Philip Benstead wrote:It has been suggested to me today that HOE left was that increasing fees and decreasing benefits
Nothing at all to do with that although some are trying to spin it that way.
This is the crux of the issue with the CTC rebranding. According to HoECC there were only 50 CTC MG members out of over 1100 CTC members in their catchment area. They represented as an MG less than 5% of their local CTC membership. And their "substantially increased" membership since the change is the addition of 25 non-CTC members - out of how many tens of thousands of cyclists in their catchment area?
The picture is very similar with the MGs I ride with and I suspect is typical across the MGs. As attached as we are to our MGs they no longer represent the vast majority of the CTC membership or their interests.
The CTC has moved on and its membership wants different things from it. With probably 3-4,000 MG members across the country it will make little difference to the CTC if the MGs and all their members leave. And on their own they are barely enough to make a viable stand alone national club.
The real reason the HoECC changed to affliliation is given on their website and is not as some are trying to portray, to do with the changes at the CTC. It just serves to confirm the above and in many ways endorses the move the CTC is making to rebrand and reposition. (my emphasis added below)
More detail on the reasoning:
During the past two and half years we have marketed ourselves to the local 1,100 CTC members extensively. We have had only limited success, recruiting just a handful of new regulars; not enough to cover those who shall inevitably leave us shortly due to their advancing years. The response to the last two broadcast emails we sent to local CTC members, resulted in no new riders attending our Introductory Rides.
We can only conclude that interest from other local CTC Members has now dried up and that we have exhausted that route. From an already low base, the regular ride numbers will inevitably now start to drop further. Meanwhile, the average age of our group riders & volunteers continues to rise.
The Committee feels that, in order to survive as a club in the longer term, we need to have a re-brand and re-focus of the group. We need to make it easier for people to join, do some new activities and market ourselves to the wider cycling community.
It is hoped that the existing fifty or so regular riders will see little change and continue to attend rides and help support the new club. It is also hoped, that the lower cost option of the CTC Affiliated Membership rate, will appeal to the existing riders and the wider group of riders that we should be trying to attract.
http://www.heartofenglandcyclingclub.or ... cling-club