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← Thames Vale Advanced Motorcyclists

2024-10-31-accounts

Thames Vale Advanced Motorcyclists

A Charitable Company Limited by Guarantee

ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 OCTOBER 2024

Charity Number: 1069767 Company Number: 3556042

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Contents

Contents ..................................................................................................................................... 2 1. Legal and Administrative Information ................................................................................... 3 2. Chair’s Welcome .................................................................................................................... 4 3. Aims and Objectives ............................................................................................................... 5 4. How TVAM’s activities deliver public benefit ........................................................................ 6 5. Report from the Chair ............................................................................................................ 7 6. Chief Observer’s Report ....................................................................................................... 11 7. Membership Secretary’s Report .......................................................................................... 21 8. Green Team Annual Report ................................................................................................. 23 9. Regional Team Reports ........................................................................................................ 25 9.1 BAR (Basingstoke Advanced Riders) .............................................................................. 25 9.2 CLAMs (Camberley and London Advanced Motorcyclists) ............................................ 26 9.3 GNATS (Great Northern) ................................................................................................ 27 9.4 RAMS (Reading Advanced Motorcyclists) ...................................................................... 27 9.5 SAMs (Slough and Maidenhead Team) .......................................................................... 29 9.6 WAGS (Wantage and Newbury)..................................................................................... 32 9.7 WOBMOB (Wokingham and Bracknell Social Group) .................................................... 33 10. Financial Accounts ............................................................................................................. 35 10.1 Financial Summary for Year Ending 31 October 2024 ................................................. 35 10.2 Balance Sheet as 31 October 2024 .............................................................................. 36 10.3 Notes to the accounts .................................................................................................. 37

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1. Legal and Administrative Information

Company name: Thames Vale Advanced Motorcyclists Company Number: 3556042 Charity Number: 1069767 Registered Office: c/o Durrants Unit 24 Wellington Business Park Dukes Ride Crowthorne Berkshire RG45 6LS

Committee (Council)

Kevin Dunwell Chair Trustee Director Appointed 21 January 2024 Ian Gaitley Secretary Trustee Director Appointed 16 January 2022 Bjorg Arnadottir Treasurer Trustee Director Appointed 17 January 2021 Barrie Smith Chief Observer Appointed 21 January 2018 Nick Edgley Green Team Leader Appointed 15 January 2023 David Simmons Membership Secretary Re-elected 16 January 2022 Salli Griffith Slipstream Editor Re-elected 16 January 2022

The following Committee members stepped down at the AGM

Adrian Ellison Chief Observer Resigned 21 January 2024 Barrie Smith Chair Resigned 21 January 2024

Date: 31 October 2024

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2. Chair’s Welcome

Welcome to the Annual Report for TVAM for 2023/4.

This is my first annual report as Chair and an opportunity for me to welcome you to read through the various reports put together by our excellent Club members. Please take a few minutes to read through it.

This report contains a lot of information from Team Leaders and Committee members about our activities over the past 12 months and includes facts and figures that establish how close we came to meeting our objectives for the 2024 season.

Planning for 2025 is already well underway and we hope to continue to offer our full range of training courses and a full calendar of social rides and further development activities for the membership at all levels.

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3. Aims and Objectives

Thames Vale Advanced Motorcyclists (TVAM, the Club) is a Company Registered in England (No. 3556042 and incorporated on 30 April 1998) and a Registered Charity (No. 1069767, registered on 28 May 1998). The Company was established under a Memorandum of Association which set out the objects and powers of the charitable company, governed under its Articles of Association.

TVAM’s primary Charitable Objective is:

To advance education and to benefit the public by encouraging and promoting advanced motorcycling standards and road safety education.

To achieve this objective TVAM will:

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4. How TVAM’s activities deliver public benefit

TVAM delivers public benefit in support of its Charitable Objective by offering advanced motorcycle skills development and training through a scheme of using 127 Observers, trained to an Institute of Motor Industries (IMI) accredited standard, to coach Associate Members towards achieving the IAM RoadSmart advanced motorcycle test standard. In 2023-24, 95 Associates passed their test, with 43% achieving a F1RST grade.

The Club’s Observers are routinely assessed, both internally and by IAM RoadSmart assessors, as well as receiving independent training and assessment, provided by Rapid Training. In the year ending 31 October 2024, only 12 Aardvarks were completed before they were suspended, all of whom achieved the highest classification of Grade 1. It is intended that the Aardvark programme will resume from 1 November 2024. In addition, Full Members were able to benefit from further training and riding development via the Club’s Advanced Plus scheme, with 24 taking advantage of the scheme.

TVAM has continued to further links and sharing of best practice with other IAM RoadSmart groups, notably Bournemouth and Wessex Advanced Motorcyclists (BWAM), Hull and East Riding Advanced Motorcyclists (HERAM), Cheltenham and Cotswolds (CCAM), Buckinghamshire Advanced Riders and Drivers (BARD), Plymouth (PAM) and Bristol (BAM). The club has also been actively involved in the delivery of the Be a Better Biker and Bikesafe schemes.

As a road safety charity, TVAM is focussed on working to reduce road traffic incidents involving motorcyclists. According to the figures published by the Department for Transport[1] , in 2023, 315 motorcyclists were killed in Great Britain, whilst 5,481 were reported to be seriously injured (adjusted) and 11,182 slightly injured (adjusted).

Motorcycle traffic fell between 2004 and 2023. However, the percentage reduction in nonfatal injuries was greater and fatalities slightly greater again. The overall number of motorcyclist casualties fell each year from 2014 to 2020, but increased between 2020 and 2023.

Between 2022 and 2023, motorcyclist fatalities decreased by 10% while motorcyclist traffic showed little change. Through its activities in the Thames Valley region, TVAM would like to think it has played a part in this reduction.

With over 1100 members, and the largest IAM RoadSmart motorcycle groups in the UK, the Club continues to flourish.

What follows are reports from each of the key groups within the Club: from the Chair, Chief Observer, the Membership Secretary, the Green Team, the seven regional teams and, of course, the Club’s financial statements and accounts.

1 Reported road casualties Great Britain: motorcyclist factsheet 2023

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5. Report from the Chair

The AGM

In January 2024 we held our AGM and managed to achieve an attendance of 79 members (including the Committee), with 41 of our members entrusting their proxy vote to other members attending and the committee, ensuring that we were quorate.

The minutes of the previous AGM and the Annual Report for 2023-24 were approved unanimously and the members of the Committee, that were remaining in post, were all duly elected unanimously.

Adrian Ellison stood down as Chief Observer due to conflicting work commitments, and Barrie Smith was elected to the role, having vacated the role of Chair to do so. I (Kevin Dunwell) was elected to the role of Chair. I would like to thank Adrian for his extensive and continuing contribution to Club activities, and also to Barrie for his contribution as Chair and his invaluable support during my first year as Chair.

