Wakefield & District MAG
Minutes of the 10th ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
Held at 8:00pm on Wednesday 11th January 2012, at the Grey Horse, Kirkgate, Wakefield
1) Welcome by chair and introduction of Yorkshire Region / National Observer
Steve Travis, Branch Chairman & Rep opened the meeting at 20:05 hrs. Thirty two members were in attendance.
All members in the branch area had previously been notified in writing, via the December 2011 mailshot, of the date, time, venue and agenda for the 2011 AGM. The details of the AGM were also publicised in The Road magazine, on the branch website (wakefield.mag-uk.org) and the MAG website (www.mag-uk.org)
2) Apologies
Apologies received from Lisa Brooker, Sally Johnson and Toby Jenner for non-attendance at the AGM
3) Minutes of previous AGM and matters arising
The minutes of the previous AGM (for the 2010 year), held on Wednesday 12th January 2011 were circulated. These minutes were also published on the branch website before the AGM. The minutes were Proposed and Seconded and voted on by all meeting attendees as being a true and accurate account of that meetings proceedings.
No Matters Arising
4) Committee Reports
Reps Annual Report 2011
Financial
- See Finance Officer Report for branch fund-raising
- Raised £2,010, through MAP rally branch ticket sales: 27 ITV Tickets (£405); 47 FYP Tickets (£1005); 40 YPR Tickets (£600)
- Contributed to the overall profit, through various organisation tasks and marshalling, of all the MAP events
Political
- Held our AGM on Wednesday 12th January 2011, attended by 26 members
- Attended MAG AGC
- Attended Leeds MAG demo run in May
- Hosted our own Fred Hill Run (June)
- Attended Yorkshire MAG AGM
- All Yorkshire Region meetings attended (or apologies/delegate and report submitted)
- Supported all National & Regional political campaigns (contacting MP's & MEP's, petitions, surveys etc)
- Members encouraged to participate through monthly newsletters, in addtion to weekly meetings
- Specifically contacted Wakefield Council r.e. Exhorbitant bike parking charges in the new Westgate railway station car park, together with a continuing dialogue on secure parking & pot hole filling. Currently trying to target councillors in Wakefield to raise awareness of motorcycling issues (see Political Officers Report)
- Hosted MAG National Demo at Wooley Edge services (M1 Southbound) on 25th September - Around 250 on the Demo. Met Sheffield MAG coming the other way - caused a nice 15 mile tailback of traffic doing 20 MPH
Runs, Rallies, MAG meetings and other Social Events
- Hosted Post Christmas Auction
- Hosted our 7th Post Christmas Auction
- Held another Dog racing night at Kinsley Greyhound Stadium in March
- Held a well attended 2nd Charity Pet Food Run, to Wakefield based dog rescues in March, with lots of doggy treats delivered
- Marshalled Wakefield Hospice 10K Race in April
- Hosted a Bike Show at the Wakefield Hospice May Day Gala. 40 odd bikes in the show over the course of the day, together with the Yorkshire MAG stand
- Attended all MAP rallies in force (ITV, FYP & YPR, providing large number of marshals for FYP & YPR, YPR providing marshals helping with set-up & post event take-down)
- Attended Edinburgh MAG's rally en-masse
- Hosted our 2st Midsummer Mayhem Party Night in July
- Hosted our 7th Treasure Hunt in July
- Held our 2nd 'invite only' rally at Corinne & Igor's house in Lincolnshire (Skeggy, Fancy Dress, lots of beer etc etc)
- Hosted the Yorkshire MAG stand at the hugely popular VJMC Japanese Bike Show, held in July at Lotherton Hall. Helped VJMC marshal their show, as we have for several years now
- Attended the Lincolnshire MAG Teddy Bears Picnic in August
- Held well attended formal monthly rideouts, to various destinations, ranging from trips to the coast, country, popular bikers hang-outs (Devils Bridge, Matlock Bath) & a trip to bike racing at Cadwell Park. Number of informal weekend rideouts also organised
- Attended, for 3rd year running, the City of Wakefield Remembrance Sunday parade and wreath laying ceremony
- Hosted a Biker Quiz Nite in November, good representation from other Yorkshire MAG branches
- Held a Christmas dinner & Pub crawl
- Wakefield Members have attended vast majority of other branches events over the course of the year, continuing our long tradition of supporting other Yorkshire branch events
Membership
- Getting consistently high numbers attending weekly meetings (25 ish)
- 12 Monthly newsletters produced (emailed to members & interested parties (120+ recipients), posted on the web site and links from Facebook Group)
- Had some calling cards (business cards) printed. Idea is that when members see other bikers in the district, they have something tangible to give them (with meeting details, activities, web & email addresses on), when trying to recruit them as MAG members. Were pretty cheap, seem quite successful and a lot easier to carry around in your wallet/purse than MAG flyers, membership forms or copies of the Road
- One mailshot to formally place notice for AGM on Wednesday 11th January 2012. 100 mailshot letters produced for current members and those who had lapsed during 2011)
- 99 current members when December membership list was cut - Lowest membership since records maintained (previous lowest 100 in 2004; highest 116 in 2008); 105 current members (at December 2010). Average membership is 105. However, a good number had very recently expired so if they renew on the back of the mailshot letter, we are comparable with previous years.
