Category Archives: Committee meetings

Minuites and reports from the monthly Committee meetings

Minutes & Officer’s Reports January 2025 EWCC Committee Mtg

Date: 13th January 2025, 7.30 p.m.

Venue: First Floor, Cuckoo Tap Room, Paris Street, Exeter, EX1 2JB

Present: Ian Hennessey (IH), Andy Webb (AW), Pete Bishop (PB), Rob Masterson (RM) Jon Hare (JH), James Maddison (JM), Finlay Webb (FW), Mike Rose (MR), Greg Rorke (GR) Diogo Pacheco (DP), Didier Lebatteux (DL), Nick Helsing (NH)

  1. Apologies rec’d:
    Nik Rorke,
  2. Approval of Previous Minutes:
    Minutes were approved
  3. 3. Matters arising from Previous Minutes:
    Actions outstanding from the previous minutes –
    JH to arrange purchase of 3 further empty hosepipe reels for Escot CX – JH says plenty of
    time, he will complete this action before the 2025 CX season – action to be carried forward to August meeting.
    PB to compose communication with SWCX –
    see under ‘British Cycling’ in these minutes.
    JH to research and report back on the possibility of EWCC running an off-road sportive
    of some kind.
    Jon has arranged meeting with EWCC member Mark Szender, who has had previous involvement with ‘Sportiva’, to explore options etc
    AW to contact Will Tidball re: guest speaking at Awards Night
    – AW said he had been in contact with Will Tidball and would confirm that the proposed date of the 22nd Feb would be convenient for Will.
    Club Zettle machines – Action PB: produce booking in mechanism/forms – action complete. Note: we are still missing one Zettle.
    Tom Hawkins Memorial RR 11th May – Actions: PB to book Uffculme Community Hall as race HQ – action complete; the Pavilion Hall there has been booked and PB was able to confirm that car parking will be available.

 


  

  1. Correspondence:
    Club secretary (PB) read two emails received in the info at exeterwheelers.co.uk inbox:

    from Xingsan we had an enquiry regarding which of the EWCC Rides would best suit him. Action: RM to reply, suggesting the Saturday Social.
    From Chantelle Robertson we received an enquiry regarding her 9 year old son and whether the Exeter Wheelers Academy would be suitable for him. Action: PB to forward email to DP and Craig Lawson. Action: DP and CL to respond accordingly to the enquiry.
  2. Officer’s Reports (full reports can be found after the Minutes of each meeting)

5.1 Membership – RM

(Cut off for information: 16:15 on Saturday 11th January 2025).

 

Senior Members 127 (119 male, 8 female)

Family Members (11 memberships) 31 (21 male, 10 female)

Second Claim Members 3

Life / Honorary / Non-paying 14 (11 male, 3 female)

Juniors 2

TOTAL MEMBERS 177 (156 male, 21 female)

 

There were four applications for new membership, and the committee agreed to accept these new members:

  • David Binding, Exton
  • Philip Harris, Cranbrook
  • Philip Robertson, Exeter
  • Kyle McCormick, Topsham

 

  1. Discontinued. Tristan Kelsall-Spurr – Tristan has decided to race with friends of his at Okehampton CC, the committee wish him all the best.

———————-Report ends——————–

RM reported that he had been busy processing membership subscription renewals and a some new applications for membership.
99 members have renewed their membership, 82 are outstanding. RM is chasing those outstanding, and it was agreed the cut-off point would be end of February, after which those outstanding would be notified they were no longer members of the club.
The committee thanked RM for taking on the role of Membership Secretary following Sandy Storrie’s departures

 



5.2 Treasurer – Report from CS received:

Bank Balances

Current – £1,898.61

Saving – £18,337.40

PayPal – £822.66

Total – £21,058.67

 

December Income

Membership – £685.00

Interest – £28.17

Total Income – £713.17

 

December Expenses

Storage – £100.00

CTT Membership – £60.00

Membership fee’s – £28.82

Bank Fee’s – £5.00

Total Expenses – £193.82

———————-Report ends——————–

The committee agreed that the club’s finances were in a healthy state.

