Club Volunteers

 

These volunteers are recognised by British Cycling for their work within clubs. They represent clubs involved in every branch of the sport,  Road, Track, BMX, Cycle Speedway and Mountain Bike.  Information for their nomination forms is collected by the Regional Managers for the particular areas.

Ian & Pauline Why (Central Region)

 

Josie Heffernan writes:
Ian Why serves as Chair of Hillingdon Slipstreamers Go-Ride Club and as an active, willing member of Willesden CC/PMC Bryston/RG Graphics.  He sits on all manner of bodies to do with Hillingdon Circuit ie Friends of Minet Park Forum, Hillingdon Users’ Group, plus numerous other important council and consultative meetings.  

 

Ian has taken responsibility for co-ordinating the Go-Ride Clubmark Pack for both clubs, Slipstreamers, which is now submitted for Clubmark, and the newly registered Go-Ride Club, Willesden CC.  He has just attended the Clubmark required course A Club for All. 

 

Ian can always be found working quietly in the background, getting his hands dirty, involving himself in the nuts and bolts work of club life, like mowing the grass at the Hillingdon Circuit or tidying the bike storage containers.  He is always willing to help wherever help’s needed, and liaises with British Cycling staff on a regular basis. 

 

Ian is currently a Level 1 coach and is taking the Level 2 qualification this winter, 2006-07.  Aside from coaching at Slipstreamers and Prime Coaching sessions he has often worked alongside Central’s Go-Ride Coaches, Ray Kelly and Graham MacNamee, fitting this around his work shift pattern and mostly voluntarily.  This has included in schools on the PESSCL delivery, in school holiday weeks at Hillingdon Circuit and at any other local school and community events where more help is required.

 

Outside these roles he enjoys taking the older Slipstreamers on club run rides where his local knowledge of the most enjoyable and appropriate routes is invaluable.

 

Both clubs would not be thriving as they are today without the likes of hard-working and unassuming volunteers such as Ian, who is whole-heartedly supported in club life by his wife Pauline.

 

Paul Braford (East Midlands Region)

 

Jonathan Day writes:
Paul has an overview of all of the activities that take place within the club.  He manages the role extremely professionally and is very well organised and task orientated.  He is the fundamental driver in ensuring the smooth running of a successful cycling club.  The club is constantly growing and attracting new members and Paul plays a key role in looking after those that join the club and making them feel welcome. 

 

Paul is not afraid to get his hands dirty and can be found organising numbers and teas on a club night, speaking to and meeting with, potential sponsors; he is constantly looking for ways to improve the services the club offers.

 

Paul’s additional roles in the club include: trip co-ordinator; club time trial and road race co-ordinator; funding bid writer (awards for all); leaders of local social rides; securing club facility time trials etc.

 

In August the club was successful in achieving Go Ride accreditation.  I first met with the committee in February to discuss if they were going to pursue the award or not.  The committee decided that they still wanted to be involved and Paul grasped the mantle and decided to lead on the project.  I had many phone conversations and meetings with Paul and in a short space of time the club had completed the clubmark file and the quality and attention to detail was superb.  This was mainly down to Paul’s determination and motivation to move the club forward.

 

The club has got a trip planned to watch the Tour Depart in London next year, Paul has co-ordinated everything; the hotels and support vans etc are all booked already – incredible!

 

Jackie Smith (Eastern Region)

 

Nigel Hampton writes:
Jackie has been a volunteer with the club for many years.  She is the club’s secretary, but every Wednesday night you will find Jackie at club nights trying to get young people engaged with BMX as a sport. 

 

The Peterborough BMX track is located within a very socially deprived area and therefore faced with some real issues on club nights and event days.  Jackie will be encouraging the local community to take part in their coaching sessions and to promote the benefits of the sport, enabling young people to channel their energies into a managed way. 

 

Sometimes this can be rewarding and sometimes you may be faced with disappointment, but the one thing that stands out with Jackie is her patience.

 

Sarfraz Mian (North East Region)

 

Peter Root writes:
Sarfraz is nominated as a representative of Hetton Hawks, one of the foremost Go-ride clubs in the North East. The club is an exemplar of how a youth cycling club should be run.

 

Sarfraz came to the club as an interested parent and has been a driving force within the committee for the last three years. He has been elected chair of the club for 2007. Amongst his achievements to date have been maintaining the club website with results and photographs of all events in which members compete and attracting over £5000 in sponsorship to the club. 

 

Beryl Bowes (North West Region)

 

Alex Scolar writes:
Beryl is always keen to help and get on board with any new ideas and initiatives.  She is currently secretary of Merseyside Cycling Development Group and instigator with the award from the lottery for the setting up of the group.   She organises meetings for Merseyside Development Group and New Brighton CC. 

 

The majority of Beryl's work has taken place in the Wirral and Merseyside, though she has also been heavily involved at a regional level.   

 

Secretary of the British Cycling North West Regional Board for three years from its inception, Beryl has also been club secretary of New Brighton CC for the last 10 years.  She has volunteered in various capacities in the sport for 15 years, both through her club and in officiating at events. 

 

Though not related to her club, she has been an official at various track meetings at both the Kirkby track and at the Manchester Velodrome for the last 10 years.     

 

Beryl has been an organiser of coaches and events in the Wirral area, both through New Brighton CC and the local development group.  This has included school, community and Go-Ride sessions and public cycle shows.

