Please Note: Due to a few minor amendments required by CASC the three documents have been amended on 8-09-06 - so you might want to re-read them....

By now all club members should have received notice of a Special General Meeting on October 5th, to vote on a major review of the Club’s Rules. It will be held at the British Legion Club, 95 Barry Road SE22, starting at 7.30 pm promptly.

This review is designed to do several things. Primarily we it will make our rulebook a little shorter, read more easily, and bring it ‘up to date’ with a proper mission statement and equal opportunities policy. Under these proposals a large proportion of the current rules will be changed to some degree: some will mean the same as before, but using simpler language; some may be deleted because they haven’t been used for many years; a couple conflict with other rules and have had to be changed; some make slight changes in the way we operate as a Club. However, the most important rule changes will enable the Club to become a Community Amateur Sports Club (CASC).

This will give us a number of benefits, most importantly to give us interest on our investments free from tax. We would also get Gift Aid tax relief on any donations made by individuals to the Club. With our current investments this will mean saving around £? per year in tax, a figure which will rise after we have identified the most suitable high-growth, long-term fund to invest with. In return for this tax relief we have to commit the Club to being not-for profit and amateur, so that all the Club’s assets will be used for the good of the Club and for the sport, or even for other sports. Its assets may not be used for personal gain for any members, so while it is possible to make payments to members, there are very strict rules on this.

A useful, short guide to CASC status can be found at www.hmrc.gov.uk/casc/index.htm  Our decision on this needs careful consideration, because once we have decided to register as a CASC, we cannot reverse this. A CASC should: Have a membership policy open to all members of the community. Be not-for-profit – any surplus funds made must be available to further the Club’s aims, or to further the aims of the sport and its National Governing Body. Have a stated policy that if the Club should ever dissolve, then its assets must not be shared out among the members, but be donated to other CASCs or the sport’s governing body.

Three documents have been placed on our website, www.delaunecc.org  which should guide you through the rule changes we intend to make. The first contains the proposed changes to the General Rules, the second the proposed changes to the Memorial Fund Rules, and the third is a draft of how the rules will look, if all of the proposed changes are accepted at the meeting. If you don’t have access to the internet, please contact Brian Saxton who will be happy to send you a set.

The proposals will be considered in turn at the SGM, so it has the potential of being a long meeting. For that reason I recommend that you have a good look through and make sure you understand the changes before you attend. Please feel free to email me beforehand with any questions, at wxwright@msn.com, or phone me on 020 7735 9605.

All the proposals have been studied in detail by senior members of the Club, as well as the Club’s solicitor and the Inland Revenue’s Sports Club Unit to make sure they comply with Trust Law and CASC rules. After the last major review of our rulebook there were several adjustments made at General Meetings over the following couple of years. Therefore I suggest that we reserve the main discussion for the important points, and if we need to make minor alterations to wording in the less important ones, we can do this at future meetings.

After a few quieter years, it is evident that the Club is starting to rise again. I feel that this meeting will be a landmark day for the Club, and that by becoming a CASC we can commit ourselves to a secure and lasting legacy for cycling long into the future. I hope that as many of you as possible can attend the meeting and show your support for these important changes.

Bill Wright