CUK Price change.

Summer 2020 - Cycle Magazine announcement about membership changes
Gade
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Re: CUK Price change.

Post by Gade »

John Holiday wrote:Have just re-read the letter, & note that these are actually only 'proposals', to be voted on at the AGM later in the year.
It would certainly be interesting to know what the thinking behind these changes are. From the initial reaction, it is likely to create some hostility and a drop in membership, which can hardly be the intention or of benefit.


The membership letter is badly constructed and the tone after the preamble "it is a proposal" was this is happening.
"The current senior discounted rate..will no longer be available ... on your renewal date" and similar phrases.

Most of us are passive members and hardly ever use the club facilities.

As I pointed elsewhere in this forum, us seniors are not commuters, if we cycle to town we go at quieter times, or go leisurely rides on quiet roads in the countryside. We have our trusted bikes, we buy fewer gadgets. We take our time and cycle safely. For many of us our commitment to CUK is out of loyalty and support for the campaign work, but cycling is just one of the many causes we are probably all involved with, all deserving of financial support.

What about the specialist legal and 3rd party insurance, I hear? That would be missed but how many of us have had cause to use that service. Not me in 50 plus years of cycling. And won't my the house linked insurance be sufficient cover? or failing that if I was really concerned then I could get cover with BCycling on their basic rate which is 25% less (on DD)

If this is a cost issue why hasn't the magazine gone online. I would be happy with that. The sort of saving must be some £15 with postage and printing and it would be better for the environment saving on trees. Surely CUK needs to move with the times. For those who prefer to have the printed magazine then that could be an add-on cost. That way the concessionary rate can be kept down and could even be a base rate for all.

Don't even suggest the means tested element... it is not worth the effort and indignity.

As it is unless the Board withdraw or amend the proposal, I for one will not be renewing and I suspect many more will do likewise. It will be a sad day for CUK
PH
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Re: CUK Price change.

Post by PH »

bigjim wrote:I didn't say none of the content was of interest to me. Though I did expect one of the usual suspects to come on here having a go. Hence IMO. But you can't resist can you? Please don't put words into my mouth in order to make your point. Just stick to your opinion.

Cheer up :wink:
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mjr
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Re: CUK Price change.

Post by mjr »

gxaustin wrote:CUK stated that one result was "that the way in which we set our fees was not in line with people’s expectations".

I suspect that some people responding in that manner would have been hoping for the younger members' prices to be cut to what the rich old riders are paying, not the older riders prices to be increased!

I'd be relaxed about the 1'000 non-member responses as long as they were tabulated as their own category. You don't grow an organisation by only talking to its members.

However, if the earlier comments about CUK now being more interested in MTB and family cycling than touring are accurate, then it seems like a change in strategy and CUK is now going to try to become Sustrans, who have themselves recently abandoned touring cyclists. I wonder if trying to become Sustrans will be any more successful than the last few years of apparently trying to become BC.
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quack
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Re: CUK Price change.

Post by quack »

Certainly looks as though the staff regard the changes in membership as a done deal. See page 14 of this month's magazine: "We're making changes to your membership ... to secure our future and improve cycling provision across the UK."

Using improved perks also seems questionable.
One is for a cycling retailing organisation that I have had nothing but trouble with, allowing ordering of goods not stocked.
The "free" month's bike insurance followed by "cut rate" in first year just seems like a marketing trick. Lodge all your details with an insurance company for their future use? And who says cover that way is better than via household insurance which many of us already have?
nicola.marshall
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Re: CUK Price change.

Post by nicola.marshall »

roberts8 wrote:One for Nicola.
We talk about the members who will be subjected to this price rise but have no information.

You are certainly the person who has the figures so what is the total current membership and the breakdown into payment groups so that we can see how big a section of the club will be affected.

At the moment we are not getting the facts or figures which considering a wide group of skills and knowledge within groups is either decisive or insulting so can we have the facts without smoke and mirrors please.


Hello

We currently have 70,000 members. As mentioned in the FAQs, this number has risen steadily over the last decade and is currently the highest that we have on record. The trustees set a goal in 2018 of reaching 100,000 members and supporters in the next five years, which is why we launched a comprehensive review of membership last year and why we are now proposing the changes currently under discussion.

We have quite a number of different membership categories. The largest three categories are: just over 19,500 full adult members; just over 17,000 members who receive the senior discount; and just over 19,000 members who are part of a household membership.