Objectives

At the AGM the Committee outlined our objectives for 2024. I would like to take this opportunity to summarise our performance against those objectives, despite an everchanging situation.

Continue to develop our role as a Road Safety Charity in the community.

TVAM has continued to develop our role in this area, with successful Be A Better Biker events in cooperation with the Fire and Rescue Service and local councils. Communication with BikeSafe at a national level has opened up, and we are optimistic this will come to fruition during 2025.

Highlight the training contribution TVAM courses deliver – This has continued to be an important theme throughout 2024. It is covered in the Chief Observers report section of this document.

Continue to recognise our most active Members – This is an ongoing objective and has continued in 2024.

Encourage members to report incidents to enable training development – This has continued in 2024. Please see the section in the Chief Observers report for details.

Recruit 50 new members over and above 2023 figures – The details of our membership figures will be covered in the Membership Report.

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Continue to work to retain St C's and make the new canteen our new venue – Clearly, we have had to adapt to a changing situation during the year. Although the Sports Hall is not ideal for our needs, it represents an improvement over the same time last year.

Develop TVAM Committee structure to better meet the needs of the group by developing support roles for key officer positions – The new TVAM governance structure was published, and we are actively filling the roles described.

Change to a new Direct Debit provider – This was achieved.

Migrate the Club’s IT to a single managed system – This was carefully reviewed by the current committee, which resulted in planning for a trial service at the start of the new year.

Introduce Continual Professional Development (CPD) for all members, starting with the Observer Corp – Planning for this process has been started, although introduction is now expected to start during 2025.

There will of course be a section of the presentation in the Annual General Meeting dedicated to objectives. I am keen to improve the way we use objectives to give direction and focus to committee activities, which is why I’ve included a section here.

Monthly Meetings

While we are at last meeting in a fixed building, external facilities such as parking are not fully resolved.

This has been a year of continued disruption to our monthly meetings. The construction project at St. Crispin’s School meant we help our meetings in the marquee or covered area outside the science block for much of the year. In addition, we will no longer be able to take motor vehicles around the back of the building, following a safety review. The school also took over administration of the Sport Centre building, and this was offered to us for our monthly meetings instead of the new dining hall as expected. While the internal space seems good, and definitely an improvement on the marquee, our allocated parking area remains a concern. The car park right outside the Sports Centre was sufficient for our November meeting (161 bikes), our numbers in the spring and summer can be considerable higher. The committee continues to review this situation and is looking at all options going forward.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the teams that operate these meetings, including those who collect and return the equipment, meeting desks and of course our marshals.

Governance

In 2024 we published an update to our governance structure, completing the work started by the previous committee. This was aimed at ensuring we can support the growth of TVAM without individual roles becoming untenable.

One of the first changes we adopted was for all training to be the responsibility of the Chief Observer. With that in mind, I will leave Barrie Smith to report on the Training Team, Observers and the various training events held during the year.

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It is not unusual in voluntary organisations for people to hold back from offering to help in roles when they can see someone else already doing it. Similarly, those in already roles can feel obliged to continue when no one is offering to take over. It’s also a risk to any organisation when people become ‘irreplaceable’. So, if you feel you could offer more to the club, please speak to myself of any member of the committee and we’ll help. Thank you to those who’ve already done so.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

This subject has been discussed at committee, with some individuals across TVAM, and with IAM RoadSmart. It is a subject of interest to me because in my professional career I’ve seen how much more effective teams can be when everyone is welcome and able to contribute. We are currently looking at ways to include this subject in the TVAM training programme. One of the biggest challenges in this area is understanding what success looks like, and how to measure success.

Mental Health First Aid

I’m sure you’ve all heard it said that motorcycling benefits your mental health. However, with a group of our size, it is possible (actually, very probable) there are people with a much greater mental health need. Along with other IAM groups, we’ve introduced a Mental Health First Aid team. All members of this team have the appropriate training qualification from Mental Health England, and are there as a contact point for anyone who needs help. The email address (mhfa@tvam.org) goes directly (and only) to the team, and they have a desk at our monthly meetings.

Be A Better Biker

I continued to organise the Be A Better Biker events in 2024, with the help of our Chief Observer Barrie Smith, and several TVAM observers. Be A Better Biker is a programme for a one-day introduction to advanced riding, jointly organised by the Fire Service, Local Councils and four IAM Groups. Three of the events were planned by TVAM and Berkshire Fire Service in 2024. We cancelled the first due to low bookings, but the latter two were very successful. We intend to continue, and perhaps expand, this programme in the 2025 season.

Be A Better Biker has a similar target audience and format to BikeSafe which, as many of you will be aware, was not run in the Thames Valley area in 2024. There have been conversations with the BikeSafe organisation with a view to filling that void, but there is nothing tangible to report at this point.

I anticipate handing this training programme over to the Training Team to coordinate in the 2025 season.

Organisation of St. Crispin’s

Without wising to state something that’s obvious to anyone who’s been to our month meeting, a lot of effort has been required to keep the meeting running smoothly. It’s been a major operation, with sometimes last-minute changes to meeting location, parking arrangements and so on.

Team Leaders

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I have been able to attend most of the Team Leaders meetings this year, and some of the team meetings. This has severed as an effective communications channel between the teams and the committee.

The team leaders meeting has also served as a means of sharing ideas between groups. I’m particularly impressed by the STAR (Spare Time and Retired), a theme for midweek rides that was (I think) introduced by Wobmob and is being adopted in other groups.

There has been ongoing work to improve the way that groups rides are promoted, in order to ensure they are consistently described in a way that new members can understand. This is important, in particular for new members to help guide which rides to join.

Group Rides

There were of course more trips and group rides and events to list here. However, some notable ones include:

The total this year was 285 rides attended by 2,767 members, in my opinion a truly staggering number. You should find a more detailed breakdown in the other reports.

Over the following pages are the Committee Members and Team Leaders reports. I would encourage you to read them as it has been a truly encouraging year for our Club. It may trigger a thought that you can contribute to the Club by motivating you to sign-up for something during 2025, either to participate in an activity or to volunteer to help with one. We always need volunteers!

Thank you and have a great and safe 2025.

Kevin Dunwell Chairman

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6. Chief Observer’s Report

This is my first Chief Observers Report, following three years as Chair, and I would like to try and continue in a similar manner to that which Adrian did last year and try to show some consistency in the reports.

It’s fair to say that whilst I felt I had a good understanding of the Chief Observer role, having worked closely with Chris and Adrian over the last three years, I have to say that I was not fully prepared for the steep learning curve that I have had to go through. I am certainly grateful for the support of the Training Team and the members of the TVAM Committee for the hours of hard work that they all put in to make TVAM run in a manner that looks seamless from the outside.

It is customary to talk about Full Member Qualifications, Observer numbers and other training statistics here and I’ll continue to do that as well as keep with a few graphs and figures in a similar fashion to last year.

