Dear Wakefield MAG Member,
Welcome to the Wakefield MAG e-newsletter. If you can't attend our Tuesday meetings regularly, it's the next best thing to keep you up to date with what we are up to.
I hope everyone had a brilliant Christmas and has a fantastic and biking filled New Year. In addition to getting some Christmas pressies that you really wanted, hopefully you also got some that you gladly want to give away !!!! WHY ? ....... because the Wakefield MAG Post Christmas Auction is only a few weeks away (See below for details).
CONTENTS
1) New Years Resolutions
2) MAG ends 2021 feeling positive
3) Kidzaware Christmas Toy Collection
4) British Bike Resurgence
5) Post Christmas Auction
6) Wakefield MAG Annual General Meeting
7) Christmas Raffle
8) Christmas Do Report
9) 2022 Rally Dates
10) Forthcoming Events (for January and beyond)
Hands up how many people have made a New Years Resolution or two? Give up the fags .. drink less .. exercise more .. lose weight .. get out on the bike more, whatever the weather? How many can honestly say that they will be able to keep it up for the whole year .... probably not many.
Want a New Years Resolution that is easy to keep, will make you feel better about yourself, and your contribution to others, will save you money & make the world a better place? Sounds too good to be true? Almost, but not quite ....
One of the best NY resolutions you can possibly make is to join a non-member to MAG this year (or join yourself if you are not a member, rejoin if you have recently lapsed, or ensure you maintain your own membership throughout the year if you are already a member !!!).
This resolution is dead easy to keep (just £27 will guarantee that), you will be positively contributing to the on-going maintenance of your chosen lifestyle, both for you and everyone who rides a bike, you are joining a union of 10,000 like minded souls, and best of all, you will be able to save money by taking advantage of the many benefits and deals only available to MAG members.
You can join MAG at:
Join (or renew) by Direct Debit, then you'll never again have to remember to renew as it will be done automatically for you: www.mag-uk.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Renewal_DD-1_page.pdf.
Membership fees are: Single Membership - £27.00; Joint Membership (two adults) - £40.50; Family Membership - either single or joint adult membership with children added to the membership at £5.00 per child. New members between the ages of 16 and 25 years old receive a £5 discount on first year of MAG membership.
Make this one New Years Resolution you will honestly say you have been able to keep ... Don't put it off ... Join (or rejoin) MAG now !!!
2) MAG ends 2021 feeling positive
The Motorcycle Action Group (MAG), the UK's leading voice for riders' rights, is looking forward to a year with more positive outcomes for motorcyclists.
MAG will soon be gearing up for another year of defending riders' rights and contributing to the decision-making processes of national and local Government. MAG's Chair, Neil Liversidge, noted that, whilst the global challenges of the pandemic had continued throughout 2021, MAG remained focussed on the job in hand: defending motorcycling from disproportionate legislation. Neil stated: "Whilst 2021 has undoubtedly been a better year than 2020, we all continued to work around a very difficult global situation. MAG continued to campaign strongly, with activities on-line and - where possible - in person and was also able to run several of its premier fundraising events again, which was a major achievement under the circumstances, and a testament to the hard work and commitment of our volunteers.
Unfortunately, the pandemic rumbles on, but we are in a much better situation than we were, and sincerely hope that 2022 will, in due course, return to something much closer to normality, not just for MAG but for the entire world. In the meantime, we stand strong, ready to continue defending motorcycling wherever we can.
I would like to personally thank all of our members for their support, because without them MAG would not be the success that it is. I wish each and every one of you a happy and healthy Christmas and all the very best for 2022."
MAG continues to engage with Government and Local Authorities wherever a need to protect riders' rights is identified, building on its accomplishments and forging positive new relationships.
3) Kidzaware Christmas Toy Collection
We had a huge amount of toys donated to our 2021 Christmas Toy Appeal for Kidzaware, a local Wakefield based charity that the Branch has been proud to support for a number of years. Deputy Rep Chas took the toys along to Kidzaware after our collection deadline of Tuesday 14th December and presented these to Gillian Archbold at the charity.
The charity were absolutely delighted at the donation and very grateful for our on-going support.
There really does seem to be a British Bike Resurgence at the moment. It was sad to see the old British bike industry collapse in the 1970's and 1980's. However, like a phoenix rising from the ashes, it does seem to be coming back, maybe in foreign ownership in some cases these days, but a lot of Research and Development takes place, and in some cases maufacture in the UK, and not just the UK, but in the Midlands, the traditional heartland of the UK motorcycle industry. Triumph (www.triumphmotorcycles.co.uk) is well documented, but Norton is back under TVS and have just built a new UK factory, after the disaster that was the Stuart Garner management (www.nortonmotorcycles.com/). BSA have also returned to the fold (the new Gold Star unveiled at the 2021 NEC show is simply stunning - www.bsacompany.co.uk/). Royal Enfield are a strong contender and have a R&D facility in the UK (www.royalenfield.com/uk/en/motorcycles/), we also have a good number of famous old names: Ariel (www.arielmotor.co.uk), DoT (dotmotorcycles.co.uk/), CCM (www.ccm-motorcycles.com/), Francis-Barnett (www.francis-barnett.org/), Hesketh never really disappeared (www.heskethmotorcycles.co.uk/), plus we have brand new marques like the electric Maeving (maeving.com/). 50 years later, the British Bike industry is back ... bring it on !!!!
