Increase of Membership Subscriptions from 1st Jan 2017

The last time the Club increased subscription charges was September 2007 and the costs of running it have increased significantly since then.  The main cost items for the Club are:

- The Moultoneer magazine

- The Annual Meet at BoA in September.

The costs of producing The Moultoneer have risen to the point where its annual cost (to produce and to distribute) is more than the income we have from membership subscriptions.  To illustrate this:

Costs of The Moultoneer as a percentage of annual subscription income.

2007      43.2%          2008     48.9%                                  2009      63.2%          2010      80.4%                                  2011      78.3%           2012      41.4%                                2013      87.5%           2014     91.5%                                  2015      109.2%

An increasing use of colour in the magazine since 2007, (all-colour from 2015), has been popular and benefits all the membership. The Committee wants to continue with this.

Printing costs and distribution costs have increased since 2007.  Second Class UK postage then was 24p. It is now 55p, (nearly 2.3 times the cost in 2007).  Costs of posting The Moultoneer to our European and Rest of the World members have also substantially increased.

The cost of the September BoA Meet has also gone up quite dramatically in recent years.

Up to and including 2011, BoA was run close to ‘break-even’, with the evening meal being usually held at St. Margaret’s Hall in the town. From 2007, with increased membership subscriptions, the Club’s reserves, increased from £14,654 to £29,912 in 2012.

For 2012, to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of the F-Frame launch and with Alex Moulton’s decreasing mobility, the Committee decided that we would hire a marquee for the evening meal to be put up on the camping lawn and more shower/toilet capacity. This allowed the entire weekend to be held at The Hall. Members who preferred to BBQ on the lawn could feel part of the gathering.

For 2013, 2014 and 2015 (the Club’s 50^th Anniversary), the Committee decided to use the healthy reserves for the benefit of the Club’s Members and continue having the marquee, shower and toilet block hire at The Hall.

For 2016, The Committee wanted to return to a lower cost weekend. Unfortunately, St Margaret’s Hall was unavailable. The Moulton Bicycle Company offered to substantially contribute to the costs of the marquee, so it was decided to continue as for the previous recent years. For 2017, we will return to St. Margaret’s Hall for the Saturday evening meal.

Moulton owners are increasingly relying on the Internet for their fellowship with other Moulton owners.   This has meant that Membership numbers have decreased and the Club’s reserves have reduced. The Club still has substantial funds (£19,500 at Nov ‘16), but needs to increase its income to ensure it can continue in good health.

So, the Committee, voted unanimously at the 6^th November Committee Meeting, to raise the Membership subscriptions from 1^st January 2017 to:

UK £22.50,                          Europe £25.00                    Rest of the World               £30.00

With the increased income we can continue to offer members the fellowship that brings us together to enjoy our love of our Moultons with like-minded members well into the future.