 

Dave Harry (South Region)

 

Mark Adams writes:
Dave has always been an active member of the cycle scene and this has continued since he moved to Guernsey from the Welsh Borders and CC Abergavenny. Dave has for the last five years worked to develop opportunities on the island and worked to develop young riders coming through.

 

He identified through the Talent Team a number of talented young people of whom four went on to be selected for the squad.

 

Dave is currently continuing this theme and is leading the club to their clubmark accreditation.

 

Peter Cattermole (South East)

 

Roy Page writes:
Peter has been Chair of Velo Club de Londres (VCL) for the last three years after being a club member since 1972. During this period he has seen the changes occur at the Club’s base at Herne Hill velodrome and now finds himself taking on the role as the main co-ordinator for the running of the velodrome on behalf of British Cycling.

 

It is Peter’s natural leadership abilities that has seen him take on the above role which has been carried out in a professional manner, that overshadows the fact that all of his Herne Hill involvement is carried out on a voluntary basis. Throughout his time at VCL he has managed to motivate many of its members to develop both as riders and as key officials, and this has extended to encourage them to take on responsibilities for different operations of the running of the facility. Peter includes himself in mundane but important tasks such as mowing the grass in the centre of the track.
      
Peter has approached these responsibilities in an innovative but realistic way and has looked at the strengths and weaknesses of both the facility and the club members to come up with a wide ranging programme of activities at the velodrome. This has included the development of a year round extensive programme of activities, catering for all abilities in cycling and encompassing a wide range of cycling disciplines for members and non-members.

 

The main discipline is track cycling, but the club also organise cyclo-cross, road riding and mountain biking events throughout the year. This has led to an excess of 1000 registered riders participating in some form of cycling.

 

To support this programme Peter has been instrumental in gaining sponsorship and grants from various local bodies. This includes funding from Edwardes cycle shop of £7,000 to purchase replacement track bikes to add to the current equipment available for use by club members and public.

 

Peter continues to explore future opportunities for the venue and hopes to build on the diverse user groups that have already made use of the velodrome so far, which include the Police, Schools, local community groups and clubs.

 

June Smith (South West Region)

 

Dan Coast writes:
June has been a core member of the North Devon Wheelers for a number of years, she is currently the Chairwoman of the club and working with David Luggar actively bringing on the young members of the club. Both David and June go into clubs promoting the club and providing coaching sessions.

 

June has a long history of cycling.  She was masseur/carer for the Duracell racing team when Simon Bray became national champion and a young David Miller rode for them (in fact David gave June his first yellow jersey).

 

June is irrepressible in the promotion of the club and the values and benefits for cycling.

 

Colin Simmons (WCU)

 

Ian Jenkins writes:
Colin is the secretary of Newport Cycle Speedway club and has helped drive the club forward with his boundless encouragement and enthusiasm.

 

As a rider Colin achieved notable results, but now is often seen in local schools promoting Cycle Speedway and trying to get youngsters involved in the sport.  He often transports club members around the country for competitions.

 

Colin promoted regular competitions at the Cycle Speedway circuit in Newport, which in the last two years has included club, regional, national and international events. The circuit itself was provided by the local council, but he has done considerable fundraising to bring the circuit up to standard with an improved pits area, better seating and drainage on the circuit, with most work being led by himself in his spare time.

 

Colin has proved to be excellent at enthusing volunteers and has inspired a committed band of helpers to run the club on behalf of the local youth.

 

The club regularly meets three times a week, Colin is always in attendance to ensure new and existing youngsters are encouraged and looked after, along with teaching parents and spectators about the club and recruiting new volunteers.

 

Ian Billington (West Midlands)

 

Nick Yarworth writes:
Ian Billington’s passion and devotion to all things cycling began in the mid 1960s when he started racing as a schoolboy with the Birmingham Mercury Cycling Club. Always a force to be reckoned with, Ian was a prominent road rider at both Regional and National level and spent time racing in both Holland and France. That competitive element is still very apparent today as is his enthusiasm and drive to promote both his club and sport.

 

Ian’s association with the Bromsgrove Olympique goes back to the late 70s when he moved to settle down in the area. Since that time he has held almost every official role in the club including President, Chairman, General Secretary and Racing secretary. At the current time he is a very active Club Coach and Club Contact for the club which are registered under the Go-Ride programme.

 

In this role Ian assists the club  to run weekly quality coaching sessions for young riders at a school in the Catshill area of the town. This programme has given numerous local children the opportunity to participate in skills and competition based cycling in a safe, effective environment. On behalf of his club and region Ian has also worked in the role of Regional Development Officer and been responsible for building and maintaining links between Schools and cycling clubs in the region.

 

Ian’s involvement is not merely connected to local activity, he has for a number of years taken youth teams to major International events including the Kerry Youth Tour in Ireland and the Tour De Junior Achterveld in Holland.

 

Ian is an active and participating member of the West Midlands Regional board and brings to the table not only a wealth of experience but also an inspiring drive to actually make things work.

 

Jeremy Brown (Yorkshire)

 

Peter Root writes:
Jeremy has been key to the resurgence of Bradford Bandits BMX club. The club re-emerged in 2005 and in 2006 won the prestigious CCPR Sports Club of the Year Award. Jeremy has acted as promoter for regional BMX events and has organised a highly successful local BMX league in 2005 and 2006. The club is a registered Go-Ride club and is well on the way to achieving Clubmark status.  He is also active in including young volunteers in his activities to ensure that there are other opportunities for them outside just success in the sporting sense.