Well, it seems like no time at all since I submitted my last report, and again, the words 'copy deadline' are looming frightfully close. I hope you've al! had a good summer, and that you rallied & partied to your heart's content-

News is usually a mixture of good and bad. And over the last few months I've had extremes of both.

As you may have heard (and I bet It's got a mention or two before you read this far), our application for a Lottery Grant was successful. We now have the funding to employ somebody to man the office full time. The grant itself is spread over 3 years, and includes not just the salary costs, but also a small amount towards the increase in office expenses.

What this means is that we have the finances to employ somebody to run the office. What it doesn't mean is that NABD is suddenly awash with money. We still have to continue to raise money as we always have done to fund everything we do. It's that now, we will have somebody to answer the phone, deal with the post and get the information out faster than before. The main aim is to enable us to spend more time developing both new and neglected areas of the association, an aim that has sometimes had to take a back seat in recent times due to the constant flow of paperwork.

The success of this project to date has given all of us a boost. We know we have been improving over the last few years, but obtaining a grant like this is proof that we have come a long way. The AGM was a rare event for Kel & myself. It's been years since I've been camping in a field and not had to either marshal the thing or worry about a stall, it made a refreshing break. Unfortunately since then I seem to have absolutely no free time at weekends. They have all involved either meetings (which feel as though they last all weekend), a few of the smaller local shows, a weekend of stuffing the last Open House into envelopes, and a one hour visit to the Bulldog Bash (yes, you guessed it, on Sunday when the heavens opened!). One of the shows we attended was the Radcliffe Bike Show. I first heard about this event through Bikersweb (the part that caught my eye being the 50% of profits to NABD). I made the bad mistake of agreeing to be a judge (they had promised me I could pass the death penalty..........). I have never

tried to judge a bike show before and very quickly found out how hard it actually is. It was nice to see lan Taylor take the Best Disabled Adaption trophy and even better to see him take the Mayor of Bury for a spin round the field on his trike. All in all, a good day out was had by all, and was made all the better when I found out that the event had made a profit. Gaz McCabe and myself went up to the Crusaders MCC meeting to accept a cheque for £204.00 My immense thanks to Lemmy, Bess and crew for all their hard work and effort that made the show a success.

In between all this good news and great days out, life has given me its usual reminder that good times can be fleetingly short.

I mentioned in my last write up the pleasure it was to meet so many of the Bikersweb Crew on the National Rally. In some of my forays into the chatroom there, I had invited people to come over to the control cabin to say hello. Amongst the first to take me up were Mark and Sam. I had spoken to them many times on-line and was really please to finally meet them in the flesh. We talked for a few minutes then arranged to meet in the beer-tent later, As is quite often the case on the rally, I never got the chance. I was shocked to hear on 9th July, Sam had died from a brain tumour. Her funeral was a proper tribute to the person she was. She was quiet but friendly lass and it was no surprise to me that bikers from all over the country turned up to pay their respects. My thoughts go out to her family and to Mark. RIP Flower.

Since then I have heard of the passing of Hughie Henderson. Hughie was the Landlord of the Woodman, a local pub where we used to hold the rally meetings about 6 years ago. A nice guy who offered his help several times with licensing problems on the rally. RIP Hughie.

Then came the biggest shock of all to me. One of my best mates, Ed Aspin, was found dead on 14th August. Only the day before I was talking with Rick about proposing Ed for the post of assistant rep for this area. Ed has been my mate since I first moved round here. He sorted me out when I was homeless, he helped me when I was jobless and was there for me throughout a rather painful divorce. He had the sort of problems that alienate most people and perhaps the most fitting tribute is that despite these, there has rarely been a larger funeral turnout locally. RIP Ed,

Ed was very proud of his involvement in the NABD, and it's a pride that we can all share in. The NABD has always proven itself to be a worthwhile association and never more so than this year. Let's all try to make next year an even greater success.