October 2013
Dear CTC Member,
As the East Midlands representatives
on CTC Council, I try to provide a regular ‘Councillor’s Update’ to keep in
touch with all CTC members and volunteers in the region. The CTC has a broad
membership base and I appreciate your views and feedback as this helps shape
how the CTC develops.
I sent our last Update in May. 2013
has been very busy on the cycling front, I have been getting to grips with my
role as councilor at a time when the profile of cycling has exploded but also
at a challenging time for the CTC. I have also been trying to be more
consistent with my riding as well! I have been increasing the length of my
regular rides and have completed the Coast and Castles Challenge and I also did
The Way of the Roses with friends. Both superb and come highly recommended.
Next year I am signed up for the Deloitte Ride Across Britain so you see I have
some training to do! I also led a ride from Southwell in the summer, it was the
first I have led and I had a good number join me. It was a very hot day so we
were very ready for our refreshments at Hockerton Dairy.
Below is a summary of the various
activities I have been involved in.
CTC Council
Council has met four times in 2013,
the January meeting was at Excel in London and enabled us to spend a couple of
hours at the Bike Show afterwards. The business was mainly procedural, setting
up the key committees for the coming year, introducing new Councillors etc.
Highlight was the launch of Team CTC our new Women’s Racing Team who are now
raising the profile of women’s cycling. For more information on Team CTC,
please see www.ctc.org.uk/team-ctc
Our April Council received a visit
from Bernhard Ensink CEO of the European Cycling Federation and we discussed
how we can make the most of our links to this key supra-national body. There is
potential to influence EU policy on cycling, vehicle specifications etc as well
as setting up joint projects (like the current one on cycle logistics),
learning from how other EU countries get people cycling and also using ECF’s
understanding of cycle touring and international cycle routes.
We set in motion sub-groups concerned
with increasing membership, advancing our diversity and equal opportunity
commitments and improving CTC’s image and popularity.
The July meeting focused on preparing
for the Brand refresh and hopefully you all got involved in having your say on
the questionnaire. We also reviewed the progression of Dalby Forest, some of
you may know that CTC has a national
off-road centre of excellence in Dalby
Forest, near
Pickering in North Yorkshire. In partnership with
Pace, we offer
mountain bike skills development
courses and led rides, along with the
traditional
range of education courses and qualifications, a
store, bike
rental and bike servicing. Dalby is a
stunning location For more information
on CTC courses and the Dalby Bike Barn, please see http://www.dalbybikebarn.co.uk/
Last weekend was the October Council.
It was a challenging meeting as we were required to agree the budget which is
challenging in the context of changed funding arrangements and the need to grow
the membership. We had an excellent
presentation from the new membership manager Matt Malinder and David Dowling.
They have some really great ideas about what we should be doing to raise the
profile of the CTC and also to attract and retain our membership. Team CTC have
had a great season and we have really seen the girls raise the profile of CTC
nationally and in areas we are not traditionally well known in. So we have
agreed to continue to support the team subject to our co-sponsors remaining
committed. You can see the list of events on the CTC websites.
CTC AGM
This year’s AGM and Annual Prize
Giving Dinner was in Guisborough on the North Yorkshire Moors. After the formal
reporting and questions we had resolutions on subs (keeping them the same this
year), planning and road maintenance and revisions to the Highway Code. These
become policy commitments that CTC Council will be working to. In particular we
agreed a motion to encourage highway authorities to use highways maintenance
budgets and funding via the planning process to improve facilities for
cyclists.
This year’s innovation was a Saturday
morning discussion session with local members on topics of interest suggested
by the Member Group Steering Group. It worked well and encouraged more members
to come along and give their opinion.
We will repeat this next year in
Glasgow. On the Sunday, CTC Teeside members led us on a choice of great rides
to the coast or up onto the Moors
Cycling Policy
Our Strategy and Policy Committee
(one of the two sub-committees which reports to Council) has been investigating
how technology can help CTC to extend our influence and get more people
cycling. We are considering a number of CTC Smartphone apps, starting with
improvements to our pothole and road defect reporting app, Fill That Hole.
We have also had a small working with
a small group of Councillors to look at our image and our key messages. Our aim
is to build on the excellent work that’s taken place during the past 18 months
and increase brand awareness, while using this to extend our reach to other
cyclists, increase membership and further extend our influence nationally. On
the 6th November the Councillors will be looking at what this tells
us and considering what the next steps will be.
Road Justice
We recently launched our www.roadjustice.org.uk.
We saw a very proactive approach with members
delivering key messages to police commissioners across the country.
... and finally...
Don’t forget you can join almost
16,000 others and follow all CTC developments immediately as they happen by
following our twitter feed @CTC_Cyclists. You can also follow me on @lowe1_jaki to see my views and exploits
on cycling but you will also see what I say about my day job in human resources!
Want to ask me anything about CTC, whats in this message or what you would like to see more of - then contact me:
jaki.lowe@ctc.org.uk
@lowe1_jaki
07873335516
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