Other Activity
- Held a Yorkshire Heroes Sponsored Rideout in July. Nearly 50 people joined the run & Sponsorships from work colleagues, family and friends, staff charity scheme and wrist band sales raised £2000 for the charity (didn't take any fund raising away from MAG however)
- Wakefield web site kept well updated over the year, lots of new content added and gets lots of hits (5,000 over the last year, and 15,200 over a 3.5 year period)
Achievements against 2011 Development Plan
- Continue to work with Wakefield Council for:
- provision of secure motorcycle parking within Wakefield and the surrounding district [Secure Parking not achieved, but dialogue maintained - PARTIAL SUCCESS]
- access to Bus Lanes in Wakefield [NOT ACHIEVED]
- continue the on-going road condition survey within the Wakefield area & submit at least 20 pot hole reports in 2011 [6 pot hole reports submitted - PARTIAL SUCCESS]
- Continue to support Wakefield Hospice events:
- Wakefield Hospice Bike Show [ACHIEVED]
- Marshal Wakefield Hospice 10K road race [ACHIEVED]
- Initiate Major recruitment drive to increase MAG membership within WF postcode area (Produce Branch 'calling cards' for distribution to potential members; Advertise in Clubs & Societies section in Wakefield Express) [membership down, but objectives met - PARTIAL SUCCESS]
- Maximise Fund raising for MAG fighting fund - Target: £1,750 [overly ambitious target not met, but substantial donations made - PARTIAL SUCCESS]
- Continue our close relationship with our 'Buddy' Branch, Barnsley MAG [ACHIEVED]
- Continue to support other local MAG groups with their activities [ACHIEVED]
- Hold lots of ride-outs and other social events, including our five successful annual events:
- Post Christmas Auction [ACHIEVED]
- Pet Food Run [ACHIEVED]
- Mid-Summer Party [ACHIEVED]
- Treasure Hunt [ACHIEVED]
- Biker Quiz Nite [ACHIEVED]
- Continue to support the major Yorkshire MAG events (ITV, FYP, YPR) and fund-raising activities [ACHIEVED]
- Continue to support VJMC with hosting their Japanese Bike Show [ACHIEVED]
- Take an active role (along with Barnsley & Sheffield) with the set-up & take-down of the YPR, in addition to marshalling over the weekend [ACHIEVED, but marshal numbers from Wakefield less than in other years, a trend we need to reverse]
- Mass attendance at the Edinburgh MAG Rally [ACHIEVED]
- Continue to run own 'invite only' Rally (Lincolnshire Splitters) [ACHIEVED]
- Have even more fun than 2010 !!! [ACHIEVED]
SUMMARY
Another fantastic year for the branch. We have packed an enormous amount of activities into the year, achieved an awful lot, made a lot of money for MAG, but above all, had a lot of fun along the way. Particular thanks to the 2011 committee for all their hard work and to all our members for making Wakefield MAG such a brilliant branch.
Steve Travis, Branch Rep
Finance Officer Report - Financial Report & Audited Accounts for 2011
Slight loss over the year but overall a very typical year. The biggest contributor is still the weekly raffle raising just under £900. Donations of over £1000 were made to Yorkshire Region, and £170 to charity, mostly from the auction. Branch costs to run were £150 for mailshots etc
Justine Travis, Finance Officer
Deputy Rep Report
Report submitted. Attended lots, usual high degree of committment over the year.
