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Future of the De Laune

I bet you all thought this had died a death as it has been so quiet on this
front for a while, but no, some of us are still thinking along the lines of the
future of the De Laune.

Whilst reading this weeks Cycling Weekly there is featured an article on
the Otley CC, a prolific club in the Yorkshire dales. Like us they went
through the doldrums some years ago but have managed to salvage the
situation to become a thriving entity once more. I must admit they do have
one vast difference to us, they have some fantastic riding areas on their
doorstep.

The club has been voted 'The Club of the Year' by Cycling Weekly –
certainly a great achievement. They boast their resurgence is due to 3
main areas and quote them as a good starting point :

Listen
Ask the members what they want from their club and, more importantly, listen.
They asked every single member what they want the committee to deliver
and how they want the club to evolve. Not everyone responded but a huge
number of people are invested in the club.

Innovate
From their junior race team to mountain bike rides, Otley refuse to stand still.
Their 2020 vision was put together in 2010 and when reviewed in 2016 they
realised they had done pretty well. They are now developing the next vision
taking them through to 2025.

Volunteers
By providing support and encouragement, they have successfully activated
a huge chunk of their membership. The advice is to develop your volunteer
base and get everyone involved. You cannot rely on a very small core of
people, so its very important to spread the load.

This article is just to set minds working again, I know we went through some
soul searching last year but nothing seems to have materialised. If we
find that the majority of the club just want to be remembered as a good social
club for pensioners - are we all happy to accept the label ??

Happy New Year One and All
Val & Tony

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