Wakefield MAG December 2013 Newsletter

Dear Wakefield MAG member,

Welcome to the Wakefield MAG e-newsletter. If you can't attend our Wednesday meetings regularly, it's the next best thing to keep you up to date with what we are up to.

CONTENTS

1) Wakefield MAG Biker Quiz Nite Report
2) Remembrance Sunday Report
3) VJMC Show Charity Presentation Evening Report
4) Wakefield MAG Christmas Do
5) Wakefield MAG Annual General Meeting
6) Post Christmas Auction
7) 2014 Rally Dates
8) Christmas Meetings
9) 2014 MAG Annual General Conference in Blackpool
10) MAG's new Director of Communications and Public Affairs
11) Christmas Presents
12) Forthcoming Events (for December and beyond)

1) Wakefield MAG Biker Quiz Nite Report

Check out the event report Here

2) Remembrance Sunday Report

Check out the event report Here

3) VJMC Show Charity Presentation Evening Report

Check out the event report Here

4) Wakefield MAG Christmas Do

Our Christmas Do is being held on Saturday 7th December and will follow our now tried and tested formula (hey, if it's not broke, don't fix it !!!). We will meet at the Chinese Buffet on Trinity Walk at 13:00 for a lunchtime 'all you can eat buffet', at the bargain price of £6.99 (same price as last year). Fifteen places have been reserved but they will be able to fit more of us in for anyone who wants to turn up on the day.

Following the lunchtime buffet, we will head into town to sample many of the Merrie Cities fine hostelries and quaff goblets of foaming ale !!. You can come for the meal, or meet us at one of the many pubs on Westgate, or do both ... the choice is yours.

If last years Christmas do is any indication, we are in for a jolly good time. Hope to see you there. Christmas hats and reindeer antlers strictly optional.

5) Wakefield MAG Annual General Meeting

The 12th Wakefield & District Motorcycle Action Group Branch AGM will be held in the Grey Horse, on Wednesday 15th January 2014, 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. 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 !!!

In order to save costs (given the huge hike in postal charges), the Annual Wakefield MAG mailshot will be emailed to all eligible Members, i.e. current or recently expired MAG members with a WF postcode, to formally place notice for the meeting. Those members for whom we don't have valid email addresses, will be posted the letter. The meeting is also advertised in the events section on the main MAG website (http://www.mag-uk.org), on our own website, and in the latest edition of The Road magazine. If anyone has a preference for a mailed copy of the AGM mailshot, instead of an email, please let me know.

Last years AGM minutes are available Here.

N.B. Motions for the AGM should be submitted the week before the AGM (Wednesday 8th January 2014).

6) Post Christmas Auction

Our 10th Post Christmas Auction will be held on Wednesday 5th February 2014, at 20:00, at the Grey Horse, Kirkgate, and if previous years events are anything to go by, an event not to be missed. The idea is that you bring along all your unwanted Christmas presents, together with other stuff you no longer want, or have the room for, donate them to the branch, and we auction them off to the highest bidder.

The 2013 auction raised (with a little rounding up from branch funds) £450. This allowed us to split the proceeds nicely into 1/3's, with 2/3 (£300) being donated to the MAG Fighting Fund, with the remaining 1/3 (£150) charity donation being split between the following 3 worthy causes:

That was pretty staggering, especially as the bidding on a lot of items started at 50p. Of course, we want to try to beat that for 2014, especially given this is the 10th consecutive year we will have held the auction. We know times are hard at the moment, but that's all the more reason to come down to the auction, grab a top bargain, and save yourselves considerable amounts of money. We are already accumulating auction items and we still have over 2 months to collect even more !!!!.

The auctions are always hugely entertaining and there are always some real quality items donated, and hence, some real bargains to be had.

Proceeds from the auction will again be split (2/3 to the MAG Fighting Fund, 1/3 to a charitable cause(s).

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 !!!).

7) 2014 Rally Dates

As some of you will need to book holiday, or whatever it is you need to do to make time for the best bike only rallies in the UK, here are the dates of the main Yorkshire MAG events for 2014:

As per previous years, we will be getting our branch ticket allocation for sale at our meetings around February / March time. Remember, sale or return tickets are now on offer to MAG branches nationally, not just those in Yorkshire. This means that the Yorkshire Pudding Rally will sell out even quicker than in other years. We say it every year, but, if you want tickets to this most excellent rally, get them sooner rather than later as they WILL sell out !!!

We'll let you know when we get our tickets, and in the meantime, make a note of the above dates in your diaries.

8) Christmas Meetings

There will be no branch meetings for two consecutive weeks over the Christmas period i.e. Wednesday 25th December (Christmas Day) & Wednesday 1st January (New Years Day).

Meetings as normal this year up to and including Wednesday 18th December. Meetings in the new year will commence on Wednesday 8th January 2014, then every Wednesday thereafter.

9) 2014 MAG Annual General Conference in Blackpool

As covered in last months newsletter, the 2014 MAG AGC will be held 'Oop North' & hosted by North West MAG, in Blackpool, on Saturday 12th April. Wakefield MAG have decided to make a weekend of it and are booking a Biker Friendly B&B (with secure bike parking) in Blackpool on Friday 11th & Saturday 12th April. We will arrive on the Friday (at whatever time is convenient for you and your circumstances), meet up and sample some of Blackpool's best / worst hostelries, then settle down in our B&B, arise fully refreshed for a full English breakfast, onto the AGC, then repeat the above on the Saturday evening, and returning on the Sunday. Quite a few of us are planning to attend and make a weekend of it and everyone is welcome to join us, the more the merrier - let's try to fill the B&B !!! If you are interested in attending all weekend, let me know and we'll book you in (we are planning to make the booking soon, so we can secure the best 'early booking' deal).