Full Member Qualifications

This year we had 95 Full Member Qualifications, of which 41 (43%) were at F1RST grade. This is a 6.8% increase in test passes and an outstanding 10% increase on passes at a F1RST grade. Congratulations go to all of you that successfully became Full Members acquiring your green badge this year.

Building on Adrian’s report from last year, with help from Andy Wedge and Dave Simmons and thanks to the power of our database, I have pulled out similar historical trend data, which might be of interest. The chart below shows the number of Advanced Motorcycle Test passes by year and the average time (in months) and the average number of observed rides it took to take the test.

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==> picture [453 x 412] intentionally omitted <==

----- Start of picture text -----
Advanced test passes and time/number of Observed rides
taken
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
Test Passes Average No of Obs rides to test Average time to test (months)
----- End of picture text -----

Looking back over the past 19 years of data you can see test pass numbers do vary. That said, our average number of test passes per year, over this time is 101, having seen 1934 Associates go on to become Full Members. This year we were marginally below our 19-year average whilst up on last year. The number of observed rides is broadly consistent over time. In 2023-24 it took an average of 12 Observed rides and 18 months for an Associate to become a Full Member.

The chart overleaf shows the ratio of Associates to the Observer Corps over time:

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Ratio of Associates to Observer Corps

==> picture [420 x 306] intentionally omitted <==

----- Start of picture text -----
450 2.5
400
2.0
350
300
1.5
250
200
1.0
150
100
0.5
50
0 0.0
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Associates Total Observer corps Ratio of Obs to Associates
----- End of picture text -----

Observer training

At the end of the 2023-24 year, we had an ‘active’ Observer Corps totalling 127, comprising 103 National Observers, 10 Local Observers and 14 Trainee Observers.

The Training Team ran one Core Skills Day, on the 11 May, this year for new Observers, enabling 5 candidates to enter the Observer Training Programme.

This year saw a continuation of the IAM RoadSmart programme to phase out the Local Observer role, which concludes at 31 March 2025. Once a Trainee Observer has demonstrated to an Observer Assessor they have achieved the competencies necessary to pass the IMI National Observer Assessment (usually at their third Observer Assessment), they are put forward for their Assessment with IAM RoadSmart, get their gold badge and can take out Associates by themselves. Once they pass that Assessment, they become fully qualified National Observers and get their National Observer badge.

Overall, we had 32 new National Observers in this financial year, leaving only 10 Local Observers to be put forward for their IMI National Observer Assessment. Just a reminder that if you are one of those 10, then you will need to advise the Training Team that you wish to proceed to the National Observer Assessment by 31 March 2025 in order to continue Observing. Speak to a member of the Training Team if you have any questions or concerns. Thank you again to Andy Slater, who kindly provided copies of his book Insights into Advanced Motorcycling at cost price so that the Club was able to give every new Associate a copy this year when they join TVAM.

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Aardvarks

We encourage all Observers to take an assessment ride with Rapid Training every two years. Aardvarks are an important quality check on the riding standards of our Observers as well as a coaching session to raise their riding skills further and a really fun days riding.

The Aardvark programme had to be delayed this year due to a number of Rapid Training coaches retiring and the need for them to have sufficient coaches available to meet their business objectives. Through discussion with Rapid Training Directors, Brian Glover-Smith and Paul Wilkinson, we agreed a programme that would take place annually in the four months of November to February in each TVAM financial year. This enabled our excellent relationship with this independent training company to continue in a positive manner.

The delay in the Aardvark programme meant that only 12 Observers managed to complete an Aardvark in this financial year, 4 of which were due to complete in the 24-25 financial year and the Rapid coach was available at the end of October this year, so they were able to complete a little sooner. I am pleased to say that the take up for the 24-25 programme is excellent, but you’ll have to await the Chief Observer’s report next year for more details on that!

I am delighted to report that all 12 Observers who undertook an Aardvark this year achieved the highest classification – a Class One ride. Below is a simple table with description of the achievement and what the classification means. We feel that this shows the excellent levels of riding that our Observers consistently demonstrate on their Aardvark and highlights the value that this one day, every two years, gives to them personally.

Number at
31-Oct-24		 Classification Score Description
12 Class One >86% A supremely polished, confident and quality rider.
Inch perfect accuracy in positioning. Displays
excellent bend lines allowing a fluid, flowing ride
with a very high degree of progression. No
regular faults. An excellent rider who is an
example to others.
0 Class Two 80-85% A very skilful and capable advanced rider with
several development areas of a minor nature.
0 Class Three 70-79% A rider at a good pass level for either of the
recognised advanced tests. Has the knowledge,
but without the flow or the progression of the
higher grades. Regular minor errors. In need of
development.
0 Class Four 60-69% A rider at a pass level for either of the recognised,
civilian advanced rider tests but below that
required to demonstrate advanced riding to
Associates. In need of further development.
Total = 12

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Brian Glover-Smith of Rapid Training said of TVAM and our Observers going through the Aardvark programme: “The TVAM dedication to achieving the highest possible riding standards has once again shone through. The observers we have assessed have displayed consistently outstanding skills. We are sending our congratulations to the management team for their relentless pursuit of excellence.”

Members who would like to do some training with Rapid should be aware that they kindly offer significant discounts to all our members on their courses and trips. Visit their website at this link https://www.rapidtraining.co.uk to arrange your next training experience.

Observer activity

To give a better view of what our Observer Corps have been doing this year, the following table gives some insight:

Activity At 31-Oct-24 At 31-Oct-23 Notes
Number of Observers undertaking
an Aardvark		 12 28 Considerably
down on last year
due to coach
changes in Rapid
Number of Advanced Plus rides
coached		 24 31*
Number of Associates coached to
IAM Full Memberqualification		 95 89
Number of Inter-monthly observed
rides		 1025 946* Up by 8%
Number of St Crispin’s Sunday
observed rides		 264 255*
National Observer validations 32 22
Number of Observer Health Checks 18 22
Number of Trainee Observer
Assessments		 19 28 Reflects lower
numbers in
programme
Number of Trainee Observers
validated to Trainee National
Observer status		 11 10
Number of Observer corps attending
the Observer Weekend		 58 53

Training team

The Training Team plays a huge role in developing our Observers and I would like to extend my sincere thanks to the Training Team, and their leader Andy Wedge, for all their hard work this year.

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The Training Team currently comprises:

Andy Wedge (team leader) Nina Bosley-Gray Chris Brownlee Adrian Ellison (to Jan ’24) Sam Grant Iain James Simon Rawlins Barrie Smith Hev Smith Simon Whatley

I am certain that the quality of our Observer training, which the Training Team has continuously evolved and developed to become a fully structured programme, is key to the quality of our Observers. We are always interested to hear from any Full Member that would like to discuss becoming an Observer.