Our 17th Post Christmas Auction will be held on Tuesday 25th January 2022. Our Post Christmas Auction's are the stuff of legends. The idea is you donate all your unwanted Christmas presents, together with other stuff you no longer want, or have the room for, to the Branch and we auction them off to the highest bidder .... with the proceeds split 2/3 to MAG and 1/3 to charitable causes. Thanks to the huge generosity of JP Roberts (ex-Doncaster MAG Rep), we have a huge amount of items that have already been donated, which includes masses of riding gear, books, DVD's, camping equipment, tools, bike accessories, service items, garage equipment (incl. a Wolf Electric Air Compressor with spray gun, electric parts washing chest, paddock stands). Check out the For Sale page for what items have already been donated and will be in the 2022 auction (and more has been donated since this list was last updated). The auctions are always hugely entertaining and there are always some real quality items donated, and hence, some real bargains to be had.
I hope to see you there. Be there early, with viewing from 07:00 onwards, and the auction starting at 08:00 prompt (and don't forget to bring your unwanted Christmas pressies !!!).
6) Wakefield MAG Annual General Meeting
The Wakefield & District Motorcycle Action Group Branch AGM will be held in the Thatched House, on Tuesday 11th January 2022, starting at 8:00pm (prompt). All members are invited to attend this special meeting, so please try to attend if you can. At this meeting there will be a review of the year, elections for the branch committee and the prize giving for our branch heroes. Meeting Agenda:
As this meeting is effectively a MAG political meeting, it carries with it a whopping 75 branch points for everyone who attends (a normal branch meeting only carries 5 points). As all the points are tallied at year end and go towards the branch heroes presentation, points really do mean prizes !!!! What better boost to your branch heroes tally for the new year !!!
The Annual Wakefield MAG mailshot has been emailed or posted to all eligible Members last month, i.e. current MAG members with a WF postcode, to formally place notice for the meeting. The mailshot letter is also available Here
The meeting is also advertised in the events section on the main MAG website (www.mag-uk.org), and on our website events page.
Last years AGM minutes are available Here.
N.B. Motions for the AGM should be submitted the week before the AGM (Tuesday 4th January 2022).
Our Grand Christmas Raffle was drawn on Wednesday 14th December. The winning numbers were:
The top prize of the Luxury Christmas Hamper was won by Sue Clarke (Rep Steve's Sister-in-law .... and no, it wasn't a fix ;-)
All 17 prizes have been claimed and they certainly were worth winning:
The Christmas Raffle made a hefty profit of £221, all of which goes to the MAG fighting Fund - A huge thank you to everyone who bought and sold tickets!!!!
We held our Christmas Do on Saturday 11th December at our HQ, the Thatched House. We met from 12:00 onwards, and over 20 of us enjoyed our chosen fayre from the above Christmas Menu. We all enjoyed the get together but it wasn't quite as raucous as previous events (usually a messy pub crawl through Wakefield after a lunchtime meal) but enjoyable just the same with some good company and entertaining banter, plus an excellent Christmas meal. In the peculiar circumstances we find ourself in, we all agreed it was far less risky than the normal pub crawl in town where mutant virus particles would have been running riot, and where we were all pretty much guaranteed to have come down with Rona afterwards ..... hopefully back to normal this year ..... mind you, said that in 2021 ..... 2020 ....
10) Forthcoming Events (for January and beyond)
Tuesday 4th January 2022 - First Wakefield MAG meeting of 2022 !!!
Back to normal after our Christmas and New Year break, with the first meeting of 2022 being on Tuesday 4th January, normal time of 20:00. This is also the last date to submit any motions for our AGM the following week - See Above.
Tuesday 11th January 2022 - Wakefield Branch 20th AGM - The branch will be 20 years old !!!!
See Above
Tuesday 25th January 2022 - Post Christmas Auction
See Above
Got lots of unwanted Christmas presents ? Got items that are of use/value but you don't have the space for them any more ? Prepared to donate them for a good cause ? Bring them along to the Wakefield MAG 'Post Christmas Auction' where they will be raffled off to the highest bidder, with all the proceeds being donated to MAG and other worthy causes. 20:00 in the Thatched House.
Saturday 12th March - An Evening with Sam Manicom
Leeds MAG is proud to present their 7th annual talk, An Evening with Sam Manicom. Wanting to do something completely different, Sam Manicom learned to ride a motorcycle and within three months he'd set off to ride the length of Africa. This one-year trip turned into an eight-year epic across 55 countries.
20:00 at Squires Cafe Bar, Newthorpe Lane, LS25 5LX. Tickets £10 plus postage (also includes free camping) from leeds.mag-uk.org/
Friday 29th April - Sunday 1st May - Into the Valley (ITV) Rally
See Above. www.mapevents.co.uk
Friday 17th - Sunday 19th June - Farmyard Party (FYP) Rally
See Above. www.mapevents.co.uk
Friday 5th - Sunday 7th August - Yorkshire Pudding Rally (YPR)
See Above. www.mapevents.co.uk
See the events page for further details and more !!!
That's all for this month, hope to see you all soon.
Ride Safe .. Ride Free
Steve Travis
Chairman
Wakefield MAG
0772 078 4734
Wakefield MAG meet at the Thatched House, Stanley, Wakefield at 8:00pm every Tuesday. New (and Old) faces are always welcome.