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It is now 12 months since that inaugural meeting at The Chase when GoldWingers from the region were invited to attend to discuss the formation of a new club in North Wales.
It was obvious that there was a lot of feeling at the meeting about the way that the club scene within GWOCGB had gone, and particularly, at the way the members of GWOCGB has rejected suggestions for improvement within its regions to attract and involve more GoldWingers to the club.
This club was formed to give more choice to GoldWingers, rather than the camping weekends which all followed the same theme. Great if you like that style of weekend but for those who don’t camp then they didn’t derive as much from the club as they should have been able to, with other events being very restricted.
It was clear from the onset that this club was to be in addition to other clubs that a Winger may be in, and not instead of them, and that membership of this club was open to anyone with an interest in GoldWings.
The first few months were a bit on the quiet side as the riding season was finished except for those hardy souls who ride all year around. We have tried to keep a varied list of events for members to take part in, and due to the formation of Goldwings North West, another independent club, we have been successful in having a good calender.
Blackpool Light Parade
The formation of the Federation, an umbrella organisation created to assist independent clubs, has also created a lot of interest within GoldWing circles. The Federation role was to assist these independent clubs but not be in charge of them. The Federation was to assist with organising some events of it’s own. These events were to be open to any GoldWinger to attend and not just members of the Federation.
This fact has caused upset amongst members of certain GWOCGB regions who are opposed to anything that the Federation do. For god’s sake, why?
A good example of this is the attempts by GWOCGB committee and others within that club to sabotage the Blackpool Light Parade with a series of misinformation that was put out. Another example is meeting up with a set of GoldWingers from Lancs and Lakes Region at a recent event and one of them refused to greet me as a friend, despite having been a friend before the new club was formed. I have never done or said anything for him to act this way.
Expensive purchase at the Treffen
I attended two GWOCGB events during this year, the Treffen at Kelso and the Scarborough Light Parade. At both events I enjoyed the company of many old friends and with so many people coming up to me for more details on the Federation.
In June, Jan and I managed to take a European trip under the guidance of Stuart Ormerod, an experienced Foreign Tour Leader. This trip was to the Mosel Valley in Germany. It was so enjoyable that Jan and I are going back and are prepared to lead a smallish group ourselves. See elsewhere on this website for details.
We have been fortunate to increase our membership considerably since we started and there are new faces to GoldWinging joining our club, after having seen what is on offer from other local clubs. I must thank other local clubs for their attitude towards us as this has encouraged our membership to grow.
A view of the Rhine
The AGM, which was held 2 days ago, was a well attended affair and it was heartening to see that we have a good base of members to work with during the next year. We have a new rides co-ordinator, Chris Phillips, who is keen to get on with the task of organising a full and interesting rides calendar for the next season.
We anticipate more clubs joining the Federation which will hopefully give more national events for our members to attend, if they wish. I hope that the Federation will also be putting on more foreign trips for members to join in.
I sincerely hope the next 12 months brings about a surge forward in the GoldWinging scene, nationally and locally, and that we are part of that growth.
Dave T
Very Interesting and informative write up Dave. Yes! twelve months on, and a well attended meeting by all our Goldwing Friends. Thanks go to our Commitee members Dave, Jan, Nigel and Jo, you have all done a good job, thats why we voted you back in
It was nice to see our other friends from Goldwings North West, coming and joining us.
A special thank you from SEREN, to you all for listening to her sing, she did her audition, and really enjoyed it. She will not hear anything from Britains Got Talent, till the NEW YEAR fingers crossed.
We look forward to the next twelve months, meeting and riding with all our friends in Goldwings North Wales (and Goldwings North West).
Ride Safe
Sheila and Alun Atkins
Comment by Sheila and Alun Atkins — November 18, 2009 @ 4:24 pm
Dave
I’m amazed at how quickly the year has passed, from starting the Federation to the very first AGM seems a blur. Thank you for your hospitality at your AGM by the way, its always a treat to see how you manage your meetings. I think its the comfy chairs that do it.
The Federation plans to attend its first exhibition at the Manchester bike show, formally the GMEX, early next year in January. It’s a great opportunity to sell the benefits of the Federation concept to Goldwing riders in the North West and further afield. I’m sure we can attract a few more members from it or better still convince an existing club to affiliate en-masse.
Heres to the next 12 months.
Comment by Bob Summers — November 21, 2009 @ 1:37 pm