The Advanced Plus provides an important review and coaching session for Full Members on their riding, and we were pleased to have been able to conduct 24 Advanced Plus observed rides to Full Members over the course of the year. The provision of Advanced Plus weekends in Yorkshire remains popular and we are grateful to Nigel Taylor for organising and delivering this. We would hope to develop this further in the future and maybe offer similar style weekends in Wales.

The Advanced Plus is free, and we would encourage Full Members to take advantage of this at least every two years to maintain and develop, their riding skills. We will be looking to actively encourage more Full Members to do these next year.

The 7Ws training weekends in Wales have remained popular with Associates and Observers alike. We have seen a total of 70 people go to Wales for the two training weekends in May and September this year. Whilst the May trip had 49 people on it, the September trip only had 21. The Training Team have identified that the most probable reason for the lower numbers in September, was that there was 7 weeks less in the gap between the spring and autumn 7Ws this year than on previous years.

We also ran the 3Rs training weekend for Full Members in Wales where we saw a combination of 39 Full Members and Observers head off to Llandrindod Wells for a very successful weekend. We are grateful to Tom Gray, Nina Bosley-Gray and Paul Kilby for organising this weekend.

The Look, Lean, Roll course continues to be very popular, running out of RAF Benson, and we have seen a total of 54 candidates do the course between April and October this year. We remain very grateful to RAF Benson and the RAF Benson Motorcycle Club for accommodating us and we look forward to continuing this relationship for the foreseeable future. I would particularly like to thank Graham and Lesley Bugby, Joe Carpenter and the LLR team for their continued support of this course.

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Unfortunately, we continue to struggle with a venue for The Advanced Bike Control course. We had remained hopeful that we would get back to RAF Odiham following the fatality of a motorcyclists on the airfield, which was not associated with our course, despite happening on the same day. We remain hopeful that we can get this excellent course back up and running as soon as practically possible.

I would also like to extend my thanks to all those that have developed, coordinated, delivered and helped-out with the huge number of other training courses that are available to our members. This includes Slow Manoeuvring, Machine Handling, Run Leading & Back Marking and BikeCraft. These courses continue to develop, and I am very pleased that many of the courses are involving the Training Team to provide input to content delivery to enable us to identify any overlaps or gaps.

We have continued to further links and sharing of best practice with other groups, notably Bournemouth and Wessex Advanced Motorcyclists (BWAM), Wey Valley (WVAM), IAM RoadSmart Solent, Hull and East Riding Advanced Motorcyclists (HERAM), Cheltenham and Cotswolds (CCAM), Buckinghamshire Advanced Riders and Drivers (BARD), Plymouth (PAM) and Bristol (BAM).

Incident reporting

We continue to record incidents so that we can analyse any patterns to inform our training. This year we introduced a new online incident reporting form, that aimed to more easily capture key information. This year we had 14 incidents reported with June being our highest month with 4. There were 3 incidents reported in March, 2 in January and April, with just 1 in each month for November ’23, May and October. I suspect there were rather more incidents than that, especially when we would also like to capture “near misses” as well as actual incidents, however this is the most that we have had reported.

When we launched the new form, we said would report periodically on any learning and would do so at least once a year. So this is what we found generally:

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And this is what a few of the riders learned from their incidents:

The good thing about all the incidents, is that every rider is able to review what they did wrong and adjust next time to put that aspect right. These are the thinking riders that TVAM produces.

I would like to thank everyone who has filled out the online form. Unless people let us know about their incidents and near misses, we cannot spot trends and make adjustments to our training as necessary. A reminder to all that the form can be found from our website here: https://www.tvam.org/forms/

Broader membership data

Dave will cover the broader membership picture in his report below, but last year Adrian was asked what does the Club’s membership look like in terms of gender and age profile and whether we are getting older as a Club? This is also something that I have been asked during my attendance at the social team meetings and so I thought I would continue to show this data. It’s with thanks to Andy Wedge and Sam Grant, who have produced this data from the membership database, that I can share the following with you: Approx. 10% of our members are female. As Adrian said last year, this perhaps doesn’t bode well in the third decade of the 21[st] century but probably does reflect motorcycling generally. I would add that as an all-inclusive motorcycle Club, we welcome all motorcyclists of any gender.

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Membership by gender

==> picture [435 x 203] intentionally omitted <==

----- Start of picture text -----
1400
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
male female
----- End of picture text -----

Last year Adrian reported that we were aging as a Club, by approximately one year every year (although this excludes the small number of Ride Up members). What this year’s figures show, is that we are aging by approximately one year every two years. In 2019 & 2020, our average age as a Club was 54 and in 2021 and 2022 it was 55. In both 2023 and 2024, our average age as a Club has been 56.

Overall churn in membership (i.e. new members as a proportion of total members) is once again lower than the previous year at 8%. Last year it was 10.4% last year compared to an overall average of nearer 15%. This shows that we are retaining our membership.

Average age, average age on joining* and % member churn

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----- Start of picture text -----
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
average age on joining average age % churn
----- End of picture text -----

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*Excludes Ride Up candidates

Thank You

Whilst it’s fair to say that I have found the Chief Observer role very different and challenging in my first year, it is certainly one of the most rewarding roles in the Club. Being able to stand in front of the membership and shake the hands every month of members who have passed their IAM RoadSmart test or gone on to develop themselves as an Observer is an absolute honour.

The words ‘thank you’ just do not seem enough for the TVAM Observer Corps. It never ceases to amaze me the amount that they do, and all for the reward of a cup of coffee and maybe a piece of cake over a debrief with an Associate, Full Member or Trainee Observer they are working with on each session. I applaud each and every one of you for going the extra mile for TVAM.

I would also like to thank all the members, Observer’s and Full Members, who organise and run our many courses that we provide throughout the year, as well as our Group Support Riders who give up their time to assist our newest Trainee Observer’s at the start of their Observing journey.

Finally, I’d like to pass on my sincere thanks to the members of the Training Team, with whom my first year as Chief Observer simply would not have been possible without you stepping in and catching the many balls that I have dropped throughout the year. Chris, you have been a saviour on several occasions and Andy, I promise to try to reduce the level of stupid questions (many of which are repeated time and time again) about how I can find certain data in the membership database going forward.

Thank you also to anyone I’ve missed and to all those that have provided support, encouragement and input to me personally over the year.