Eddie Johnson, Deputy Rep & Clubs Liaison
Press Officer
Jobs undertaken over last 12 months:
- Made contact with the Wakefield Express and we have had our events published in the paper on their events page, also contacted them with write ups about our events and any donations we made to local charities
- I have also published our events on the radio accessing Real Radio and Ridings FM, we have been mentioned on the air about events and also been advertised on their web pages
- As a group we have undertaken the passing out of leaflets advertising all our events through local businesses and other bike related organisations
Susan Evans, Press Officer
Political Officer
Report submitted. Usual high degree of committment
Ian Whittaker, Political Officer
Products Officer
Submitted report of product sales & stock take. Motion to increase sales
Stock Valuation 2010/2011: £241.54
Stock Valuation 2011/2012: £280.69
Mick Culpan, Products Officer
Rideout Coordinator's Report
Rideout Co-coordinators Report and Observations on Riding in France:
Having accepted a joint co-coordinator role / consultancy position for 2011 Rideouts, it soon became clear that Steve could not meet my fees, as I demanded them to be paid in Euros. So I thought Fook this and moved to France!! Seriously folks, priorities overtook my involvement this year as you'll all understand, so I'd like to say a big thanks to John for taking over the role this year he has done a sterling job.
May I also take the opportunity to say a further thank you to all the friends I have made during my short time as Wakefield MAG, as I enjoyed it immensely, you are all sincerely missed. I'll keep in contact via Facebook and the odd mail to let folks know how things are going on out here in France and in view of the recent communiques about what is happening this side of the channel, so you can keep up the fight to stop the crap happening over there. There are a few folks on the Wakefield MAG Group that I've not yet round to adding to my FB friends list but I will soon promise.
As you will have seen by the information coming from Paddy Tyson and the FFMC, the main (official) reasons behind latest regulations being made in France, is casualty reduction. However, the MOT equivalent is not required until a vehicle is 4 years old and the certificate last for 2 years. If you fail you carry on driving for 4-6 weeks while you get the problem fixed!! No problems there then but the MOT is NOT mandatory for motorcycles...........so no guessing for what the majority of folks do then is there? Hardly surprising that there are lots of low cc old bikes (sub 125) getting thrown down the road and they will be exempt for the day glo regs. Madness. Fours years this spring, once I get a ride sorted out, I can't see me paying the Control Technique a visit unless the rules get change.
On the hi-viz / day glo situation, I've yet to spot a lid with the 4 reflective stickers that are required on lids for the last few years but have confirmed this is mandatory. And although I do not agree with any form of mandatory dayglo, the 150 cm sq equates to a minute 24 inch sq Blighty, so a 6"x4" patch meets to government proposal, somewhere between your waist and shoulders. If the Transport Minister thinks this is going to make a difference I just cant see it, especially given the high number of side impact collisions at junctions, where the patch will not be visible at all - unless we start riding side saddle. It really is utter BS, so I am sure FFMC will keep up the fight and this message acts a reminder to all MAG members what could be heading there way unless MAG UK keep fighting against the sh1te.
Toby Jenner, Rideout Co-ordinator
Clubs Officer
Covered in Deputy Reps Report
5) Election / Re-election of branch officers for 2012
The following officers were elected / re-elected onto the 2012 branch committee, unanimously and unopposed in all cases:
- Rep: Steve Travis (Re-elected)
- Deputy Rep: Eddie Johnson (Re-elected)
- Treasurer: Justine Travis (Re-elected)
- Products Officer: Mick Culpan (Re-elected)
- Political Officer: Ian Whittaker (Re-elected)
- Social Committee: Lorna Jaques &Sue Evans (Elected)
- MAP Consultative Committee - Wakefield Rep: Steve Travis (Re-elected)
- MAP Consultative Committee - Deputy Wakefield Rep: Eddie Johnson (Re-elected)
- Press Officer: Sue Evans (Re-elected)
- Membership Secretary: Steve Travis (Elected)
- Clubs Liaison Officer: Eddie Johnson (Re-elected)
- Fundraising Officer: Lisa Brooker (Re-elected)
- Auditors: Ian Whittaker & Martin Burgess (Re-elected)
6) Motions
Three motions submitted to the AGM:
1) Monthly Rideout Planning
To revert back to the previous system whereby rideout destinations are planned a year in advance, and well publicised, rather than decided a month in advance.
