Executive Director's 2020 Summary and Infographic
Dear WORCA Members,
2020 has been a very challenging and unpredictable year, but I am happy to report that WORCA has been very successful in many different ways.
We had a strong start to the year, launching a new website and implementing a new membership system, and we had big plans in place for a new special event, The Back Forty, as well as a new venue and format for the Bike Swap. Unfortunately, all of these plans for events came to a halt as soon as the COVID-19 pandemic affected all of us in March.
One significant story this year is that despite amazing donations and funding support within our community, sadly our total number of members has fallen from 1,703 last year to 1,332 this year. It is particularly discouraging, knowing that our trails received a higher volume of users than any other year, with the delayed opening of the Bike Park and so many people finding more time to ride. Having a WORCA membership shows that you care about the stewardship of the trails. The reason for buying a membership is NOT only to participate in events like Toonie Rides and Phat Wednesdays; it is the most important advocacy tool that we have, and it is the cheapest season pass that you will ever buy.
We need membership revenue to cover a myriad of expenses and projects, but just as important, membership numbers affect our grant applications and the strength of our voice when we advocate for trail access and new trails. Ideally, we would like to see all local trail users become WORCA members, because with more, we can do more. If you know anybody that uses the Whistler trail network who is not a member, please help to spread this message to let them know about the importance of being a WORCA member every year.
Our biggest initial challenge as a result of the pandemic was finding ways to fund our operations, knowing that we would not be receiving revenue from our usual events and fundraisers. This became a more severe problem when we were notified in April that our Fee for Service funding for trail maintenance was being cut from $120k to $40k. Our first big step was to quickly adapt our financial planning to find ways to qualify for the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy and to maximize the amount that we received throughout the year.
Incredibly, we have ended up spending more on trails this year ($134k) than last year. This would not have been possible without your donations, so please know that if you donated to WORCA this year, your contribution was greatly appreciated, and it made a significant difference to the trail network. Many thanks to the WORCA Trail Crew and all volunteer trail builders for keeping our trails in such great shape this year. Access to our trails has been really important for the physical and mental wellbeing of our community during the pandemic.
WORCA made a very early decision to proceed with planning and organizing our youth camps, despite the unknowns associated with the pandemic. We developed all of the necessary COVID protocols and our camps sold out very soon after we launched registration. We had to lower our overall numbers due to the new protocols, but we still had 333 registrations for our weekly Dirt Camps which is very impressive given the situation. Huge thanks to our Dirt Camp Manager and all of the WORCA coaches for adapting and working so hard to make this possible.
Regular events were not possible due to Provincial Health Orders, but WORCA adapted quickly to plan and run Virtual Toonie Rides. We were the first trail association to do this and many other organizations contacted us to find out how they could do the same. We are glad that we managed to keep our members engaged by offering this new format and there were 928 registrations for 10 Virtual Toonie Rides. Many thanks to all of our sponsors that supported us by providing prizes for these events.
None of what WORCA does is possible without the support of the local community and we would like to thank all of our members, sponsors and donors for enabling us to continue with all of our important work.
2020 is not quite over yet and WORCA has a very busy month ahead. We will be hiring a Trails and Planning Administrator, producing a new four-year strategic plan, and launching a new fundraising campaign, so stay tuned to our newsletter and social media channels for lots of exciting updates.
Sincerely,
Trevor Ferrao
WORCA Executive Director