Barrie Smith TVAM Chief Observer

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7. Membership Secretary’s Report

Annual report from the Membership Secretary for the year 1 November 2023 - 31 October 2024

31 Oct
2024		 31 Oct
2023		 31 Oct
2022		 31 Oct
2021		 31 Oct
2020		 31 Oct
2019		 31 Oct
2018		 31 Oct
2017		 31 Oct
2016		 31 Oct
2015
Associates 200 242 282 294 236 269 259 290 251 228
Full
Members*		 813 777 744 693 681 641 624 591 544 513
Group/Loca
l Observers		 10 30 46 46 49 52 55 72 121 117
National
Observers
 103 93 72 73 69 72 66 53 23 18
Trainee
Observers		 14 30 12 15 15 18 14 11 14 12
Honorary
Members		 4 6 6 6 11 11 10 9 9 10
TOTAL
MEMBERS
HIP		 1132 1148 1162 1127 1061 1063 1028 1026 962 898

Includes Retired & Inactive Observers *Includes National Observers in Training

NEW
MEMBERS		 109 139 180 182 119 173 191 205 170 156

Introduction

Well folks here it is – my last ever annual report as Membership Secretary of TVAM - 20 years in the post has taken its toll and it is time to stand aside and make room for someone younger and smarter to take over!

Current Status

From a business perspective I’m pleased to report that both the new Membership Database and the Direct Debit system for membership renewals are really working well.

However, whilst we are still the largest IAM affiliated group in the country (by a long way), we are, for the second year running, slightly down on numbers. We attracted 109 new members during the year but lost 125. Rest assured the committee will be monitoring the situation going forward.

The Future

I will be putting my feet up but I leave you in the more than capable hands of Vickie Krevatin who I hope will receive your support at the upcoming AGM!

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My Thanks

My ‘better half’ who would still help me out at St Crispin’s – even on our wedding anniversary this year!

Steve Dennis, our Webmaster, for his continued help on the Website/Webshop front. Sam Grant and Andy Wedge for the ongoing technical support of the new membership database.

The rest of the TVAM Committee for their support and guidance.

All you TVAM members out there for your support over the years.

Dave Simmons Membership Secretary

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8. Green Team Annual Report

Green Team Annual Report 2024

The past twelve months have presented a challenge when organising the monthly St. Crispin’s meetings with a move at short notice to three different locations on the site and a change to the area we use for parking/slow riding tuition. It has required a great deal of hard work by the Club Officers and the members who have volunteered each month to transport our equipment to and from our off-site storage facility and also marshal the parking area.

Our highest number of attendees at a monthly meeting was in September with 214 motorcycles. A big vote of thanks is due to all those who worked to make each meeting run successfully and the members for their co-operation in adapting to the numerous changes.

In the past year there have been a healthy number of social runs by the various local teams with number of reported runs up by 30% and the number of riders up by circa 20% compared to the same period in 2023. January to October (inclusive) 2024 there have been 268 reported runs with 2,616 riders participating.

St. Crispin’s has been well attended throughout the year and, due to the sterling efforts of Alan Mossman, we have managed to organise three Green Team rides from St. Crispin’s most months with just three occasions where we only managed two runs and with one occasion, February, where just one Green Team run took place.

During 2023 the Green Team monthly run, organised by a different local team each month, suffered a lack of interest which caused several runs to be cancelled. It was decided, in liaison with the Team Leaders, to no longer organise these runs. It is emphasised that all members are welcome to attend any local team run if they so wish.

In November we had a new regular desk at St. Crispin’s manned by volunteer Mental Health Motorbike First Aiders. This group is part of Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) and aim to be a first port of call for any member who needs confidential, discreet help with ANY sort of personal difficulty.

The MHFAs have all completed a course and offer first aid for mental health much like the St. John’s Ambulance do for physical health. Statistically, 1 in 4 people experience a mental health problem of some kind each year in England (Source: Adult psychiatric morbidity in England, 2007: results of a household survey.) The MHFAs hope to help address this sobering statistic.

The club now has well over 1,000 members and we are always on the look out for willing volunteers. There is the monthly requirement for six volunteers to help marshal the St. Crispin’s parking, the coffee bar can always use some help, as can the Meet and Greet Team. If you can offer even just the occasional help you would be warmly welcomed.

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Suggestions or feedback to the Green Team is welcomed.

Nick Edgley Green Team Leader

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9. Regional Team Reports

9.1 BAR (Basingstoke Advanced Riders)

Summary

The BAR Team have had an active year with a healthy number of social rides and events for BAR and TVAM members. Mark Spittles, Des Purtill and Malcolm Bradley stand out as run leaders who organised the greatest number of social rides with new members taking run leader courses.

BAR Team Leaders

Graham Carter continues to take the lead within the BAR. BAR monthly meetings take place at The Wheatsheaf, North Waltham and see regular attendance of around 25 members. Guest speakers have included MAG, TVAM Chair & Chief Observer and Blood Bikes currently scheduled for Monday 7th October.

Social Rides

Number of rides registered between Nov-23 to Oct-24

Run Leader 2022 2022 2023
Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Total
Mark Spittles 2 2 1 1 0 1 2 2 3 1 1 0 16
Des Purtel 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 8
Malcolm
Bradley		 0 0 1 0 1 2 1 2 1 0 0 0 8
Graham Carter 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 4
Robin Crane 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1
IzzyGriffiths 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1
Mick O’Neil 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1
Adrian Gray 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
Aiviars Silins 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
Total 4 3 3 2 3 5 4 5 6 4 2 1

Graham organises marked rides into St Crispin’s each month to encourage new associates to meet BAR members and generally increase the social activity of the club. These take place at The Iron Bull Roadhouse meeting at 08:00 and departing 08:30.

Social Events

February – Curry Night – 20 x members – Graham Carter April – Curry Night – 18 x members – Graham Carter September – Curry Night – 20 x members – Graham Carter

Tours/Trips

No tours or trips for 2023/2024. Christmas Meal 2023– The Wheatsheaf, North Waltham, Monday 04th December attended by members and partners. Christmas meal for 2024 currently in planning.

Graham Carter BAR Team Leader

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9.2 CLAMs (Camberley and London Advanced Motorcyclists)

Team Leaders and Committee

CLAMS mini-Committee continued throughout the year to coordinate the club’s activities and plan the monthly meetings. The three “joint” Team Leaders, Paul Seal, Ruth MacDowall and myself Richard Kerbey. The committee meets on Zoom on the 3rd Tuesday of each month and the CLAMS holds its subgroup meeting on the 1st Tuesday of each month. CLAMS Subgroup Meetings.

The sub-group meetings continue each month with generally the same attendees. The venue is still the Royal British Legion in Farnborough. Here we have use of a dedicated room and it’s working out very well with no plan to change. A £1 is collected from attendees to cover the room hire.

During 2024 we have had a number of speakers and when there has been no speaker, we have had lively discussions on a selected topic of interest.

In February Martin Whitehead from SERV gave a talk on how to be a rider for this charity. In May we held a puncture repair Workshop which was very successful. In July Hev Smith gave a talk about “first on the scene” which was very informative.

We organised a My Route App Zoom meeting in July with Will Brook, whilst August’s meeting was casual due to the Holiday period. Paul Seal gave a presentation on his Scotland Trip at the October Meeting. The discussion topic for November was Helmets and Ear Plugs. A Christmas Quiz is organised in place of the December Meeting.

