Finances, Affiliations, Fees and Fundraising
As in all clubs funding can be a big problem, reliant as it is on membership numbers. Road racing meant that riders needed to be affiliated to national cycling associations for insurance purposes, so fees to these national bodies were included in Club subscriptions.The first recorded affiliation to the N.C.U. was in 1928. By 1933, the Club Rules show that the Club also had representatives on the ‘C.C.’ and the Teesside Cycling Association. 1939 saw affiliation to the R.T.T.C. followed by the B.L.R.C. in 1954. In this 75th year, the Club is affiliated to the B.C.F.,R.T.T.C, T.C.A., C.T.C. and the B.C.C.A.
Subscriptions
The first documentary evidence about members’ subscriptions appears in the 1933 Rules, the mens’ contributions being 3/6, the ladies and youths under 16 were 3/- .By 1956 fees had more than trebled to 12/6 and in 2001 they are £5.
Club racing events. In 1936 they raised £3.16.0. for the Club 25, in 1937 the same race raised £5 for 50 entries, with entries for the ‘105 in 7’ totalling 6/-.
Fees & Fundraising
Another source of income, right from the early days of the Club, has been the charging of fees for Club racing events. In 1936 they raised £3.16.0. for the Club 25, in 1937 the same race raised £5 for 50 entries, with entries for the ‘105 in 7’ totalling 6/-.
However, subscriptions and racing fees were not enough to keep the Club’s head above water and it had to resort to other ideas. The first money spinner was in 1949 with the Grand National draw. By of unwanted bicycle components with 20% of the profits going to the Club. According to the 1950 accounts, badges bought from Greens of Coventry for 2/3d each were then sold for 2/9d. A football buster competition proved popular, while the Milk Race draw in 1971 totalled £22 with 50% for Club funds. By 1974, however, financial disaster was imminent, with an entry appearing in the Minutes ‘A finance report revealed that the Club had a total of only 95p in the bank’. Steve Davies suggested a fundraising idea to the committee, which would take the form of a news sheet, with advertising space being offered to businesses in the region of distribution.The meeting accepted this as an excellent idea. In 1975 Steve estimated the cost of the news-sheet at £200 and ‘members were asked to approach business people who could be interested’. Presumably the printing costs were an obstacle, since nothing happened until January 1983 when the first issue of the ‘Ferryhill Half-Wheeler’ appeared as a single typed sheet, with the editorial written by Howard R. Jones and no advertising. Included in this first number were dates for meeting at the new venue in Ferryhill Leisure Centre, names of elected officials for 1983, sponsorships, 1982 prizewinners and a subscription reminder. In 1983, with the 3rd issue, the name had changed to ‘The Half-Wheeler’ and the typed information covered four pages. The Autumn (Issue No.4) and Winter (Issue No.1) 1984 returned to the original title of ‘Ferryhill Half -Wheeler’ with photographs of Tom Easter and Alan Palmer on the front covers. Information had expanded to include Treasure Hunts, Club runs, maps of routes,1983 Club records, 1984 officials, Club trophies, 1983 prizewinners, diary events, members’ activities, information for new members and sponsorship rules for 1984. Sadly the news sheet survived for only two years. In September 2001, however, Howard Jones has produced a newsletter which hopefully, will be a lasting source of information.
