Councillor's Viewpoint October 2012

www.ctceastmidlands.co.uk

Charity

The merger of the "Club" and the "Trust" into a single charity has now taken place and will be effective for the current financial year. It is already helping us get a clearer perspective when reviewing our finances.

A formal application has now been submitted to HMRC to allow the CTC to take advantage of Gift Aid. The bureaucratic machine grinds slowly so we do not have a date for when this will be available.

One immediate benefit of being a combined charity is that our investments are no longer subject to capital gains so that our investment portfolio is being rationalised without the need for concern about tax liabilities.

Web site

The new website was originally "set live" with a "beta" address as there was still considerable work to be undertaken to ensure that it all worked smoothly. Most of this work is now complete and the site will be migrating to the original www.ctc.org.uk shortly.

Oversight of the website has now been formally passed to the Editorial Committee, that also monitors "Cycle" magazine.

CTC Volunteer of the Year Awards 2012

This competition recognises the often unsung heroes of cycling - the volunteers  who keep cycling alive at a local and regional level. The CTC Voluntary Achievement Awards are for the people and groups throughout the UK and Ireland who deserve the most recognition for their achievements as volunteers.

Any member can nominate any CTC member or any CTC affiliated group. Awards will be presented at the CTC Annual Dinner in May, with national winners and recognition of the best regional candidates too. So this is the chance to recognise your local hero? The super organiser who puts on the best events in the region? The tireless group secretary? Campaigners who fought off a dangerous road scheme?

More details can be found at http://beta.ctc.org.uk/about-ctc/history/volunteer-and-voluntary-group-of-year-winners.

Strategy

Considerable work had been put into writing a new strategy. There may be some further refinements but the basic outline that Council intends adopting appears below.

CTC Strategy 2013-20

TheShort Version

This strategy aims to give us more members, more influence and more impact. It builds on what is special about us, and sets out four themes that we will use as the basis of our decisions and targets for the coming years:

1. We protect cyclists
2. We inspire people to cycle
3. We promote cycling
4. We operate a highly effective organisation

As the national cycling charity we will reach over 100,000 members and serve the interests of cycling and cyclists throughout the four nations of the UK. We will have integrated teams of staff and volunteers throughout the UK carrying out campaigning, outreach work, training and education and serving members. We will be widely regarded as the leading organisation bringing people to cycling and removing barriers to diverse groups of potential cyclists. For both on-road and off-road cyclists we will be the natural home. We will be effective influencers of policy at national and local government levels. We will be a highly regarded employer, with a motivated and high performing team of staff and volunteers. And having championed cycling and cyclists for 134 years, we will be financially sustainable and secure.

For each of the four themes we have set targets for what we’ll achieve over the next three years:

1 We protect cyclists

Throughout its history, CTC has supported cyclists facing difficulties. We will maintain and build on this heritage by acting to protect the interests of cyclists (and potential cyclists) individually and collectively. As the national cycling charity CTC will be the most effective champion for the UK’s cyclists.

• We will engage substantially more people in advocacy for cycling
• We will provide effective leadership in protecting the interests of off-road cyclists
• We will provide the best possible support for individual cyclists in difficulties

2 We inspire people to cycle

We have a proud tradition of community engagement and a network of cycling companionship throughout the UK. We will encourage more people to participate in cycling and remove the barriers they may face, and we will raise our own profile as their source of inspiration.

• We will inspire more people to participate in cycling
• We will remove barriers to more diverse participation in cycling
• We will help other people to make cycling more accessible
• We will change the way that CTC is viewed

3 We promote cycling

We are passionate about the positive difference cycling makes to individuals, communities, our nations and the environment. We will promote a compelling vision of cycling for the future and we will grow as cycling grows.

• We will provide “thought leadership” in cycling policy
• We will substantially increase membership    -->
• We will promote cycling within communities

4 We will operate a highly effective organisation

As the national cycling charity we will become a genuinely nationwide organisation, operating across the four nations of the UK with a culture of excellence and a track record of delivery. We will increase our resources in order to reach more people.

• We will become a genuinely nationwide organisation
• We will embed effective planning and performance throughout the organisation
• We will become an outstanding employer
• We will ensure financial sustainability

Each of these four themes extends across CTC, so that teams will need to work across departmental lines and all staff and volunteers will have a role to play in each area of the strategy.

New Councillor

As I reach the end of my 3 year term at the end of this year, I shall be retiring and am delighted that Jaki Lowe has volunteered to take on the role. For the last year there has only been one lady on Council and with the addition of Jaki, plus Janet Gregory, this will increase to 3. Still a long way short of the 50% that would be desirable.

I hope that Jackie finds her term as a CTC Councillor both enjoyable and satisfying.