 

5.3 British Cycling – NH’s report is as follows:

Tom Hawkins Road Race – This is scheduled for Sunday 11th May.  It will be a exactly the same format as previous years (2/3/4 cat event, around 100km, Nicolas Hayne course, HQ in Uffculme ). Pete Bishop is our Organiser. We will get this event registered in the next week.

Westpoint Circuit Races – We have committed to two events, probably on a Thursday evening.  Westpoint have confirmed an evening hire cost of £462 (inc. vat) but they have limited availability due to weekend events.  The organisers of these events quite often need the Thursday to start setting up.  Tuesday or Wednesday evenings may work better but we are trying to coordinate with the Velopark events.  We had agreed dates with Andy Parker of 26th June and 3rd July 2025. I’m waiting to hear from Andy about alternatives.  The dates Westpoint have are; Tue 17th June, Thurs 19th June, Tue 10th June, Tue 22nd July, Thurs 31st July, & anytime after Wed 9th August.

Dawlish National Series Circuit Race – This is on Friday 6th July.  If I don’t hear from him by the end of this week I’ll contact Alan Jones, who is the BC protagonist for this.  I’m not optimistic that we will be able to run a full suite of lower category racing on the circuit but we can only try.  Jon Hare is on call to hot foot it to the Kenn Arms when we get notification of a meeting!

BC Affiliation – This has been completed for 2025.

Documents for Review attached

Membership benefits by age category for club members who race 2024

Volunteer staff for British Cycling (BC) events 2022

I think the second doc. Is still valid even though it is 2022!

———————-Report ends——————–

Action point: NH and PB to convene Wednesday afternoon 15th January to register the Tom Hawkins Memorial Road Race on BC website.

Action Point: NH to contact Alan Jones re: Dawlish Circuit Race(s) for confirmation of event and what support races might be possible.

NH and JH said that there will be a convening of the SWRRWG via group video/phone on evening of Thursday16th , which JH would join in order to get dates of our Westpoints finalised. Action point: JH to join meeting and report results

Action point: PB to put the two documents from NH (Membership Benefits and Volunteer Staff) on EWCC website and draw to attention of members.

PB reported that JH would be attending the SWCX awards ceremony, where he intended discussing SWCX with fellow SWCX race organisers in order to better inform our eventual communication with SWCX committee regarding what we perceive as shortcomings in transparency, communication etc.

5.4 Cycling Time Trials – report from MR –

Unfortunately, our New Year’s 10 had to be cancelled due to adverse weather conditions. Thanks for everybody who had volunteered to help.

Just a thought: would it be more beneficial instead of having a New Years 10 a reliability time trial mid-February hopefully avoiding the adverse weather rider numbers could be more advantageous?

CTTs website for events is still not up and running hopefully it will be available in the coming months.

Things to complete check out the Pete’s club course in the coming weeks.

———————-Report ends——————–

The committee discussed the possibility or the New Year Ten to be replaced by a ‘Reliability Trial’ in February, but felt it would be best to stick with the Ten. It was felt, however, that it would be a good idea to ask members/local riders for indications of intention to ride the event so we could better gauge likely numbers. It was also felt that it would be a good plan to advertise and supply hot soup and bread rolls at the next New Year Ten.

MR said that there would be a planning meeting of East Devon clubs for the Evening Ten Series in early February.

Action point MR – Check out Pete’s club course (Pocombe>Tedburn>Pocombe)
Action point MR – arrange Evening Ten Series planning meeting.

5.5 Audax/Road Records Association – IH reported that there was a steady flow of entries for the club’s various Audax events.

5.6 Go-Ride – DP said that there was nothing to report  – he has only recently taken on the role.

5.7 Rides – JH

Rides info has been thin on the ground again this month with the exception of our superb Mince Pie Run!

