New ARNY Interim Chairman

Please see the message below from Paul Crane.

I wanted to take a few moments to announce that I will be taking over as Chairman of ARNY with immediate effect.  Most of you will be aware that, last month, after many years Steve Potts expressed his decision to step down from the role, and part of our constitution requires us to have a chairperson to continue to operate.  Due to personal circumstances, I will only be taking over on an interim basis until a permanent successor can be found, but in the meantime, I am honoured to be asked to step in.

Steve has played an enormous part in the success of ARNY.  He has been a member since 2012, when we were formed, and has been a steadying hand at the helm for many years overseeing the growth and success of the club, in addition to continuing to provide many individuals with excellent tutoring during their development journeys.  There aren’t many Saturdays when Steve isn’t present at Strawberry Fields, rain or shine, and the club owes a debt of gratitude to him for his enthusiasm and dedication throughout.  I will miss his wise words and calm manner around the Committee table.

Of course, the Chairman cannot run the club alone and we are lucky to have a very professional team of volunteers working on behalf of all the members to keep the club running.  From Committee work to Tutoring and organising our social rides and activities, the club is very lucky to have such a rich pool of talented individuals to keep things operating smoothly, and we owe them thanks too.

My background is that I started motorbiking in the 90’s, passing my CBT in 1994.  I joined ARNY nearly 10 years ago and have been tutoring most of that time, progressing to my Diploma in 2020.  I’m married with 2 grown up children and, when not riding with ARNY, I love touring – I’ve just returned from a >3,000-mile trip around Central Europe, visiting 8 countries on the way. I also enjoy cycling, mountain biking (I’m a qualified leader), hiking and skiing.

Thanks to the team, ARNY is in great shape.  At approaching 150 members, we have the largest membership we’ve ever had; we’ve had more new members join this year than ever also (a warm welcome to all of you!) and we are the busiest we’ve ever been with tutoring.  We’ve also got more social activities in the calendar than we’ve had previously.  This is with a backdrop of an industry that certainly isn’t growing much.  Motorcycling activity in the UK has been fairly flat for a number of years now.  Sadly, what is still on the increase is accidents on the roads, and Yorkshire & Humber has some of the worst statistics in the country.  So, our work continues to make an important contribution to skill levels in the region.

So, the club will continue as it has done moving forwards.  Our aim will continue to be to provide the highest quality of advanced rider training, supplemented by social activities and rides for members, pre- and post-test.

My closing remarks are simply to wish you all well for the rest of the riding year.  We are always grateful for offers of help from members, and we also have some vacancies on the Committee, so please come and talk to us if you’d like to get involved, or chat about anything else.

Best Regards

Paul Crane