http://forum.ctc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=29847
I joined the CTC National Council in Jannuary 2006, knowing that the membership system was poor and not improving. I anticipated that my fellow councillors would know that this was the case, and that the National Office would be working to fix it. In both respects I was mistaken.
A majority of National Councillors thought the subject of the membership service unworthy of their attention. National Office were clueless and in denial. In pretty short order Karen Sutton and I were receiving 20 e-mails and calls a week from disgruntled members and organisers. I continued to complain, and, in April 2007 proposed a motion to the AGM describing the service as unsatisfactory.
The Chair, having little option, accepted the motion and supported it. A report was promised, a report that would be presented to the 2008 AGM.
An interim report was commissioned and presented to Council. We hoped for the best, and awaited the final report.The 2008 Annual Report presented to the 2009 AGM included the following text
We commissioned a full, independent service review in 2008, seeking the views of a wide range of members, CTC staff and CTC contractors. The review concluded that outsourcing of membership services was the right approach for CTC, but identified some procedural problems that had an adverse impact on the services provided to members. All the issues have now been addressed with changes made where necessary. We will continue to monitor the service levels achieved closely.
There is no mention in the Annual Report of the final investigation, and it transpired that, as of April 2009 this had yet to be commissioned. When it was commissioned and presented to tne current council I asked for a copy. My request was denied - my three year stint on Council ended in December 2008. I and some councillors contested the matter - we pointed out that the report had been promised to the membership. We didn't prevail. The more astute of you will surmise that the final report had turned out to be not exactly thrillingly good.
And you'd be right. I have a copy. It's eye-wateringly bad. Scarily, bad given that it's as easy to lose members than it is to gain them. You can have a copy too if you care to e-mail me on simon_legg@yahoo.co.uk . Obviously I can only send it to members.
Two things are clear. The Annual Report to the AGM is misleading. There is, as I have said, no mention of the final report and the assertion that service levels would be monitored closely simply cannot be supported by the facts. As for 'all the issues have now been addressed'......read it and weep.
I think the Chair has a duty to apologise formally to the membership. I think the Management Committee has to take the task in hand in a serious way. And I think the National Office has to realise that the first priority of this Club must be the membership.
Ever-fancier proposals for converting the Club in to a Charity are now being drawn up. This is a vain exercise. Before setting off on a journey to the stratosphere it would be as well to check that the kitchen cupboard is well stocked. Those councillors who have preferred to drift with the Chair have got to wake up. If we can't get the basics right, we're sunk.
The hiding of the report goes to the heart of the relationship between the core and the membership. It's about transparency. The CTC doesn't have enough of it. I don't believe that Councillors have the full story on the business dealings that the CTC has entered in to, and I fear that a very great deal of the members funds is being used to bail out those that go wrong. I'm pleased to say that there are Councillors applying skills, both professional and inquisitorial (and far greater than my own) in pursuit of the truth. I'm not sure they have entirely succeeded, and, while I wish them well I suspect that in the event of a Council-sponsored resolution for Charity status going on the agenda of the 2010 AGM it is unlikely in the extreme that members will receive sufficient information to enable them to make up their minds with confidence. It's time for Councillors to tell the Chair that they cannot support a resolution until they are satisfied that the membership is in full posession of the facts.
I joined the CTC National Council in Jannuary 2006, knowing that the membership system was poor and not improving. I anticipated that my fellow councillors would know that this was the case, and that the National Office would be working to fix it. In both respects I was mistaken.
A majority of National Councillors thought the subject of the membership service unworthy of their attention. National Office were clueless and in denial. In pretty short order Karen Sutton and I were receiving 20 e-mails and calls a week from disgruntled members and organisers. I continued to complain, and, in April 2007 proposed a motion to the AGM describing the service as unsatisfactory.
The Chair, having little option, accepted the motion and supported it. A report was promised, a report that would be presented to the 2008 AGM.
An interim report was commissioned and presented to Council. We hoped for the best, and awaited the final report.The 2008 Annual Report presented to the 2009 AGM included the following text
We commissioned a full, independent service review in 2008, seeking the views of a wide range of members, CTC staff and CTC contractors. The review concluded that outsourcing of membership services was the right approach for CTC, but identified some procedural problems that had an adverse impact on the services provided to members. All the issues have now been addressed with changes made where necessary. We will continue to monitor the service levels achieved closely.
There is no mention in the Annual Report of the final investigation, and it transpired that, as of April 2009 this had yet to be commissioned. When it was commissioned and presented to tne current council I asked for a copy. My request was denied - my three year stint on Council ended in December 2008. I and some councillors contested the matter - we pointed out that the report had been promised to the membership. We didn't prevail. The more astute of you will surmise that the final report had turned out to be not exactly thrillingly good.
And you'd be right. I have a copy. It's eye-wateringly bad. Scarily, bad given that it's as easy to lose members than it is to gain them. You can have a copy too if you care to e-mail me on simon_legg@yahoo.co.uk . Obviously I can only send it to members.
Two things are clear. The Annual Report to the AGM is misleading. There is, as I have said, no mention of the final report and the assertion that service levels would be monitored closely simply cannot be supported by the facts. As for 'all the issues have now been addressed'......read it and weep.
I think the Chair has a duty to apologise formally to the membership. I think the Management Committee has to take the task in hand in a serious way. And I think the National Office has to realise that the first priority of this Club must be the membership.
Ever-fancier proposals for converting the Club in to a Charity are now being drawn up. This is a vain exercise. Before setting off on a journey to the stratosphere it would be as well to check that the kitchen cupboard is well stocked. Those councillors who have preferred to drift with the Chair have got to wake up. If we can't get the basics right, we're sunk.
The hiding of the report goes to the heart of the relationship between the core and the membership. It's about transparency. The CTC doesn't have enough of it. I don't believe that Councillors have the full story on the business dealings that the CTC has entered in to, and I fear that a very great deal of the members funds is being used to bail out those that go wrong. I'm pleased to say that there are Councillors applying skills, both professional and inquisitorial (and far greater than my own) in pursuit of the truth. I'm not sure they have entirely succeeded, and, while I wish them well I suspect that in the event of a Council-sponsored resolution for Charity status going on the agenda of the 2010 AGM it is unlikely in the extreme that members will receive sufficient information to enable them to make up their minds with confidence. It's time for Councillors to tell the Chair that they cannot support a resolution until they are satisfied that the membership is in full posession of the facts.
