From a quick scan of the debates on their forum, it appears that they’re caught between two sides.
One lot want them to remain as a member-focused organisation, as it appears that the Charities Commission won’t sign up an organisation that exists for the benefit of its members (rather than cyclists in general).
The other side reckons that changing to a charity would hamstring them as a campaigning organisation.
It also appears that the proposed change hasn’t been sold well to the membership. There seems to be a feeling that CTC don’t do very much in return for the subs.
Personally I’m not a CTC member (racing and Skyride involvement have steered me towards BC) but I’ll be interested to see how this goes.
I do have an impression that they’re a sleeping giant. They are the go-to people for quotes when papers run cycling stories, yet campaigning at a local level is fairly non-existent. Their member services are up there with the best of them, but I don’t really need 10% off at Wiggle. I do welcome their increased involvement in off-road cycling and bringing Ian Warby on board was a smart move.
It all seems a far cry from the time when they would lay on a special train to take their members on cycling holidays.
[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyz5d3entBw[/video]