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The Rough-
Review of the Year
2002 was an uneventful year for the Fellowship by recent standards. There were no
major changes to the organisation or the journal, and no natural disasters to compare
with the foot and mouth epidemic the previous year. Unfortunately the persistent
lateness of the journal has been counter-
85 members and friends attended the Sunday dinner at our annual meet at Machynlleth, the same number as the previous year. With the subsequent sad passing of Bob Harrison, a gentleman and an inspiration for us all, we lost the only remaining member who had attended every annual meet. The Annual General Meeting passed a contentious motion to donate £500 to the Cyclists' Defence Fund.
Membership
The Fellowship had 724 members on its roll at the end of 2002, a reduction of 23 over last year's figure of 747. The decline continues at about the same rate as the previous year.
The Rough-
The Rough Stuff Journal continued in its colourful quarterly format, with Richard Harries as editor, Linda Bussey organising production, and a professional employed to design the layout. It has unfortunately tended to be late.
Some members continued to express their concern over the lower journal frequency.
www.rsf.org.uk
John Brewer continues to run the website efficiently. The site includes the latest runs lists, a sample from the current journal, an increasing route archive and a message board. A new feature is a gallery of pictures of club activities.
Marketing
The company is currently without a Public Relations Officer, and we are operating with some voluntary assistance from Trevor Sowerbutts. The main marketing policy to reverse falling membership remains to rely on the improved journal and website as our main attractions to new members.
Ultimately the club is about riding bicycles. Increasing numbers of people have
the confidence to enjoy off-
Accounts
The accounts show a loss of £1,859, of which £500 is an exceptional item, so the underlying loss is £1,359. This is in line with predictions. Our reserves have fallen from a peak of £19,000 at end 1998 to less than £14,000 today. Over these four years, we have consumed our reserves at £1,300 per year. The executive has slowed membership loss, but not found a solution to falling membership. Since investment income falls as our reserves reduce, the consumption of the reserves is likely to accelerate. Our reserves will therefore be exhausted in less than a decade, unless subscriptions are increased.
Trevor Sowerbutts is now managing the journal advertising income. Heather Evans and John Matthews continued sterling work collecting membership income.
Signed: Norman R Hodghton, Simon C Preston, Ivan Viehoff (Directors)