The Cycling UK AGM – have your say

Cycling UK’s AGM this year is on 27 September. All members are invited to come along to this online meeting. It will be attended by Cycling UK’s senior leadership team as well as our board of trustees.

It’ll be your chance to find out what we’ve been up to over the past year and what our plans for the future are.

How to get involved

The best way to get your voice heard is to vote; we want as many of you as possible to engage in this process and vote. We have several resolutions – some put forward by members, some by the board – that you can vote on. Voting went live first thing on 26 July.

There is a mix of both ‘ordinary’ and ‘special’ resolutions. The ordinary resolutions cover a small price rise to membership fees as proposed by the board (motion 4), and two further motions proposed by members which we are very supportive of.

The first member-proposed ordinary resolution is that Cycling UK should actively promote the creation of a network accessible cycle routes across the UK (motion 8). At Cycling UK we recognise that there are many barriers to cycling and we’re committed to helping to break down those barriers. Promoting accessible cycling routes is one way we can do this.

A member has also proposed an increase in the maximum annual contribution to local member groups from £200 to £250 (motion 9). Again, this is something we support. Our member groups play a pivotal role in providing local cycling opportunities and we’re committed to supporting these groups.

Special resolutions

This year, following engagement with members, experts and the wider cycling community, we’re proposing some changes to our governance structure. These changes will help us attract the skills, experience and diversity of background we need on the board to deliver our new strategy.

The first of these special resolutions (motion 5) removes the requirement for members to vote on price increases, allowing the board to change membership fees without these changes having to be approved by members.

The board is committed to ensuring that membership remains affordable and good value for money. However, membership fees are a significant proportion of the charity’s unrestricted income. Uncertainty around income makes financial planning very challenging and prevents us reacting as quickly as we may like to do.

It is not unusual for trustees to have the ability to make these final decisions on cost and this is the case for many similar membership organisations, as trustees are ultimately responsible for the governance and financial sustainability of the charity.

Trustees are themselves members and they have a strong interest in ensuring that membership pricing is fair and affordable. They are committed to being transparent and open about all price increases, while ensuring we are able to increase our charitable impact.

Motion 6 is proposing some changes to the board itself. Currently the board is made up of 12 trustees, nine of whom must be voted for by members, with a further three who can be co-opted. To stand for election prospective trustees must have been members for a minimum of 12 months. Co-opted trustees can be appointed for one year, whereas elected trustees stand for three.

The board would like to re-balance things so that there is capacity to bring in a wider set of skills and backgrounds by having the ability to recruit up to four co-opted trustees and to have one less elected trustee. Co-opted trustees would be appointed for three years. There would still be 12 trustees in total with two thirds voted for by the membership.

We’ve seen falling engagement and number of applications in previous years to become a trustee and lost out on many strong applicants. It’s crucial that we have trustees who are passionate about cycling and our cause but we need to do more to widen our pool of applicants.

That’s why we’re proposing to allow trustees to set any minimum membership period before applying to become a trustee, in place of the current requirement requiring 12-month membership before standing for election.

It’s important to ensure processes and procedures work for you not against you. I’m very supportive of the proposed amendments to Cycling UK’s governance structure, they are very much in line with achieving your aims

Chris Boardman, Active Travel England commissioner

It is critical for the future sustainability of the charity that we see more people, and a broader range of people, cycling. We need a diverse range of skills and backgrounds among our trustees to reflect this wider cycling population and provide the expertise and knowledge needed to lead a growing and increasingly complex organisation with an ambitious five-year strategy to deliver.

In the past we have struggled to diversify our board and these proposed changes will allow the board to attract a broader range of people, both from the membership and the wider community.

The final special resolution (motion 7) proposes some changes to our Articles of Association. These will bring the Articles up to date by using gender-neutral terms and align them with best practice. These changes reflect our commitment to improving equity, diversity and inclusion across Cycling UK and cycling and will bring the Articles in line with company law.

If you have any questions, we’ll be holding a special online Q&A session with trustees at the beginning of September. You can also find out more on our AGM 2024 page.

The AGM

To book your place at the AGM, email us at [email protected] by 9am on Friday 20 September, including your membership number. You will need to be able to join remotely via web-enabled technology. Further joining instructions will be provided prior to the meeting.

You are welcome to ask questions at the AGM. To address as many of your questions as possible, we’re asking you to submit them in advance. You can email them to [email protected] by 9am on 18 September 2024. We’ll answer as many questions as we can during the meeting; any we are unable to address will be followed up in a post-meeting Q&A document.

How to vote

To push forward with these important changes, each of the special motions needs a 75% pass rate. This is why it’s crucial that you vote.

Voting is easy to do. You can vote by post or online. Your ballot papers are included with your August/September issue of Cycle magazine. They provide full details of the meeting agenda and the proposed resolutions. They will be posted separately to any members who have opted not to receive the magazine.

Full instructions are given for voting online. You will need to enter your unique two-part security code, which is provided with your ballot paper.

Members can also vote by proxy, with full details outlined on the ballot paper. The deadline for electronic and postal votes is 9am on Tuesday 24 September 2024.

We talked to Active Travel England commissioner Chris Boardman about the challenges facing the board, and he shared his support for the trustees’ proposals on governance changes: “I know firsthand the difference having good advice and guidance can make to steering a business towards success. It’s also important to ensure oversight is rich in diversity, to properly represent the communities we wish to serve, engage and represent.

“To get this balance is not easy, so it’s important to ensure processes and procedures work for you not against you. I’m very supportive of the proposed amendments to Cycling UK’s governance structure, they are very much in line with achieving your aims, delivering your new strategy, while remaining true to Cycling UK’s values.”  

Key dates

Some dates for your diary:

• Friday 26 July: Voting opens
• Friday 5 September: Online Q&A session with trustees
• Wednesday 18 September (9am): Deadline to submit a question for the AGM
• Friday 20 September (9am): Deadline to register to attend the AGM
• Tuesday 24 September (9am): Deadline for votes to be received by post/cast online
• Friday 27 September (11am): AGM