Centre has been hired by Yorkshire MAG on a number of occassions for MAG Activist training weekends and other events. |
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Whitehall Dog Rescue
Whitehall Dog Rescue was set up by Brian Wheelhouse in 1992 after finding out that stray and unwanted dogs collected by dog wardens or handed in to the police had a very short time to live if they didn't find a home (7 days). Brian ran a motorcycle and car sales business in Leeds and decided to try and help the plight of these poor unwanted dogs, so he converted part of his showroom and built in kennels to accommodate his new guests. A licence was sought from Leeds City council to make sure kennels came to specification. These kennels were used right up to 2004 and helped saved the lives of hundreds of dogs. The dog rescue became a full time operation and relocated to a farm in East Ardsley in Wakefield where he continues to rescue dogs from death row. The dogs are looked after until loving and caring homes can be found. Whitehall became a registered charity in September 2009. |
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RSPCA Leeds and Wakefield District Animal Rescue
The RSPCA Leeds, Wakefield and District Branch promotes kindness and prevents cruelty to animals in the local area. They are a separately registered branch of the RSPCA and are primarily responsible for raising their own funds locally, relying heavily on the funds generated by their own network of charity shops and the tireless fundraising in the community, without which they would be unable to carry on our important animal welfare activities in the district. |
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The Yorkshire Regiment Charitable Trust
The Yorkshire Regiment Charitable Trust provides support for serving or past service personnel (and families) of the Yorkshire Regiment (or predecessors) in need by virtue of sickness, poor health or financial hardship. |
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MAG Foundation
The MAG Foundation is a registered charity and has been set up to provide a new dimension in motorcycle and scooter safety and research. The aims and the objectives of the Foundation are to promote motorcycling through: Research; Representation & Collaboration for the public benefit and raising awareness and understanding of environmental road safety and security issues relating to the use of motorcycles and scooters and to research and investigate solutions to these issues. |
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Leeds Liver Unit Trust
The Liver unit is a specialist unit at Saint James′s University Hospital in Leeds. The unit receives no government funding and relies solely on donations to continue its life saving treatment. |
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Enduro India
Leeds MAG member Mike Guy rode across India on an Enfield Bullet in February 2005, in the process raising money for three very worthy charities. The minimum sponsorship required in order to complete this trip was £3200 and Wakefield MAG sponsored Mike to support his efforts. The Enduro India expedition has established itself as the number one motorbike tour of India and is up there amongst the truly great biking experiences. The main aim of the expedition is to raise money for three charities, The World Wildlife Foundation to help prevent tiger poaching, The Rainbow Trust for terminally ill children in the UK, and The Pain and Palliative Care Society to provide clinics for the terminally ill in India. Mike rode 2000 kilometers across rural India through some of the world′s most awe-inspiring scenery. The expedition involved 7 days of ‘dawn to dusk’ riding on a Royal Enfield 350 Bullet and was a real test of ability and endurance. Completing it is a serious achievement. The final destination was a tiger reserve where the bikes were be handed over to the Game Wardens who cover thousands of miles a year patrolling the reserve to protect the few remaining tigers from poachers. |
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UNICEF
Wakefield MAG sponsored Panos Englezu (Leeds MAG member) in 2005 on an ambitious tour covering Europe, Middle East & Africa, raising funds and awareness of UNICEF. UNICEF is a registered charity, founded in 1946 to help children left in extreme poverty after the Second World War. It was and still is the world’s leading organisation working for children and their rights. UNICEF is the United Nations Children’s Fund, working in 190 countries through country programmes and National Committees. UNICEF is mandated by the United Nations General Assembly to advocate for the protection of children′ s rights, to help meet their basic needs and to expand their opportunities to reach their full potential. |
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Support our Soldiers
Support Our Soldiers (SOS) was formed in March 2003 to encourage and provide support for members of the British Armed Forces serving overseas and their families at home. Since that time, thanks to the overwhelming kindness and generosity of the British public, over 70,000 morale boosting care parcels have been sent out to those on the frontline, and countless families helped through the very difficult time with their loved ones away on tour. SOS support all the Services, and all ranks within these and also work very closely with the medical teams in Afghanistan and the UK to provide much needed support for the injured. |
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KATRA
KATRA (Kirkgate Apartments Tennants & Residents Association) provide sponsorship for local Old Age Pensioners to attend trips and holidays, who wouldn't normally be able to go. |
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Cardiology Fund (Ward 5 at Wakefield's Pinderfields Hospital)
THE MID YORKSHIRE HOSPITALS NHS TRUST CHARITABLE FUND AND RELATED CHARITIES - The Charity seeks to enhance the services provided by the Trust and fund additional items of expenditure, which would not otherwise be funded by the NHS. |
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Dog Care Association (Ponderosa)
The Dog Care Association is a local Yorkshire based charity devoted to looking after unwanted dogs and cats. The association has a policy not to kill any healthy dogs or cats but to keep them until a suitable home is found for them. |