We had 11 turn up to DCC Car Park, 13 riders at the cafe as 2 joined later. This was a feat in itself as the morning started with freezing rain! After all getting a good dousing it brightened up after an hour or so so we had started to dry out by the time we got to Bluebell Cafe. A lovely welcome of coffee and mince pies greeted us.

A shame we didn’t have our usual numbers but I was surprised to see anyone at all to be honest!

The little I have heard from other rides has all been positive. One or 2 new faces and all rides have a small, regular following.

———————-Report ends——————–

 

  1. A.O.B –

The forthcoming awards night: PB reported that he had visited the Cowick Barton Inn in Cowick Lane and spoken with the manager, and that for a cost of £150 room hire and a charge of £15 per head he could supply a self-serve option of four ‘one-pot’ meals, being two x meat-based, one vegan and one fish-based. Maximum capacity 50 individuals. There can also be display screen(s) for showing e.g. rolling display of EWCC images as per last year. PB said that at present the Cowick Barton is available 22nd February and GR said all good for trophy engraving for/by that date. AW said he had spoken with Will Tidball and that the 22nd seemed okay but he would confirm by end of week. The committee agreed that the cost to members to be £10 adults £5 children. Action point: AW to contact Will Tidball to get confirmation.

The committee then discussed a proposal from JH regarding entry fees for competitive events, and whether the club could follow Wheal Velocity’s lead and offer our members free entry to all EWCC-organised events. There then followed a lively discussion, where constraints were looked at, and what other means might be explored for using club funds to benfit our members/foster members, but it was eventually agreed that free entry for members to EWCC events could be trialled for a period, and it was agreed that this period would be the duration of this year 2025. Action point: PB to get the word out to members.

The meeting ended with the committee expressing their thanks to member Harry Shadbolt for his donation of a set of training rollers to the club. Harry is stepping back from racing to allow himself time for family activities and responsibilities, in addition to the aftermath of a shoulder injury.

  1. Date, Time and Place of next meeting: Monday 10th February 2025, 7.30 p.m. at The Cuckoo Bar.

Minutes & Officer’s Reports December 2024 EWCC Committee Mtg

Minutes from Exeter Wheelers Committee Meeting

Date: 9th December 2024, 7.30 p.m.

Venue: First Floor, Cuckoo Tap Room, Paris Street, Exeter, EX1 2JB

Present: Ian Hennessey (IH), Andy Webb (AW), Pete Bishop (PB), Rob Masterson (RM) Jon Hare (JH), James Maddison (JM), Finlay Webb (FW) and Mike Rose (MR)

  1. Apologies rec’d:
    Greg Rorke, Nik Rorke, James Atkinson, Diogo Pacheco, Didier Lebatteux. Nick Helsing, Sandy Storrie
  2. Approval of Previous Minutes:
    Minutes were approved
  3. 3. Matters arising from Previous Minutes:
    Actions outstanding from the previous minutes –
    JH to arrange purchase of 3 further empty hosepipe reels for Escot CX
       PB to compose communication with SWCX –
    see under ‘British Cycling’ in these minutes.
       JH to research and report back on the possibility of EWCC running an off-road sportive
       of some kind.
       AW to contact Will Tidball re: guest speaking at Awards Night
      
  4. Correspondence:
    Club secretary (PB) read an email received from a Lee Hayes to the club in which he asks advice on best routes through East Devon for a proposed charity ride. IH said that Mr Hayes’ best bet would be to contact CTC/Cycling UK and in particular Graham Brodie. Action: PB to reply to the email, suggesting CTC/Cycling UK, and giving Mr Hayes Graham Brodie’s contact details.

Other correspondence was email from Ron Clint, the President of Sid Valley CC, informing us of the time, date and location of long-time EWCC member Chris Burton’s funeral – 10am, 18th December at East Devon Crematorium.

We also received the Winter Newsletter from the Road Records Association.

  1. Officer’s Reports (full reports can be found after the Minutes of each meeting)

5.1 Membership – We are currently in a period of transition as SS steps down and RM takes over. RM reported that he and SS are meeting up Friday 13th of December to effect handover.

