February is AGM time at Anselmians rugby club. It was well attended, despite rearranged football fixtures. Chairperson Steve Hunter hosted the meeting and once the AGM was brought to a close it was onto the prize giving and annual awards. Si Eshelby received the Observer of the year, Michael Stubbs the associate of the year, associate coordinator Hadyn Abbey being awarded the Pete Lovatt trophy and Chris Waites being awarded the Pat Goodison trophy.

Outgoing vice chair Pete Montgomery also received his WAM branded goody bag in thanks for his several years service on the council.

The January club night is traditionally a 'Natter Night' .

After that long Christmas break, it's time to catch up with your biker mates, find out what they got for Christmas and where they rode to get away from the relatives. It was a well attended club night with a really good vibe, and it was great to welcome some new Associates from ARC1-25. Welcome to WAM! .

The first Christmas Party at our new venue was a successful evening with great company and good food. There was a really good buzz in the room on the night.

The club also welcomed our ASDM Dave Cox and examiner Andrew Bloomer to the evening and presented them each a WAM mug in recognition for all they do in helping us deliver the advanced rider course, it’s very much appreciated.

Joint social coordinator Wal Cope gave a talk in November on many off road riding disciplines from trail riding through Super enduro to his favourite trials, supported by some scary you tube videos. it proved enlightening for many members and prompted some to book an off road riding course in January!

October's club night main event was a talk on 'The Dockers Umbrella' -  Liverpool's overhead railway by David Hearn. A thoroughly engrossing talk was enjoyed by the members in attendance. 

Our IAM Roadmart Area Service Delivery Manager Dave Cox was the guest speaker for September's club night, giving a general discussion on his role within IAM Roadsmart and an insight of his background as a police traffic officer  His talk was very well received and his love of Kawasaki’s very very evident.

19 WAM members hopped aboard the Mersey ferry for a tour of Liverpool bay in August. The sun shone on the righteous and a lovely day was had by all. The least said about the "sea shanties" the better 

The August evening meeting saw our inaugural club night at Anselmians RUFC. As can be seen from the photo we had a good turn out for the event, though the live entertainment of a rugby match will not be on every club night! It was great to see so many associate members on a club night.

Hoylake Rugby Club hosted our annual summer BBQ in July. Despite clashing with the England football match we had a good attendance, and those that wanted were able to watch the footie!

The first 2 ride outs of the year were just over a week apart.

First one was on 24th April to Ma Bakers near Whitchuch who opened specially for the 15 of us to ride down as a group then return under our own steam. 

This was followed on 2nd May by a meet up at MES Powersports in Deeside, the New Yamaha dealer, who were holding an open evening then 11 continued for a 2 hour ride around North East Wales.

29th May was a ride out to Chain and Sprocket in Ruthin for their weekly Biker Night. Food was excellent and another great ride.

Thanks to Derek for leading the rides and everyone who has enjoyed them so far. More to follow.

The WAM June club night was a talk from Paul Varnsverry, an expert in the design, development and testing of motorcycle safety clothing. He is considered an expert in his field and shared that expertise with us. A truly eye opening talk from an industry expert - many thanks Paul for taking the time to visit us.

More information can be found on his company website:

https://www.pva-ppe.org.uk/who-we-are/

For our May club night, Chief Observer Dave Rees giving a presentation about immediate first aid following a bike accident, based on Merseyside Bikesafe course.

It was an enlightening evening running through what you should do when you come across an accident, from managing the traffic to removing a helmet. Thanks Dave for some great information we all hope we will never need to use.

A very well attended Annual General Meetings addressed and presented by our Chairman, Steve Hunter. A small change in some of the Committee with a new Treasurer Andy Churchill taking over from the long service by outgoing Treasurer John Temple. We also have a change of minutes secretary for our Committee meetings with Mike Hurst leaving the committee. Also retiring after many years in post is Steve Lord who has guided our social media platforms. The 2023 minutes and accounts and changes to the Committee were approved by the Members, with thanks, applause and best wishes to those stepping down.

We then moved on to the prize giving and awards section of the evening.

The Pete Lovett Award for outstanding contribution by a council member was awarded to Chief Observer Dave Rees. This was in recognition for the amount of work and effort Dave has given to development of our new website and email system, well deserved Dave.

Then Dave himself presented the Pat Goodison award for commitment and dedication by an associate to Steve Roberts. Congratulations Steve, well done!

The Associate Of The Year award was presented by Hadyn Abbey, Associate Coordinator, to Sophie Sharpe and Greg Eaton. It’s the first time this award has been shared but much deliberation was given to trying to come up with one name. In the end we couldn’t separate them for their commitment, effort and club support. Well done Greg and Sophie.

Last but not least, the Observer of the year award was given to Derek Jeffries our Deputy Chief Observer. Derek’s commitment and willingness to always help out and observe sometimes with little notice was above and beyond expectations, thank you Derek, well deserved.

Once the AGM was officially closed a social evening ensued with much laughter and not all conversations being about tyres or heated gloves!

The evening was also a great opportunity to meet some of our new Associate members in person - we are looking forward to seeing them at all our future meetings and events.

A very well attended November Club night with a talk by Derek Arnold about the history of Cammell Laird's Ship Building in Birkenhead. 

Really interesting to hear of the very many innovative designs in technology and engineering led by "Larids" brought to life by Derek.

Our Chairman was also able to present Associate Test Certificates to Hazel Coyle, Greg Eaton and Chris Houghton 

October club night last night saw WAM member presentations on the IAM Skills Day from Rob Cooper who volunteers as a coach for IAM on the track and Stuart Camsey who took part on one of the days during the summer. There were also Associate certificates presented as well. Well done to Stuart Long and Simon Mountney, with Simon obtaining a F1RST during his test. Stuart and Simon where presented their advanced rider certificates from club chairman Steve Hunter. 

A great turn out for a really informative presentation on all things suspension by Teut Wiehn of TW Suspension Tech. 

Thank you Teut

We also took the opportunity to congratulate and present certificates were also presented by Deputy Chief Observer Derek Jeffries to John Roe who passed his Masters test with a Distinction. Sophie Sharpe and Glen Buttler who passed their Advanced tests with a F1RST. Well done John, Sophie and Glen!