Cycling UK Forum

Does the reply by Barry Flood mean that were the CTC to become a charity they would have to contact all the members to ensure that they paid UK tax (ie they were not below the tax threshold?)

Secondly - when I go into stately homes and suchlike which are charities (Chatsworth House comes to mind) I can either just pay an entrance fee or elect to sign gift aid forms which gives the charity the extra money. So if I am a UK tax payer will the CTC have to get me to sign a gift aid form before they are entitled to claim tax on my subscription?

I have sympathy with previous comments being uneasy that taxpayers money is being handed out to what is a recreational membership club. Given such uneasiness can I decline to sign up to gift aid thereby denying the club the right to claim tax on my behalf?

Any comments to elighten me will be gratefully received

Well said meic and many congratulations to Peter Brake in winning the Welsh election - long may he go on fighting for issues that actually help real members. Well done Peter, keep up the good work.

Hallelujah - I thought it was just me that couldn't see why the cyclists touring club was getting involved in the commercial decisions of a big national company so its great to see that other people think the same.

We have been bombarded for weeks now in the newsletter about showing our support for this initiative, yet I note that "around 700" responses have been sent. This is being written up as a great triumph and yet, if I recall correctly there was recent article that the membership is at record levels around the 60000 mark. Thus about 1% of the membership bothered to get involved - surely that should be spelling out a message to those at the centre who dream up these less than useful campaigns.

More on touring and less on largely irrelevant issues please

I read this thread with interest just after the cycle magazine arrived. There are some relevant pieces in the magazine - first of course we are being asked to complete a survey on the issue - so what will happen if a majority do not want their club to get involved in this issue. The reason I ask is that on the same page there is a article from which I quote "CTC continues to work with other environmental groups in calling for a shift to low carbon ...." It seems than that the committee is already involved with climate change issues - will it withdraw from its work with others if the vote goes that way?

Second are the prcticalities of fly/cycling. On the letters page Liz Snook encourages us not to fly, she says "The science is clear .." but as earlier contributions to this thread make clear, the science is disputed, and then she goes on to give an example of a couple who are cycling to New Zealand! All I can say is that they must have more holiday time than me.

Then on p.13 there is a tiny article labelled From the touring department (strange that - I thought the whole club was a touring club) and it tells the unhappy story of crossing Europe by train and the cost - £328.

On page 46 is a longer article spelling out the virtues and downsides of flying with a bike.

Finally there is the usual advert for the European Bike Express coach - which, dependent on your destination may arrive in the middle of the night and seems very expensive.

Its nice to cycle where I can be assured of some nice warm weather, sample the food and customs of other societies and enjoy scenery not available in the UK. I have not got the time to cycle all the way to such destinations - so its the occasional cheap fast option for me - and now increasing numbers of airlines give you the option of paying a donation for carbon offsetting.

See you in the south of France!

I have some sympathy with the original statements in this thread - Mayne should not assume that his personal, and illegal, stance represents the membership.
This approach has been seen too often in the CTC and evidenced in this thread by Si the moderator who says "FORUM MEMBERS SHOULD BEAR IN MIND THAT THIS FORUM WAS PROVIDED BY THE CTC" ... as though the CTC is some defined entity with a life of its own - the CTC is its members!