Explanation: The previous system was successful and attracted a number of infrequent rideout attendees. Most people are busy but if they fancy a rideout to a particular destination, they can plan around a particular date, especially where they know well in advance. This is far less likely if they only get a couple of weeks notice. Originally changed as 'Events were missed in 2010 that members might have liked to go to, as they clashed with pre-booked rideout destinations, chosen at the start of the year before the other events were known about'. In practice, this was only the one event (Thundersprint), and 2011 rideouts have been less well attended overall, than in 2010.
Proposer: Steve Travis (97513)
Seconder: Ray Bowles (129369)
Agreed that rideouts would be provisionally planned for the year but confirmed/amended a minimum of 4 weeks prior to the date so that destinations could be publicised.
Carried
2) Product Sale
a) We sell 1 x remaining men's vest and 1 x remaining T shirt at cost price in order to get rid so we can start afresh, to be honest they ought really to be classified as 'shop soiled' as they have been in and out of their plastic bags and hung on hangers at shows so many times we can’t really say they are new;
b) The Bike/Car stickers be reduced in price from £2.00 to £1.00 from my records the last time we purchased these they were at £0.33 each but the price was not reduced, I think it should be as we are still making a profit and would probably sell more in any case.
Impact on profits: £414.50 (Before); £355.76 (After); Difference: £58.74
Proposer: Mick Culpan (123530)
Seconder: Justine Travis (97513)
Carried
3) Raffle Prizes
To change our raffle prizes (from wine/choccies) to a first prize of £5, and a second prize (which may or may get drawn), of £3. This saves the hassle of bringing prizes to each meeting, and the winner can choose what they want to spend their winnings on. The popular and profitable bonus ball raffle system be retained
Proposer: Lorna Jaques (120474)
Seconder: John Hannon (127865)
Carried
7) Objectives & Branch development plan for 2012
Objectives and branch development plan for the forthcoming year (2012) agreed after discussion:
- Work with Wakefield Council for provision of secure motorcycle parking within Wakefield and the surrounding district
- Continue to support Wakefield Hospice with marshalling their 10K road race
- Initiate Major recruitment drive to increase MAG membership within WF postcode area (Target 117 - 1 more than previous high in 2008)
- Maximise Fund raising for MAG fighting fund - Target: £1,200 (to beat 2011 total)
- Continue our close relationship with our 'Buddy' Branch, Barnsley MAG
- Continue to support other local MAG groups with their activities
- Hold lots of ride-outs and other social events, including our five successful annual events:
- Post Christmas Auction
- Pet Food Run
- MidSummer Party
- Treasure Hunt
- Biker Quiz Nite
- Continue to support the major Yorkshire MAG events (ITV, FYP, YPR) - push for 2 marshalling shifts p.p.
- Continue to support VJMC with hosting their Japanese Bike Show
- Take an active role (along with Barnsley & Sheffield) with the set-up & take-down of the YPR, in addition to marshalling over the weekend
- Have even more fun than 2011 !!!!
8) Presentation to branch heroes
Awards were presented for the branch heroes of 2011, based on points accumulated by members for attendance/participation in MAG/Branch events over the course of the year.
Our branch heroes for 2011 were:
- Most attendances: Steve 'Jagster' Jagger (1005 points)
- Most attendances runner-up: Chas Milner (920 points)
- Most attendances to Branch meetings on a bike: Jagster again (31 meetings). This was the most hotly contested category as Bill Kelsall was nipping at his heels with 30 meetings attended on his bike !!!
- Chairman's Award (biggest contribution to the branch): Given to all our meeting regulars, who turn up rain or shine to support all the branches activities to the full
- Honourable mentions: All event & rally marshals; Jagster (AGAIN) for his most impressive Yorkshire Warriors fundraising efforts ....... and all other Wakefield MAG members for being jolly good eggs !!!
9) Any other business
No AOB raised
10) Date of Next AGM
The date of the next AGM was set for Wednesday 9th January 2013
The meeting closed at 22:15 hrs.
Steve Travis
Wakefield MAG Rep
97513