CLAMS Events and Rides to note for 2024

The first meeting in 2024 is replaced by a January Ride which was attended by 19 riders, led by Richard Kerbey and culminated at the Windmill pub for a late lunch.

For the CLAMS 4th Saturday rides - Sid Collyer lead a ride in February and Paul Seal did also in March. Paul Naish led a ride in June. Jez led the Welsh Wanderings in June too. Joe Carpenter led a ride in September.

CLAMS went to Wales on 13th April to 15th – a good weekend with 20 plus riders, with some rain as expected!

Summary

In summary CLAMS continues with regular rides and meetings with consistent attendance. It’s not the busiest sub-group but has had a variety of activities throughout 2024 with more plans for 2025.

Richard Kerbey CLAMS Team Leaders

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9.3 GNATS (Great Northern)

2024 has been a similar year to 2023. The dark early winter months saw evening gatherings in various pubs and kept a core of the team in touch until our Wednesday night social rides began again in April and these ran right through until the end of August. However, the Wednesday night rides have not been as well attended as previous years and the number of run leaders has dwindled. One possibility is that we have all got bored with the same roads that are available within the available daylight? Although GNATs covers a vast area, we don’t often get volunteers to run social rides from areas other than the Wycombe area.

First Sunday Social rides have also not been that popular and the dates have tended to clash with other activities, either bike related or holidays. Some STAR rides have been more popular this year than last.

We have only had 1 team meeting so far this year as GNATs members would appear to be either be not interested or they are happy with the way the team is organised. As team leader I stood down at our last meeting and was immediately voted back in by those at the meeting including proxies.

Our 2 WhatsApp groups, GNATs Social Rides and GNATs Banter, are well used by the same group who join social runs and meetings.

Now the nights are drawing in we already have dates for evening pub socials, a curry night, and a Christmas dinner and will hopefully be running a couple of other winter socials too. Group rides into St Crispin’s continue from 2 different locations.

Last year we decided to collect a voluntary £1 per rider on social rides and the proceeds to go to the TV Air Ambulance. At time of writing this we have collected £234.40

We organised some Bike Safe courses with the MET police and some of us attended what the MET called Bike Safe Plus. The latter was specifically aimed at Observers and was a plan by the MET to consolidate best practice between the various training organisations, IAM, ROSPA and independents. At the time of writing, the MET have been told to stop these courses.

Gary Jackson (Gaz) GNATs Team Leader

9.4 RAMS (Reading Advanced Motorcyclists)

RAMs Annual Report - November 2023 to October 2024.

RAMs MEETINGS. We meet every first Monday (unless a Bank Holiday), odd months more formal, even months social - usually at the Fox and Hounds in Theale.

SOCIAL RUNS. This has continued to be our main focus. Including the monthly led run to St Crispin’s and the planned six evening runs to our 1st Monday evening meetings in the

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summer, this year we’ve had 33 runs with 253 members, up on last year (25 runs, 188 members). Any of our full members are quite capable of leading a ride - as they set the pace, distance and numbers and there’s lots of support to help with your first one; when you get the bug you will want to get on the Run Leaders course too (not needed to lead a RAMs run).

RAMs SURVEY - MAY 2024. The survey attracted 25 responses. The full report has been circulated to RAMs members and is available to anyone on request.

“What are you seeking as a RAMs member” - most popular:

88% - going on social runs

68% - meeting up with other RAMs members

48% - to attend training runs (next one 30 June)

40% - social events

24% - Associate member working towards becoming a full member

NB - we have had only one social event this year, please consider stepping forward to coordinate one next year.

ROBs (READING OBSERVERS). The ROBs meet occasionally as a separate entity to the RAMs to talk about observing stuff and simply to get together as it’s quite a different group to the RAMs; some of the ROBs have been serving the Club for over 20 years and their support helping members at all levels in such a professional way is essential. It does seem sometimes the many hours of dedication and costs of keeping wheels turning is sometimes not appreciated by IAM RoadSmart. However, they ARE appreciated by TVAM and members - the riding skills check Observers have every two years with Rapid works out at £120 per Observer per year, and there are subsidies for other Observer events such as training days and the Observer Weekend for the benefit of all members which helps recognise the personal cost to observers observing.

TRISTRAM ALEXANDER. Omitted from last year’s report (Ben’s error), Tristram was an observer who passed away following illness June 23. Tristram was one of the most unique people I’ve ever met, and was always considered good company on any tour as he was the ‘bad luck’ magnet - no harm could come to anyone else if you brought him along. It was Tristram who came up with the barmy idea of hiring the Nurburg ring for TVAM exclusive use, leading to Dave Jacobi the then Chief Observer organising two consecutive trips to Germany to do just that. What a legend! Four ROBs rode to his Life Celebration in South East London September 2023, where we were able to recount many humorous stories.

TEST PASSES. There’s no longer a breakdown by group, although over the last 12 months there have been several test passes with a ROB being the Tutor Observer, and many of these were Firsts! I’m aware too, some of these members have gone on to become Run Leaders and Trainee Observers which is very encouraging, and a lot of the members are involved in supporting other TVAM activities and events.

OTHER EVENTS. Carl Flint led a club wide talk on My Route App Workshop in March, which was attended by about 50 members at Brookside Church in Earley.

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OTHER HALVES. Many of the activities we do require a little bit of support from home, and I would like to thank those who allow us to indulge in runs, observing and meetings.

RAMs OF THE YEAR. These RAMs sacrifice going out on runs every month at St Crispins by serving tea and coffee to the wider group which adds to the atmosphere at our club meeting, and it’s an honour to recognise Carole Hooper and Khalid Mahmood as this year's RAMs of the year.

ROB OF THE YEAR. This year we’re honouring an Observer who’s just retired after 16 years of observing. The last twelve months have been tough with the passing of his wife Phyl just before Christmas 23. As well as honouring Graham Jones, as mentioned a tip of the hat too to other halves who tolerate Observers putting the time in to support associate members. RAM LEADERSHIP. Ben originally stood for two years and did a third year following the loss of Dana last year. This is his final report as he steps down. There is no clear leader going forward, although the following members have formed a group and will look to keep things going:

Ben Graham, RAMs Joint Team Leader

RAMS Team Leader

9.5 SAMs (Slough and Maidenhead Team)

Working full-time now, having a 2 year old grand daughter living in the house, and volunteering with TVAM and Being a BloodBiker can lead to difficult choices being made for the focus of my spare time.

This all goes to making me even more grateful for the work you guys on the committee do week in week out. Incredible stuff really, so thanks from all the SAMs team. Keep up the good work.

The SAMs team appears to be slowly growing in engagement, perhaps due to more events being created in an effort to increase the involvement of members and provide a wider and more inclusive offering to riders.

