Club Management Structure
From Committee to Board
In 2011, at the AGM the problem of the unwieldy size of the Committee was discussed. With 21 members at the monthly meetings and despite some only needing to make very brief reports, it was generally agreed that most meetings took too long.
It was decided to create a Board of 7 Directors who would meet at bi-monthly intervals along with the General Secretary. All the existing Officers jobs would continue with the Officers reporting to an appropriate Director but not attending Board meetings. Some would be both Officers and Directors.
The Directors of Recreation, social Activities, Welfare and Go-Ride each only have one Officer so it makes sense that one person fills both posts. Racing and Media directors each have a number of Officers and it was felt that the director of finance and Treasurer should be different members.
The job of the Directors would be to investigate and set up ways to extend the activities of the Club in their area of responsibility.
The Board of Directors would consist of:
Director of Racing
Director of Recreation
Director of Social Activities
Director of Finance
Director of Welfare
Director of Go-Ride
Director of Media
In 2013, the list of Directors and Officers was clarified and changed in the Handbook.
The club shall be governed by a board of Directors with the support of the Officers. The Directors and Officers are to be elected at a General Meeting and will consist of the following first claim members:
Board Members: Chairman, Director of Racing, Director of Recreation, Director of Social Activities, Director of Finance, Director of Welfare, Director of Go-Ride, Director of Media and General Secretary.
Officers: Membership Secretary, Treasurer, Club Runs Secretary, Off Road Captain, Time Trial Secretary, Assistant Time Trial Secretary, Road Race Secretary, Social Secretary, Press Secretary, Recorder (Club Racing Records), Magazine Editor, Assistant Magazine Editor, Rights Officer, Clothing Officer , Welfare Officer, Lady Welfare Officer.”
The new wording clarifies which Officers are board members and adds the position of Chairman.
Five Year Plan
In 2014, following discussions at the 2013 AGM and subsequent Board meetings on how the San Fairy Ann Cycling Club should develop the Directors compiled a draft for a five year plan and developed it throughout the year. It was finalised following the meeting on the 7 October 2014 with the officials and ride co-ordinators at the clubroom.
Aims and Objectives
To recognise, respect and encourage all cycling activities. 2.2. To support members in their areas of cycling interest and encourage them to try new ones.
To encourage greater participation of members in the running of the club as a whole and also within the various groups in the club.
Membership
To continue the Club’s gradual growth.
Racing
To provide facilities, opportunities and training to enable riders to achieve their potential.
To provide financial support for individuals to be financed by:
Commercial sponsorship e.g. Abellio
Profits from racing events.
Voluntary subscriptions from individual members.
Audax and Sportive
To encourage wider participation in Audax and Sportive events create a co-ordinator post to act as a conduit for information and support between the members and the Board.
Club runs
To continue the current programme of rides but also respond to future changes in interest or new requirements.
To encourage more members to become ride leaders.
Social
To continue the Birthday Lunch and the annual prize presentation. Explore new formats for these events.
To encourage greater interaction between the various groups currently in the club in the hope that a more cohesive “San Fairy Ann C C“ outlook is fostered.
To explore further ideas on possible new social events and to seek the views of the membership on what form these could take.
Financial
To be solvent at all times and maintain a minimum capital reserve of 80% of the previous years subscriptions. This reserve not to include any allocations for supporting racing etc, which would be additional.
Management Structure
To ensure greater accountability and support create a new post of Audax & Sportive Co-ordinator who will report to the Director of Recreation.
Establish a Webmaster post to maintain the club website & Facebook account with up to date information. Co-ordinate with the Milestone Editor and General Secretary so that the site is consistent, timely and clear.
Ensure the communication lines between officers and co-ordinators is regular and effective.
10. Communications
The Milestone, newsletters (electronic and paper) and the website provide good communication channels between the members, officials and the Board but further development is needed to ensure consistency and maximum coverage.
To actively promote the club to external organisations and the community at large.
San Fairy Ann CC Limited
In 2020, the Board had for some time been concerned about the legal status of the Club and whether it remained suitable for our activities and the liabilities the membership faced. In particular, Geoff Wiles and Rob Horan had put in a lot of work around the options open to us, which range from becoming a Limited Liability Company through to a Charitable Incorporated Organisation.
If a third party makes a claim against the club and the individual members.
For example if a rider in a club run knocked over a member of the public and they hit their head and died, their widow could claim compensation against us all as a club and as individuals, as our constitution stands at the moment.
Even a club members widow could claim against us if there was a fatality in a club run.
Changing the set up of the club will protect us all from this.
The Board accepted Geoff Wiles’ offer to assemble a working group of members to investigate the posibilities.
After thorough investigation into the liability issue, the working group discovered a serious risk to our members in our legal structure for the Club. Members were collectively liable for any losses or legal action taken against the club, and in an increasingly litigious society this wasn’t going to be a risk many members would want to take.
The good news was that there was an easy solution. Increasing numbers of clubs were changing their legal status to ‘companies limited by guarantee’, which has the benefit of limiting member liability to £1 each member.
This legal structure was recommended by British Cycling, Cycling UK and Sport England.
The group believed that reconstituting SFA as a new ‘company limited by guarantee’ was the right thing to do for our club and our members. They recommended this change was made, and quickly, to limit risks to our members.
This was put to the vote at an Extraordinary General Meeting in and was carried.
The legal procedures were put in motion and from January 2021, The San Fairy Ann Cycling Club Ltd. was a reality.