10) MAG's new Director of Communications and Public Affairs

Former MP Lembit Öpik is renowned for his 'full-on' approach to all he does. Now he's channelling his irrepressible drive to protect and promote two core passions: Liberty and Motorcycling. Lembit joins MAG's newly streamlined team of professionals. Their mission is to take a leading role to stand up to threats to riders' rights and expand the use of motorcycles and scooters in the UK.

Lembit's new role as Director of Communications and Public Affairs for the Motorcycle Action Group (MAG) was announced at the National Motorcycle Show in the NEC. This puts him at the heart of UK motorcycling and the new team at the core of MAG's Campaigning and Lobbying activities. "People know me for a lot of things! But few of them know biking's been an enduring part of my life. I rebuilt my Yamaha YB100 in 1982, and have ridden two wheels ever since. Currently I've got a Suzuki GS1000, and am as passionate as ever - and that's why taking on this new role feels like coming home."

Lembit isn't tackling the communications and public affairs challenge alone. He's working with biking campaigns guru, Dr Leon Mannings, who's got an exceptional pedigree. Lembit says of Leon "if Zen and the art of Motorcycle Maintenance came to life, it would be Leon. He's a combination of perspective and limitless resilience, and he has a tremendous record of winning for powered two wheeler riders."

Lembit and Leon have clear ambitions for MAG. Lembit says "as an MP, I chaired the All Party Parliamentary Group for Motorcycling. Back then, the Department of Transport saw bikers more as a hassle than an answer to congestion and pollution problems. Now, the mood at the Ministry is changing and we've got a rising number of great allies in Government. Steve Baker MP is an outstanding Chair of the All-Party Group. I get on well with Transport Minister Robert Goodwill MP and know he will engage on bike policy." Leon adds "with a newly sharpened approach, a better relationship between bureaucrats and bikers is evolving. It's about to become even more productive. I've worked and won on issues before, and we now have better prospects than ever for really moving the positive role of motorcycling further up policy agendas - at Local and Central Government levels."

MAG Chair, John Mitchell, underlines MAG's determination to boost the strength and penetration of its voice for bikers. "We've always been at the forefront of battles over issues for bikers since we formed to fight the authoritarian helmet law in 1973. Other threats have come our way, most involving the replacement of common sense with patronising over-regulation. Lembit and Leon are a tremendous new force in the fight-back for freedom: the Institute for Economic Affairs even identified Lembit as the most 'libertarian' MP in the country, and he really does 'walk the freedom talk' in word and deed. Leon has an excellent mental map of the policy jungle, and has a key role in our awesome team. Changing the regulatory tide is bigger than just biking - it's actually about liberty. With Leon's insight, clarity and stamina, real progress looks likely. And, if one person combines political focus with the passion needed to fully reflect MAG's determination to defend the heart and soul of biking - it's Lembit Öpik."

11) Christmas Presents

Stuck for Christmas Present ideas this year ? Be stuck no more as MAG UK / Wakefield MAG products make mighty fine Christmas presents !!!

Prices start at a mere £1, which will buy a MAG National Raffle ticket to win a brand new AJP 125cc bike, all the gear for the rider, plus a few spares to keep the bike running and looking good. Moving up the price bracket are Wakefield MAG stickers and patches (at £2 & £3.50 respectively), other Wakefield MAG products including a bike flag/pennant (at £15), signed books by MAG President Ian Mutch (Low Rider for £5 & Motorcycles Forever for £12.99) up to the ultimate Christmas present for any biker - a years membership of MAG (at £25) !!!

If you want any of the above, please let me know. Delivery guaranteed in time for Christmas and Aunty Ethel will just love that Wakefield MAG branded product, which will go down a storm at the Darby and Joan Club !!!

12) Forthcoming Events (for December and beyond)

Saturday 7th December - Wakefield MAG 2013 Christmas Do

See Above.

Wednesday 11th December - Leeds MAG Christmas Toy Run to Lineham Farm, Eccup, Leeds

Meet from 6pm at Cardigan Fields, Kirkstall Road, Leeds LS4 2DG for a 6.30pm departure to ride to Lineham Farm, Swan Lane, Leeds LS16 8AZ arriving at 7pm. Please assemble in the leisure complex car park behind McDonalds. Please bring a wrapped toy maked boy or girl to a value of £5. Due to the cost of replacements, battery powered toy are discouraged. All trikes and 2 wheelers welcome, (and cars if the weather is poor).

Wednesday 15th January 2014 - Wakefield MAG AGM

See Above.

Wednesday 5th February 2014 - Wakefield MAG 10th Post Christmas Auction

See Above.

Other Forthcoming Events in early 2014 (Finer Details TBA):

And many many more .... watch this space for details !!!!

That's all for this month, have a great Christmas, hope Santa brings you lots of biking goodies, and I hope to see you all soon.

Ride Safe .. Ride Free
Steve Travis
Chairman
Wakefield MAG
0772 078 4734

Wakefield MAG meet at the Grey Horse, Kirkgate, Wakefield at 8:30pm every Wednesday. New (and Old) faces are always welcome.