It would be good to be able to state that the offerings are attended by many new members, re-activating older members, and that the growth is quick…. but despite the efforts of reaching out with welcome emails, monthly St Crispin’s, monthly Social Rides and monthly team meeting guest talks, the growth whilst tangible... is very slow. Very much like swimming though a sea of molten Mars bars . . . it's certainly a challenge, and oftentimes the same core members of around 30/40 are visible. Whilst I am regularly told that the SAMs team is at its most active for years, with a membership in SAMs of over 250, these are not numbers that I feel I can celebrate… in fact, they only make me more determined to double down and increase the level of engagement, with the help of my brilliant and

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committed colleagues who I rely on so much to help with the organising and running of events and implementation of my plans and activities.

January Poll -

At the end of January we intend to send out an anonymous poll to our members asking them what would make them engage more regularly with the team, what difficulties they have that might be limiting their engagement, how they feel the team is presently running generally, what they want to see more of, what they feel we should be doing less of, what suggested activities or social run destinations they would like to see organised. We’ll then publish the feedback.

Social Rides - first Saturday of the month

These pretty much run themselves now. That is, we have somebody responsible for the organisation of the social ride. Either directly or collating volunteers upfront for the next ride, where we find it easier now to announce the week before, having previously recruited a run leader during the preceding month…. and there is now a core of 5/6 riders who are interested in leading and reccying rides with a couple of new recruits. (Aa far as possible, I try and at least attend a mid month reccy to help out and support, particularly with the newer Run Leaders). Last year we introduced the Back Marker pack (an apple air tagged kit in a tail bag with such items as lithium battery starter, tyre inflator and puncture repair kit, essential road tools, trauma kit supplied by London Fire Brigade. So far this year the kit has saved the day on at least 4 occasions…. Gladly the trauma kit was never required. We will be looming to run at least 2 Biker Down sessions during next year.

Sunday Rides - 2nd Sunday of the month

In an effort to broaden our social run offerings we ran these experimental rides during the spring until the holiday season began. They were mostly to more unusual destinations rather than waypoint stops at garden centres. Some members reported that they found them easier and more fun to attend rather than Saturdays due to work commitments… others the reverse. However, the idea being that giving people more choice should make for more engagement. We will be continuing the runs again in April and see where we go from there based on feedback

Additional weekday rides -

We started the 3rd Wednesday of the month rides on the 17th of April. We had a very good turn out with 9 riders signing via GroupsIO and one visitor who later became and new member of TVAM. We then carried on the third Wednesday of the month right up to September where we had 12 SAMs and 5 Wobmob riders joining us on a ride to the Wellington farm shop and on to the Chopper Cafe at Burbage. Due to other commitments of the main run leaders for these weekday rides and the knowledge that other teams do Wednesdays, we will be changing the weekday runs to Tuesdays from April once again.

Monthly Team Meetings -

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These are usually held on the 3rd Thursday of the month. We get a backroom in local pub (Cippenham) and these run from 7.00pm to 10.00pm. It is an opportunity to socialise, talk nonsense about everything from the Yamaha FS1-E to the woes of KTM and generally meet up to exchange ideas and practices. More importantly though, we use it as a learning opportunity with either a subject or context such as Route Planning software, Puncture Repair demonstrations (including physically practicing on old wheel & tyre sets), Group Riding Workshop (eg staggered and compressed off set riding in towns) to Guest Q&A sessions with interesting individuals we feel won benefit the team. These evenings have proven to be particularly popular. Amongst our more popular guests have been Whilte Dalton Solicitors, Rapid Training, Rideworx Motorcycles, our Local IAM Examiners, The MIssenden Flyer, 4th Dimension, and our very own Chief Observer!

St Crispins Sunday Breakfast Meetings -

@ The Shire Horse in Maidenhead. These have grown in number and our last one a week ago have around 16 attendees. This is more of an opportunity to catchup for those not Social Riding or observing that day. Many initiatives can start from these informal meetings, I use them as an opportunity to take the temperature of what we are doing and to allow members to make suggestions and discuss them if they are of interest and how to make them progress. Our tools database has been used occasionally (mainly for items such as pullers and paddock stands), this is one such initiative that came from one of our informal meetings.

Other activities

We have had a SAMs trip to the national Motorcycle Museum and the MCN Motorcycle Show in Birmingham. (We will do he same for the London Excel show)

This year we organised 2 "Xmas Dos’... One at the Windsor and Eton Brewery where there was also a tour of the beer process plant and brew rooms and another at the Nepalese restaurant, Monk in Denham. Both events were sit-down meals and had around 16 attendees.

2 overseas trips are planned to the Antrim Causeway Coast in Northern Ireland and the EN2 Route (Longest A road in Europe) in Portugal. March and June respectively.

A ladies sub team was supposed to have been started by one of our members who felt that not enough consideration may be being given to the female members of our team and their different needs. We have encouraged one particularly vocal member to begin to start such a sub team, perhaps with ladies only ride-outs and meet-ups. So far no action has been taken. Some members feel that things should dbe laid on for them but are often not willing to contribute to the great good of the team themselves. We hope that changes and that the new year might be some impetus for such a requested initiative. The forthcoming team member poll may give us some other clues as to what we may need to provide going forward.

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Overall conclusion

We are lucky to have an active and happy team, although greater engagement for a higher number of individuals could perhaps be beneficial to us as a whole. I hope that the forthcoming anonymous poll will give us more of an insight into how to move forward with greater engagement. I may be the Team Leader, but I could not possibly run this team without the tremendous support I have received from the senior team members around me, in particular those that help with the social rides and make sure we are all safe. (Raj Mattoo, George Beaver, Stephen Cudd, and Ed Butterfield). Rather like riding, where you may never have the perfect ride, but that's what you strive towards… so we might not have the perfect team… but it’s something we will also always strive towards.

Onwards and upwards.

Danny De Matos SAMs Team Leader

9.6 WAGS (Wantage and Newbury)

Another busy year so far for the WAGs group up to the end of October. There are currently 256 registered members in WAGs on Groups IO made up as follows:

175 Green Team members 36 Associate members 31 National Observers 6 Local Observers

As a group we have managed to submit a staggering 62 run reports so far to the end of September. We have had 12 test passes this year thanks to our great observers and we have also had 2 new National Observer qualifications, 1 upgrade from a Local Observer to National Observer and 1 Masters test pass with distinction so we have some great riders in our group with expanding numbers of associates and green team members each month. As with any organisation there are a number of people behind the scenes who contribute massively to the effective running of this group so I would like to thank Phil Boulter, Wendy Dance and Cliff Rose who all help out with the monthly admin tasks and running the WAGs calendar making sure all the social runs are well attended and successfully completed. Also a massive thanks to all the people who regularly lead and back mark all the social runs and organise all the training events and UK and European tours that are specifically arranged for the WAGs members. Outstanding work as always and long may it continue.

2023 ended with our Xmas party at the Fox Inn in Hermitage with a total of 45 people attending including wives and partners of full members and a jolly time was had by all. Thanks to John Goodenough and Mark Feetham for making the arrangements.