5.2 Treasurer – Report from CS received, our bank balance is healthy, though JH said that as yet he had been unable to pay our rider levies to BC yet due to the technical issue with us renewing our membership.

5.3 British Cycling – NH did not have anything to report aside from two pieces of correspondence. The first related to a proposal for a new/expanded cycling facility at the Laurence Weston BMX track just off Junction 18 of the M5. This is 1hr 20 minutes away, so a little further than Ilton but something we should support. NH also reported that the Dawlish National Circuit Race had been confirmed for Friday evening 26th of July. It had been mentioned previously that there would be local races (subject to organisation by local clubs) as part of the weekend. NH said he would seek further information from Alan Jones, the SW BC Commissaire leading this as his latest email made no mention of this.

PB reported that SW BC/BC have given us the dates of 11th May 2025 for the Tom Hawkiins, and the last Thursday in June (26th) and the first Thursday in July (3rd) for our Westpoints. We have also been offered the 31st if July for a Westpoint but do not wish to take it up.

Race organiser for the Tom Hawkins to be PB, who expressed the need for him to be given lots of help as it was his first time as a road race organiser. He said he had already been in touch with previous organiser Joe Godwin regarding running the event.

Subject of the Zettle terminals was raised. PB confirmed he has them both in his possession. It was decided that an official booking in & booking out mechanism/forms be instituted. Action PB: produce booking in mechanism/forms.

JH reported that there had been a useful meeting of Escot volunteers last month. It was felt by AW and PB that our request for greater transparency of operation by SWCX could take place within the framework of the SWCX awards night, or if not then subsequent to that. It was recognised that it was good to have SWCX organising the league, but we feel that we would still like to raise the governance consideration of poor transparency.

Actions: PB to book Uffculme Community Hall as race HQ for Tom Hawkins

5.4 Cycling Time Trials – MR said it was good that we would be having an indoor HQ for the New Year Ten on 5th January. He went on to say that it was vital that riders arriving by car for the event park in the public car park and not in the residents’ car park any of the resident’s spaces out in the road.

5.5 Audax/Road Records Association – IH reported that nothing happening hence no report from him although he did inform us that long-time organiser of Audaxes Sarah Britton was stepping down from such activities at the end of 2025, but that Antonia Netherton/Weekes would be shadowing Sarah with a view to taking the role on.

5.6 Go-Ride – No report, DP absent.

5.7 Rides – report submitted by JH, and the Mince Pie run would be 22nd of December with the route available on the club website.

  1. A.O.B – This centred on the forthcoming awards night. A couple of further possibilities had been identified since last meeting, these being The Topsham Brewery in the Canal Basin, and St Thomas Social Club. We might also consider an alternative to a buffet if we choose the Cowick Barton. PB brought it to committee’s attention the need to make sure our timings allow sufficient time for Rorke to get the various trophies engraved. It is hoped to hold the Awards Night in February. If Will Tidball not available other possibilities were discussed including ex-Wheeler and National Hill Climb Champion Andrew Feather – Action AW – contact Will Tidball to see if might be happy to attend and speak. PB to contact Nik and Greg Rorke re: lead time on trophy organisation. PB to investigate various venue and menu options and report back.
  2. Date, Time and Place of next meeting: Monday 13th January 2025, 7.30 p.m. at The Cuckoo Bar.

 

 

Officer’s Reports in Full:

Treasurer (Chris Shakya):

Novembers Treasurer’s report as follows 

 

Bank Balances 

Current – £2,063.61

Saving – £18,309.23

PayPal – £166.48

Total – £20,539.32

 

November Income

Escot – £2,451.48

Memberships – £120.00

Bampton Breakfast – £64.83

Interest – £29.39

Total Income – £2,665.70

 

November Expenses 

Escot – £1,397.69

Storage – £100.00

Race Team – £33.00

Zettle Card Reader – £18.00

Membership fee’s – £5.28

Bank Fee – £5.00

Total Expenses – £1,558.97

 

Cycling Time Trials report (Mike Rose) 

Our New Year fancy dress (if applicable) is on the Honiton club course on January 5th first rider off at 10:00am. Entry £5:00 prizes for best fancy dress. 

