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NEMAG GETS NEW REGIONAL REP
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Ian and the real boss grand-daughter Daisy |
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Hello! Well, I went along to the NEMAG AGC last Sunday and came away elected as Regional Rep!
I don’t usually get an election at meetings, it must be the ginseng I’ve been taking now I’m approaching 50!
I’m Ian Cook and I’ve been a MAG member for around 8 years.
When I quit full-time work a couple of years ago, I thought I might devote a bit of spare time to helping MAG.
I went along to a Rep’s training weekend with Chris & Louise Wooff and a few months later, we re-started the Darlington & District Local Group.
Since then, I have been Darlo’s Vice-Rep and Political Officer, marshalled at a few rallies, helped persuade the Borough Council that bikes are a valid form of transport and should be provided for in the Local Transport Plan, met many interesting bikers and MAG members and indulged in much merriment to boot!
My current bike is a Honda VF1100C Magna.
This replaced the Kawasaki you see in the photo, due to advancing age (me, not the bike!), excess speed and incipient lumbago.
The Honda’s the latest in a series of bikes which have included a Royal Enfield Continental GT, BSA A65, Triumph T150V Trident, BMW R80, Suzuki Bandit, Armstrong MT500 and the Kwak GPZ1000RX.
I have been riding on and off since the mid-seventies (the 'off' was 13 years of marriage - she said "it’s me or the bike!". In retrospect, I made the wrong choice, though to be fair, she was antibike because her brother had been killed on one).
I will have a lot to live up to in the new post as the outgoing Rep, Robin Straughan, has been very effective over the last 3½ years in building MAG in the Region and very supportive of the local groups.
I aim to build on Robin’s legacy, with emphasis on attracting more active members to help with MAG campaigns. In the Darlington Local group, we have achieved this through building the social side of the group and working with other bike clubs.
Once people meet us and get involved, they seem to be happy to do a bit towards supporting MAG’s campaigns admin., marshalling rallies, etc. etc.
I also want to make more of the NEMAG website and, with the help of our new webmaster Paul Roberts, I hope to get it developed as a 'virtual meeting point' for all bikers in the North East. Jayne Leadbetter has been the Clubs Liaison Officer for a while now and I would like to work with her to develop closer ties with other bike clubs in the Region.
Our Dealer Liaison, Barry Soanes, will be the link with the bike shops in the Region and hopefully will be able to extract sponsorship and other support.
Finally, I see the Regional Rep & Officers as a vital bridge between the 'Corporate' face of MAG Central and the friendly face of the local groups.
With the help of the experienced veterans of the NEMAG committee - Robin (Political & Police Liaison), Archi (Vice Rep. & Sec.), and Roy (Treasurer), I hope that I can do a good job.
If anyone would like more info, or to get involved, please get in touch:
Ian Cook 0870 774 3548 north-east-region@mag-uk.org
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