In March this year Paul Gilmore stepped down as the WAGs team leader and I took over so again my thanks to Paul for his efforts over the previous 2 years leading the WAGs cohort.

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The monthly meetings continue to be well attended with an average attendance between 15 and 20 and we have started introducing some guest speakers this year which have all been well received and with a small donation from the members for these events, we also managed to make a £50 donation the Thames Valley Air Ambulance in August. There are more speakers scheduled so further donations will be made in the future.

We arranged a Biker Down course with the Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue which was attended by 11 WAGs members and 10 of those were first time attendees including myself. My thanks to Robbie McIntosh for all his efforts in arranging this as it’s not easy and requires a lot of chasing.

The 2023 WAGs T run was organised by John Goodenough this year and was well attended with 8 associates and some really positive feedback was received by all so we will continue the tradition of getting the TOBs to organise this event in the future as it gives some invaluable experience of organising events.

There are already a number of events and social runs, including some UK tours to Wales and into Europe in the calendar for 2025 so we are in good shape to continue the positive progress into next year.

On a personal note, it’s been a pleasure to lead the WAGs group for the last 8 months and it’s the diverse members of the group that make it an enjoyable experience for me with their commitment and willingness to engage with everything the club has to offer.

Thanks

Martyn Maynard WAGs Team Leader

9.7 WOBMOB (Wokingham and Bracknell Social Group)

A year of changes within the WobMob group as we thanked both Andy and Allie for all their sterling work as they stepped down as WobMob leaders. Sadly, we have lost Allie as a member of TVAM and we all wish her well for the future.

With James and Simon taking the reins into 2025 we have continued to grow as a group, 313 up from 301 last year, although many of these are members of other groups. We have around 50 associates, 5 TObs, around 60 Observers and the remainder, just over half green team.

These meetings continue to be well attended with between 15 and 25 each month. We still endeavour to be an open and welcoming group and new members attending our meetings, we have had guest speakers including but not limited to Blood bikes, Legal Eagle, Quiz nights, Bike customisation talk, First Aid and incident management as well as our own TVAM committee.

This year we have carried on with our pattern of monthly runs although we have had a very limited number willing to lead weekend rides. However, our star rides (Spare Time And

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Retired) have been immensely popular and very regular with at least 1 per month. and we have also had some, as always ride leaders are the same people, so would be good to have more.

We have had a few members who have gained their orange badges this year (run leader / back marker) and a few TOBs qualifying as NOIT or a NOB during 2024.

We are fortunate in the number of WobMob members who volunteer for all sorts of roles and as we all know the club functions on the efforts of the volunteers. Andy McWalter still leads in the rides from Binfield for each St Crispin’s which is nice as it does allow new members to feel confident arriving at St Crispin’s which would otherwise be daunting. WobMob members have been very supportive of the changes at St Crispin’s from manning the car park each month, the red zone through to collecting the equipment from the lock up, for which the club is most grateful.

All in all, the group is in good shape, and we are all hoping that this is set to continue.

James Jarvis and Simon Corcorron WOBMOB Team Leaders

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10. Financial Accounts

10.1 Financial Summary for Year Ending 31 October 2024

Income from:
Members fees coaching contributions
Other fund-raising activities
Total incoming resources
Expenditure on:
Charitable activities
Raising funds
Total resources expended
Net income / (expenditure)
Net movements in funds
Reconciliation of funds
Funds brought forward from 1 Nov 2023		 2024
2023
£
£
38,029
38,022
11,570
11,519
49,599
49,541
40,601
34,190
2,085
8,431
42,686
42,620
6,913
6,921
6,913
6,921
69,062
62,141
Total funds carried forward 31 Oct 2023 75,975
69,062

All activities derive from continuing operations. A separate Statement of Total Recognised Gains and Losses is not required as this statement includes all recognised gains and losses.

The notes form an integral part of these accounts.

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10.2 Balance Sheet as 31 October 2024

Fixed Assets
Tangible assets
Current Assets
Cash at bank and in hand
Debtors and accrued income
Merchandising stock
Prepaid cost & amount due
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
Net current assets
Total Net Assets of the Charity

The total net assets of the Charity are funded by the
follows:
Unrestricted income funds
Total funds		 2024
2023
£
£
-
447
77,575
68,544
0
0
0
0
0
1,772
77,575
70,762
-1,600
-1,700
75,975
69,062
75,975
69,062
funds of the Charity as
75,975
69,062
75,975
69,062

The notes form an integral part of these accounts.

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10.3 Notes to the accounts

3. Membership fees and contributions
Members fees
4. Other fundraising activities
Gift Aid Contributions
Advertising
Merchandising and other
Interest Received
5. Expenditure on charitable activities
Membership expenditure
Training
Events
6. Raising Funds
Company secretarial
Publication of Slipstream
Treasurer’s costs
Merchandising cost of sales		 2024
2023
£
£
38,029
38,022
38,029
38,022
5,818
5,992
4,975
4,775
274
411
503
342
11,570
11,519
8,687
8,703
13,546
14,710
264
0
22,497
23,414
69
13
19,636
18,755
484
439
0
0
20,189
19,207

The above costs are regarded as support costs and the Charity has incurred no governance costs as all professional support is provided free of charge

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2024 2023
£ £
7. Net incoming / (outgoing) resources for the year
Net incoming/(outgoing) resources is stated 6,913 6,921
after charging:
Independent examiner’s fee 0 0
8. Trustees’ remuneration and expenses
The Trustees neither received or waived
any emoluments during the year. 0 0
9. Debtors
Slipstream advertising invoices 0 0
Other debtors 0 0
Prepayments 0 1,772
0 1,772
10. Creditors (amounts falling sue within 1 year)
Other creditors and accruals 1,600 1,700
1,600 1,700
11. Unrestricted Funds
Opening Incomings Outgoings 2024
£ £ £ £

General unrestricted funds		 69,062 49,599 42,686 75,975

12. Controlling Interest

The Company is controlled by its members.

13. Charitable Company limited by guarantee

Thames Vale Advanced Motorcyclists is a company limited by guarantee and accordingly does not have a share capital.

Every member of the company undertakes to contribute such amount as may be required not exceeding £1 to the assets of the charitable company in the event of its being wound up while he or she is a member, or within one year after he or she ceases to be a member.

The charity was formally registered with the Charity Commissioners in 1998 under charity registered number 1069767.

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The registered office of the charity for Companies Act purposes is 24 Wellington Business Park, Dukes ride, Crowthorne, RG45 6LS.

14. Related party transactions

There were no related party transactions in the current or the previous year.

15. First time adoption of FRS102

The charity has adopted the Charities SORP (FRS 102) for the first time for the year ended 31 October 2017.

There were no consequential changes to the accounting policies, nor adjustments to total charitable funds at the date of transition or as previously reported.

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