The HQ will be in the warmth this time as we have hired EDCC community centre at Dunnings Court Honiton. Refreshments facilities will be available here. The community centre is located at the bottom of the town turn left at the traffic lights (Cullompton Road) and then turn right into the large car park which is free on Sundays. The centre is situated on left as you come into the car park. Please note no parking down by the community centre as this is for residents only. I will source the post code and directions for Pete to paste on Facebook later. As usual we will require helpers including help with the refreshments at the hall.

 At the recent SWCTT meeting we will require a risk assessment for Pete’s new course just outside Exeter.  

The SWCTT committee is asking CCTT if they can become a working group instead of a committee due to lack of interest in participation awaiting response.  

January we will have to review the dates and participation of clubs organising the club tens.  

 

Rides Report (Jon Hare)

Rides Report is not much! But all positive that I’ve heard. A quiet time of year but all groups organising themselves, a lot of it via EWCC WhatsApp which is a great tool.

Importantly though – we have our Mince Pie Ride booked for Sunday 22nd! It would be great to have a few groups similar to the Centenary ride going at different paces. There will definitely be a steady social group however, as I intend to be there! I have booked the Bluebell Cafe, Willand for 10:30am ish but will be updating with time and numbers before we leave County Hall, plenty of time to get there! £4.50 for 2 mince pies and tea or coffee. BYO hip flask of Christmas cheer! If we can spread the word and get a really good turnout it will be a lovely festive event and a great chance to catch up with Club mates.

Minutes & Officer Reports November 2024 EWCC Committee Mtg

DRAFT Minutes and Officer Reports from Exeter Wheelers Committee Meeting

Date: 11th November 2024, 7.30 p.m.

Venue: First Floor, Cuckoo Tap Room, Paris Street, Exeter, EX1 2JB

Present: Ian Hennessey (IH), Andy Webb (AW), Pete Bishop (PB), Jon Hare (JH), Nick Helsing (NH), James Maddison (JM), Diogo Pacheco (DP), Finlay Webb (FW) and Didier Lebatteux (DL)

  1. Apologies rec’d:
    Greg Rorke (GR), Nik Rorke (NR, Mike Rose (MR), Rob Masterson (RM), James Atkinson (JA), Sandy Storrie (SS)
  2. Approval of Previous Minutes:
    Minutes were approved
  3. 3. Matters arising from Previous Minutes:
    None
  4. Correspondence:
    Club secretary (PB) read an email received from Lauren Bos, studying at Exeter University, asking us if, as a club, we would consider being involved in a no-obligation study that is gathering data on a local charity sector refurbished cycles scheme, in this case Ride On. The committee agreed that they would be happy with this, adding that an club member and current EWCC Development Officer Matt Atkinson was a trustee of Ride On. Action: PB to reply to Lauren’s email, expressing our willingness to be involved, and in addition to supply her with Mr Atkinson’s email address.
  5. Officer’s Reports (full reports can be found after the Minutes of each meeting)

5.1 Membership – We are currently in a period of transition as SS steps down and RM takes over. PB reported that RM and SS are meeting up in December to effect handover.

5.2 Treasurer – Report from CS received, which included some figures from Escot, but JH pointed out that this was very much an interim report – there would be further income and expenditure figures from the event incoming over the next few weeks.

