From your Chairman
Introduction
Lockdown was imposed on March 23rd 2020 and all our Club activities ceased then. This did not mean that riding stopped. We were permitted to go out alone for daily exercise and I have seen many members out regularly in the lanes, including our most senior member - nonagerian Peter.
When restrictions were relaxed to permit 2 to ride together, many have arranged to meet up and ride in the 'local area'. Now that rides of up to 6 are permitted, Cycling UK has stated that Club group rides are again possible and Martin Staines has already published on the Calendar and led a couple of rides (thank you Martin).
However, the Club remains in a dormant state after this challenging year. It needs to be resuscitated as the regulations are relaxed but we can only do this with Members' active support (i.e YOU!). Our cycling touring club can only exist if it arranges regular rides and for that we'll need a greater number of us all to start to offer to lead rides, especially at the weekend.
If you are willing to lead a ride, contact our Rides Coordinator Rob Taylor
In normal times we would be required by Cycling UK to hold our AGM by October each year. A dispensation was given last year to delay AGMs until May 2021. Since we still cannot meet yet, Cycling UK recommended that AGMs are held virtually by Zoom or equivalent. This was discussed by your committee but received a negative reaction as people are frustrated with the time needed for transacting business this way. Hence we have proposed the following way ahead:
(i) A virtual Zoom AGM on Thursday 29th April at 7:30pm. This will last a maximum of 35 minutes as capped by Zoom and transact the absolute minimum agenda (see below) necessary to satisfy Cycling UK. This means election of Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer, Auditor and Rides Coordinator only, with strict adherence to time and no opportunity for discussion.
(ii) An Extraordinary Meeting to be called when numbers are permitted to meet together in numbers inside, when a full agenda can be transacted including election of other posts and a focus on discussions of how to jump start all our Club activities.
Agenda for AGM
1 Election of Chairman (John Bennett willing to continue)
2 Election of Secretary (Steve Chiverton willing to continue)
3 Election of Treasurer (James Hoare willing to continue for now)
4 Election of Auditor (Glynis Jackaway willing to continue)
5 Election of Rides Coordinator (Rob Taylor willing to continue)
6 Statement of Accounts
Access details for the AGM on Zoom
Topic: Steve Chiverton's Zoom Meeting
Time: Apr 29, 2021 07:30 PM London
Meeting ID: 769 0535 9727
Passcode: h6bZJe
Instructions for joining:
1. Find Zoom website.
2. Click "Join a Meeting"
3. Enter Meeting ID when prompted (leave no spaces between digits)
4. Enter Passcode when prompted.
5. You will then need to wait to be admitted to the meeting by the Host. Ensure your phone/computer audio and video are on.
PLEASE SUPPORT YOUR CLUB!
John Bennett
Chair Worcester & Malvern CTC
Time To Act On Active Travel
The Worcestershire Active Travel Partnership was formed less than three months ago. Its primary purpose is to highlight the benefits of encouraging an increase in walking and cycling in the County and specifically for more of the 56% of our car journeys that are under 5 miles.
With the support of over 40 local cycling (including W&M CTC), walking and environmental groups, (who collectively represent over 30,000 Worcestershire residents), the Partnership wants to encourage the County Council with its Highways, Public Health, Environmental and Economic responsibilities to give a higher priority to encouraging Active Travel in its next four-year term.
The Partnership is therefore inviting all 251 candidates standing for election to the County Council on 6 May to pledge, if elected, to increase the priority given to making it easier and safer to walk or cycle in the area they hope to represent, but also across the County. The list of candidates was only formally announced on 9 April, but already over 80 candidates from across the political spectrum have responded to indicate their support.
Such a positive response is reflective of the increased levels of public support for active travel. In a recent national YouGov poll 77% of those surveyed supported measures to encourage cycling and walking in their local areas. Of these 80% wanted UK streets redesigned to better protect pedestrians and cyclists from motorists.
To see which candidates in your local area have signed up to ‘Act on Active Travel’ and what they intend to do if elected all responses have been posted on the Worcestershire Active Travel website.
Whoever you vote for or gets elected its equally important that we all individually consider leaving the car at home and using ‘leg power’ rather than ‘horse power’ for more of our shorter journeys. By doing so you’ll be helping yourself, your community and the planet.