We have tried to set out comprehensive information in the detailed FAQs available on the website and will be adding to them over the coming days and weeks. Please do get in touch with me via the membership inbox membership@cyclinguk.org and I would be very happy to speak to any of you directly to discuss the changes in more detail.

Best wishes
Nicola Marshall
thirdcrank
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Re: CUK Price change.

Post by thirdcrank »

It's easy to see from those figures why the senior discount is considered a financial burden on the charity, especially by bean counters. OTOH, one might assume it would be dwindling in line with the numbers joining the great club run in the sky. OTOH, I've a suspicion that a bigger problem is that the charity is not attractive to the younger end. Once upon a time, the name Cyclists' Touring Club was alleged to be the big turn off: Touring being reminiscent of plus fours etc; Club being too fuddy duddy. (One cynical quip used to be "Why not drop 'Cyclists' as well?)

In a couple of posts on the various current threads about this, the vague nature of the "unwaged" discount is mentioned. Will that now be subject to receipt of means-tested benefits? My mental arithmetic - something we BOFs did at school long ago - suggests that there are some 14,000+ members not in the three most numerous categories. Is the number of "unwaged" members insignificant?

Assuming I survive another 12 months, it would be interesting to read next year what the effect of this re-pricing has been in terms of senior members deciding to jack it in. I appreciate that it's in the nature of the charity sector that it attracts a butterfly workforce, but somebody might still be there next year to remember this.
roberts8
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Re: CUK Price change.

Post by roberts8 »

Not confident that I will see any membership figures or breakdown so does anyone know?
Cuk used to state how many members in advertising blurb but I have not seen numbers recently which is surprising because if you were doing a good job it would be correct to promote the increase. My concern is that numbers are falling as is revenue therefore let’s hit the largest chunk of the members and bingo big increase in revenue. Please convince me I am wrong.
roberts8
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Re: CUK Price change.

Post by roberts8 »

Nicola

Just seen your reply so thanks and sorry for jumping in a bit early but we are all worried.
Thanks
Cyril Haearn
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Re: CUK Price change.

Post by Cyril Haearn »

Depends how members are counted, whatabout family membership?
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AndyK
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Re: CUK Price change.

Post by AndyK »

roberts8 wrote:Not confident that I will see any membership figures or breakdown so does anyone know?
Cuk used to state how many members in advertising blurb but I have not seen numbers recently which is surprising because if you were doing a good job it would be correct to promote the increase. My concern is that numbers are falling as is revenue therefore let’s hit the largest chunk of the members and bingo big increase in revenue. Please convince me I am wrong.

See Nicola's reply above. Membership is up to 70,000.
roberts8
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Re: CUK Price change.

Post by roberts8 »

I did read the reply after i pinged the submit button hence the apologies to Nicola who had responded as requested. Must read everything before I send, lesson learnt.
AndyK
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Re: CUK Price change.

Post by AndyK »

Cyril Haearn wrote:Depends how members are counted, whatabout family membership?

It's "household" membership rather than family membership (with good reason, as it's also available to two people sharing the same address even if they're not a couple or a family). I think it's counted as however many members of the household are named on the membership form - up to 2 adults plus "unlimited"(!) children. But if I'm wrong I'm sure Nicola or Georgi will correct me at some point. :-)
AndyK
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Re: CUK Price change.

Post by AndyK »

roberts8 wrote:I did read the reply after i pinged the submit button hence the apologies to Nicola who had responded as requested. Must read everything before I send, lesson learnt.

And I confused matters even more by replying to your question before seeing that you'd already... oh, never mind. :-)
AndyK
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Re: CUK Price change.

Post by AndyK »

thirdcrank wrote:Assuming I survive another 12 months, it would be interesting to read next year what the effect of this re-pricing has been in terms of senior members deciding to jack it in. I appreciate that it's in the nature of the charity sector that it attracts a butterfly workforce, but somebody might still be there next year to remember this.

Regardless of the workforce (who I hope will still be around, because they're generally dedicated, hard-working and good at their jobs) the board of trustees will still be there and will certainly be looking very closely at how this pans out. I would say "we" will be looking closely but I'm coming to the end of my 3-year term as a trustee and I don't know whether I'll be re-elected. But my colleagues will anyway.
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NUKe
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Re: CUK Price change.

Post by NUKe »

I am going to play devil’s advocate and ask why you feel members should be discounted just viscountess on age principal. Discount is still available to those solely dependent upon state pension, those with a supplementary income.?
NUKe
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