5.3 British Cycling – NH stated “Nothing to report but well done JH for Escot!”
NH said that the club’s renewal of affiliation to BC was currently on hold due to a technical issue with our Safeguarding accreditation.
JH spoke about Escot, which was Round 6 of the South-West Cyclo-Cross on 10th November. JH then gave report of EWCC’s staging of this event, telling us that numbers were down on last year, and last year they had been down on the previous year, not by a huge amount in each case, but nevertheless a concern as fewer entries = less income. It is unlikely we will break even this year. He went on to say that across all of the SWCX events this season entry figures were down c. 15%. JH expressed gratitude towards all of those in the club who rallied to the cause and gave up their time over the weekend to ensure the running of the event. It is labour intensive, for not only is there the work of setting up and taking down the course but a considerable amount of personnel are required on race day, all needing to be provided from within our ranks: 8 marshals, 3 lap scorers, 3 on car park, 3 on sign-on desk etc etc.  PB and JH expressed dissatisfaction with how the BC course tape was being managed – lots of tangled and thus unusable tape because few clubs have purchased reels to put tape on. For ourselves we will buy a few more empty hose-pipe reels Action JH – order more empty hose pipe reels.
JH said he would email all helpers to invite them to an informal ‘wash-up’ meeting, where they could again be thanked, and where feedback on current processes could be gathered. Action JH – contact helpers with invite.
This item on the agenda ended with a discussion over the organising body that is SWCX. For each entry the club must pay a levy of £4.50 per rider, and it was felt by the committee that there were concerns over transparency. Action PB – compose a draft communication to be sent to SWCX expressing the committee’s concerns over visibility of a) SWCX Committee Composition/Structure b) SWCX Committee Meeting Calendar c) SWCX Accounts. The EWCC Committee were mindful that the SWCX League was an effective organ for CX in the SW. However, it was strongly felt that we should raise our concerns over ‘opaqueness’ with them, but whilst making sure to be diplomatic.

5.4 Cycling Time Trials – MR reported ‘It’s winter, nothing to report’

5.5 Audax/Road Records Association – IH reported that plans were in hand for various events next year, including the Exe-Buzzard 600km event, and that there would be a new event for the Mad March 200.

5.6 Go-Ride – DP has taken on this role, and reported has been actively recruiting new young members among my his two son’s friends, and  was successful in bringing five of them to participate in the youngster’s races at Escot. They were distributed across the age categories as follows: two in U8, one in U10, and two in U12.

 5.7 Rides – JH said that with his attention having been on the organisational demands of Escot the past few weeks he was not as much in the loop re: rides, but that as far as he was aware all was well, and it was pleasing to note that the rides have returned to normal levels of non-crashinesses.

  1. A.O.B – JH said he would like to look at the possibility of the club running an off-road/gravel sportive, possibly in partnership with a ‘event company’; with competitive events across the board currently only breaking even at best such an event might be a way for the club to generate some welcome income. Action JH – research possibilities and report back.
    PB spoke on the subject of the EWCC Awards Night. It is the case that there are few suitable venues available. Feedback from attendees at the Centenary Awards & Celebration night at the St James Centre had been good concerning the venue. Action – PB to contact St James Centre to enquire about availability. The possibility of a Guest Speaker was raised – Action AW – contact Will Tidball to see if might be happy to attend and speak
  2. Date, Time and Place of next meeting: Monday 9th December, 7.30 p.m. at The Cuckoo Bar (if still available)

 

Officer’s Reports in Full:

Treasurer (CS):

Bank Balances
Current – £737.51
Saving – £18,279.84
PayPal – £393.17
Total – £19,410.52

October Income
Escot – £94.00
Memberships – £82.50
Interest – £29.90
Total Income – £206.40

October Expenses
Escot – £264.00
Storage – £100.00
Race Team – £78.00
Bank Charges – £5.00
Membership fee’s- £3.90
Total Expenses- £450.90

 

Audax & Road Records Association (IH):

From the Chair: welcome to our new Secretary and others who have stepped up to help the club.  Thanks also, for all their work, to those who have retired.

AUK: Sarah’s and my events for next year are all published.We have decided to run the Kernow & SW and the Exe-Buzzard 600s in alternate years, so this year it’s the turn of the Exe-Buzzard.  The Exe-Buzzard route is changed to remove some main road bashes.  Sarah has a new route for the Mad March 200, which involves a visit to Bude.

Nothing from RRA.