CTC reported as a charity

A place to discuss the issues relating to the proposed change in the national CTC’s structure.
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Richard
Posts: 423
Joined: 10 Jan 2007, 5:01pm

CTC reported as a charity

Post by Richard »

I see the CTC is being classed as a charity - poor reporting or are the spin doctors at work?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/southeastwales/hi/people_and_places/nature/newsid_8721000/8721078.stm
Regulator
Posts: 523
Joined: 27 Jan 2007, 10:13am

Re: CTC reported as a charity

Post by Regulator »

Richard wrote:I see the CTC is being classed as a charity - poor reporting or are the spin doctors at work?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/southeastwales/hi/people_and_places/nature/newsid_8721000/8721078.stm



Poor reporting. The CTC Trust, which runs Bike Club, is of course a charity. Personally, I think that CTC should make the difference between the Club and the Trust clearer to journalists...
CliveA
Posts: 34
Joined: 15 Feb 2008, 3:25pm

Re: CTC reported as a charity

Post by CliveA »

Hello Richard, Regulator

Yes, in that BBC article, Bike Club was described as being partly run by "the cycling charity CTC" and as Regulator points out, it is indeed the CTC Charitable Trust that's involved.

I appreciate that there are strongly held views on the Club/Trust issue, but I'd suggest that the important thing here is that CTC (whichever part of the larger organisation) is being recognised for its involvement.

Regulator - You suggest "making the difference between the Club and the Trust clearer to journalists". We supply journalists with a lot of information about what we do, and they make use of that which they find most relevant. I'm not sure why "the difference between the Club and the Trust" would be important in the context of a 300 word article about a CTC project. This issue is undoubtedly important to many members, but arguably not to the wider public.

I say this without any prejudice toward either side of the Club/Trust discussion.

Clive
Bike Club
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EdinburghFixed
Posts: 2375
Joined: 24 Jul 2008, 7:03pm

Re: CTC reported as a charity

Post by EdinburghFixed »

The distinction is lost on most people.

I myself was baffled to discover that the CTC was not already a charity when this whole thing blew up.
GrahamNR17
Posts: 2828
Joined: 15 Nov 2009, 6:31pm

Re: CTC reported as a charity

Post by GrahamNR17 »

If you had inside knowledge of todays newspaper - any newspaper - you'd discover that every single article contains technical inaccuracies. Alas this is newspapers, no single story they publish is completely accurate. I discovered that many years ago. The rush to fill white space is far more important than reporting the news with absolute accuracy. You shouldn't blame the CTC for anything someone else reports, it's just not possible to make journalists do their job thoroughly.
CliveA
Posts: 34
Joined: 15 Feb 2008, 3:25pm

Re: CTC reported as a charity

Post by CliveA »

GrahamNR17 - You are absolutely right about the issue of inaccuracies in news reporting.

However, I don't think BBC South East were guilty of inaccuracy. They reported that Bike Club is partly run by CTC, and this is true. The distinction between the two arms of CTC is understood and discussed by many of us, but from from an outsider's point of view, this distinction is of minimal relevance.
belgiangoth
Posts: 1657
Joined: 29 Mar 2007, 4:10pm

Re: CTC reported as a charity

Post by belgiangoth »

If you don't like their coverage of the intricacies of the CTC you should see what passes as their coverage of Rugby League.
If I had a baby elephant, I would put it on a recumbent trike so that it would become invisible.
Jonty

Re: CTC reported as a charity

Post by Jonty »

It would be interesting to find out what outside organisations and the public think the CTC is and what its public image is. Most of the occasional cyclists I meet have never heard of the CTC. When I say I'm in the CTC they say "what's that?"
"The Cyclists' Touring Club" sounds a bit antiquated and posh to me: rather like a gentlemen's club such as the Windsor Polo Club or the Bullingdon Club; however, being someone with social aspirations I'm quite happy with it.
It would be interesting to know why people joined the CTC. I heard about it relatively recently and joined it to support cycling which I consider a good cause. I thought it was a charity already. I never realized that I was joining a private club like my former squash club. I don't tour - I find foreign countries too hot, I can't speak the language, they drive on the wrong side of the road and there are too many strange insects which bite me -or use any of the facilites except this Forum, which I have found very helpful on the few technical matter I have inquired about.
I find England sufficiently foreign.
When I joined I thought I was basically giving a charitable donation just like the other good causes I support. I was therefore surprised when I stumbled into the charity/non-charity debate; however, I did try and come to an informed view with the interest of the organisation and its members at heart.
jonty
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