Dear Wakefield MAG Member,
Wishing you a Merry Christmas and 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) Quiz Nite Report
2) Remembrance Sunday Report
3) Christmas Meetings
4) Wakefield MAG Christmas Do
5) Post Christmas Auction
6) Wakefield MAG Annual General Meeting
7) 2016 Rally Dates
8) Regions to be given new powers to 'Transform Transport'
9) Always On Headlights
10) Forthcoming Events (for December and beyond)
Check out the event report Here
Check out the event report Here
There will be no branch meetings for two consecutive weeks over the Christmas period i.e. Wednesday 23rd December & Wednesday 30th December.
Meetings as normal this year up to and including Wednesday 16th December. Meetings in the new year will commence on Wednesday 6th January 2016, then every Wednesday thereafter.
Our Christmas Do is being held on Saturday 5th December. We are having a slight change this year and instead of the 'all you cat eat' Chinese Buffet, we are booked instead into the Smokehouse Real BBQ on Wood Street, Wakefield at 13:00. The table is booked for 18 (but they will be able to rustle up a few extra chairs if you are not pre-booked but fancy coming along on the day).
Following the lunchtime meal, we will head into town to sample many of the Merrie Cities fine hostelries and quaff several goblets of foaming ale !!. You can come for the meal, or meet us at one of the many pubs in town, 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.
Smokehouse Wakefield Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Smokehousewoodstreet/
Our 13th Post Christmas Auction will be held on Wednesday 27th January 2016, 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 2015 auction raised (with a little help from the raffle) £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 2016 !!. 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 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 !!!).
6) Wakefield MAG Annual General Meeting
The Wakefield & District Motorcycle Action Group Branch AGM will be held in the Grey Horse, on Wednesday 13th January 2016, 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 6th January 2016).
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 2016:
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) Regions to be given new powers to 'Transform Transport'
Government plans to give the regions new powers to 'transform transport in their areas' have taken a step forward recently with the publication of proposals in Parliament. Part of the government's 'drive to deliver economic growth across the country', the proposals would put regional transport bodies, like Transport for the North (TfN), on a statutory footing, as promised in summer 2015 Budget.
Currently, decision-making for strategic transport schemes is centralised at national level. However, the government says that greater local input is needed 'to drive transformational growth and rebalance the economy'. The legal powers and duties will allow groups to advise transport ministers on investment priorities in their own areas and on strategic transport schemes to boost growth. Statutory status is also intended to give regional transport bodies the permanence they need to plan for the long term.
Andrew Jones, transport minister, said: "Good transport doesn't just help people get around, it helps them get on. It has a fundamental role in driving economic growth, and this goes hand in hand with devolving power to those that know their economies and customers best. We know the north as a whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Putting bodies like Transport for the North on a statutory footing is a vital part of our plan to rebalance the economy, and will give greater emphasis to the ongoing work on options for rail and road improvements that will benefit passengers across the north. Legal status will ensure that TfN's impact and influence, and the transformational change that can result, is felt by customers for years to come."
See more at:
http://www.roadsafetygb.org.uk/news/4698.html#sthash.a7qqEmne.dpuf
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/regions-to-be-offered-legal-powers-to-transform-transport
The introduction of AOH (always on headlights) which applies to all new motorcycles imported into the UK from 1st January 2016 is a source of concern to MAG. MAG is concerned that this has been pushed through by EU bureaucrats with no evidence to prove that it will deliver enough benefit to justify the measure.
MAG recognises that the motorcycle industry enjoys advantage from a uniformity of production specification across the EU where many countries already require motorcyclists to use headlights in daytime. Notwithstanding this, MAG is fundamentally opposed to the endorsement of what it views as safety gimmicks which are being introduced on the back of a frivolous experimental sentiment. Such a measure implies that a motorcycle is not something which the average motorist should be expected to be able to identify easily.
MAG is pleased that UK law does not, however require riders to use daytime headlights as the option to fit a switch and exercise intelligent judgement remains open. The onus will, however lie with the rider to spend money to fit the switch while insurers will have to be informed of a change of specification from the original.
MAG President Ian Mutch said, "If a motorist cannot see a motorcycle and rider in perfect visibility without it being illuminated by blazing lights then a question about that driver's capabilities should be asked. Road safety is largely about attitude and caution not fashionable gimmicks whose benefit remains the subject of total speculation."
10) Forthcoming Events (for December and beyond)
Saturday 5th December - Wakefield MAG Christmas Do
See Above.
Wednesday 13th January 2016 - Wakefield MAG AGM
See Above.
Review of 2015, Officers Reports, Election of Branch Officers for 2016, plans for the forthcoming year & Presentation to our Branch Heroes of 2015. Current MAG Membership Card required to vote. 19:30 for a prompt 20:00 start in the Grey Horse, Kirkgate, Wakefield, WF1 4EJ.
Wednesday 27th January 2016 - Wakefield MAG 13th Post Christmas Auction
See Above.
Our 13th Post Christmas Auction will be held on Wednesday 27th January 2016, 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 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). Be there early, with viewing from 19:00 onwards, and the auction starting at 20:00 prompt (and don't forget to bring your unwanted Christmas pressies !!!).
See the events page for further details and more !!!
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.