A Warm Welcome to Hillingdon Slipstreamers

 

 

Dear Parents/ Guardians,

[THIS PAGE AND ITS CONTENTS IS INTENDED FOR PARENTS/ GUARDIANS OF CHILDREN WHO HAVE RECENTLY ATTENDED A SLIPSTREAMERS INDUCTION – IT IS NOT FOR SHARING OR WIDER CIRCULATION]

 

Thank you for attending your child/children’s induction at the Hillingdon Cycle Circuit, which we hope was enjoyed by all.

As promised during the parent briefing, the following document contains details regarding next steps in your child’s Slipstreamers journey so please kindly read ALL this information carefully. Everything you need to know regarding sessions, membership, deadlines etc is outlined below. If you are unsure or need more information, just ask.

Please also ensure you and your children are clear on the Slipstreamers Code of Conduct, as well as the Saturday session rules – click here to be reminded of these.

I appreciate there is a LOT of information to take in, so do make yourself a cuppa (a big one!), grab a biscuit, sit back and have a good read. As mentioned during the briefing, we put in a lot of effort to ensure you have everything you need to know from the very beginning, so please make the time to mull it all over and note the key points and deadline for membership sign-up.

 

TRIAL PERIOD – A FEW THINGS TO NOTE…

 

  • Your child’s trial period will come to an end with their last session as a non-member on the 4th Saturday after their induction.
  • During the trial period, we would encourage your child to attend as many sessions as possible to get a good sense of whether or not Slipstreamers is the Club for them. In order to take up membership we expect them to have attended a minimum of 3 sessions (including the induction) before we will consider any applications. If you need a bit longer because you’ll be away, all you need to do is let me know so details aren’t removed from our database.
  • Children are welcome to join in the main Saturday sessions from 9.30am – 12pm during their trial period and take part in all activities that form part of these sessions – the fee for participation is £6 per child (includes booking fee).
  • Early performance sessions before 9.30am are for the benefit of Club Members only and your child may only join their once membership is approved.
  • You shall have already joined Spond to be invited to the induction, which is where you shall be provided with a link to book a place for the upcoming sessions. When booking, you will need to know what group you child shall be riding in, as they may be in multiple groups, your child’s name will be listed on the most recent Assessment blog post, and we ask you to ensure they are present to make their presence known to their coaches before 9.30am – latecomers won’t be able to join the session, so please don’t be late. Sessions start at 9.30am.
  • If your child’s name is not on the assessment post, this means they are in the Bronze Group on the Apron– if you aren’t sure do feel free to ask for help and we will be more than happy to assist.

 

DEADLINE & HOW TO JOIN AS A MEMBER…

 

Once your child has attended at least 2 sessions after the induction, and have got to know us a bit better and vice versa, they are very welcome to join Slipstreamers as a member if they have decided they are ready to do so.

After the final Saturday session of the trial period, you will have until midnight on the Sunday to submit a membership application. Please put this date in your diary to action – the onus is on you to sign up for membership if your child is keen as we do not have the capacity to send out reminders. You are welcome to submit the application now if you want to – but please note this won’t be reviewed until the date noted above. You will need to submit an application form via Membermojo, the system we use to manage our membership database. It is important to ensure we receive accurate details and we’d be grateful if you would click the link below for step by step instructions and guidelines, and to access the system. Once your form is submitted, this will go through an approval and validation process, which will then need to be followed by payment.Note that this application must be completed by a Parent or legal Guardian of the young person as parental consent is required. If you are not the parent/ legal guardian of the child who attended the induction please ensure this information is passed on accordingly.

 

NOTE: If membership hasn’t been activated by the date noted above, your child’s details will automatically be removed from our system and you will not be able to book a ticket for the next Saturday session. To avoid any issues and distress for your child in particular, we would appreciate your cooperation in this regard.

If your child decides not to take up membership, we’d love to hear why so do please send us some feedback.

 

HOW WE COMMUNICATE…

 

We fully appreciate – like the rest of us – you undoubtedly receive a barrage of newsletters to your inbox, and – like the rest of us – are very busy and don’t always have time to read everything in detail. However, please note that we put in a lot of time and effort to share the opportunities available to our members via various channels, and as such we expect Parents/ Guardians to stay informed and also ensure our younger members receive this information too.

Aside from Twitter and our Website News Hub, which we update with announcements, a newsletter is also produced on occasion – if you have an additional email address you’d like us to add to the mailing list for important updates, please do send this over. If your child has an email address and is happy to be added to the newsletter distribution list, do feel free to send us the details and we’ll update accordingly.

 

VOLUNTEERING WITH US…

 

The continued strength, success and growth of Hillingdon Slipstreamers is a source of great pride for all involved in the club. We believe that Hillingdon Slipstreamers provides – and will continue to provide – excellent value, not just during Saturday sessions, but via the various training, social and personal development opportunities we provide on a regular basis.

Our Volunteers show an extraordinary commitment to the club and its programme and our continued and future success depends on sustaining and refreshing that volunteer base that delivers the phenomenal experience our members love. Many volunteers who have been around for years have moved on, and more will be moving on at the next AGM. We need more parents to come forward and help the club as Committee Members if we are to continue operating and providing the opportunities that we do.

We recognise that everyone has differing constraints limiting the amount of time that they can give. However, we do expect that by signing up your child/ children as members you agree that you will help the club at least a few times during the year ahead – more if you are able. Every contribution makes a massive difference – whether it’s assisting once a month, marshalling at a club champs event or the summer series races, helping in the canteen, picking up litter every Saturday, carrying equipment, offering basic administration support. There are so many parents who have stepped up this past year to help across the board, for which we are very grateful, but these are the usual faces who often help. We need more of you to step up and help, and look forward to your support over the coming year.

 

QUESTIONS/ POINTS OF CONTACT…

 

Moving forward, your main points of contact are as follows – please ensure the domain @slipstreamers.co.uk is added to your safe senders list and the emails below added to your address book to avoid emails we send out ending up in your spam/ junk folder:

  • All queries around sessions (including during your trial period), events, young leaders, general operations should be sent to admin@slipstreamers.co.uk
  • If you need to contact the CWO team to discuss any welfare matters or report any illnesses or injuries, use cwo@slipstreamers.co.uk
  • Once signed up, Marco, our Membership Secretary, is on hand to deal with any membership enquiries on membership@slipstreamers.co.uk
Please don’t use info@ or the website contact page as your enquiry will likely only be picked up later than you need it to.

Remember there is also a full team of volunteers at your disposal for any queries you may have during a Saturday morning, who are there to ensure every single child’s journey at Slipstreamers is one they will enjoy and grow from. Don’t hesitate to talk to us – mugshots are all up on the big noticeboard, so do familiarise yourself with who’s who.

 

FINALLY…

 

If you managed to get to this part of the page without falling asleep, well done!! 😀
But jokes aside, we fully appreciate there is a lot to absorb and there are some rules to observe; however with a very large Club Community of hundreds of children, volunteers and parents, these are necessary for safeguarding and to ensure a seamless transition from trial period to membership with the least amount of fuss.

Please help us out by working with us in partnership, and in doing so, enjoying a fun and happy Slipstreamers journey for you and your children.

We trust the above is all clear and makes sense, but if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out.

Thank you!
Kind regards,
Marco
Hillingdon Slipstreamers – Membership Secretary