Posts by: administrator

Training and Support

Thanks to those of you who took the time to visit us at the Autosport Show – you seem to like my bulletins so I will need to think of some new topics!  Any suggestions welcome.

Our #JoinJim marshal cut-out “posed” with a few celebrities – thanks to NGK for their ongoing support of the club and also thanks to MGCC for the presentation cheque!  Thanks of course also to our other sponsors – Polyflor, TIGA and Cataclean.

The Watkins lecture laid out the vision and plans of David Richards CBE.  Outlining the need to promote endeavours outside the sport; embrace new forms of motorsport in electric cars and track day attendees; simplification and cost reduction to encourage new and younger entrants; and ensuring women are well represented were all topics which made for an interesting talk.  The man himself also took the time to visit us on our stand – much appreciated and I look forward to the BMMC working with the MSA and Mr Richards going forward.

Don’t forget to renew your membership to ensure you have access to all club benefits – watch out for updates going forward.  Over 80% of you have renewed already and most of you are on direct debit.

And don’t forget to renew your MSA licence directly.  Training days are well underway – remember to maintain your MSA grade you must attend training every two years minimum.  When you attend you will be asked to complete a feedback form – these are really helpful for the trainers as well as the organisers to ensure we receive the relevant fees from the Training Trust to run these days for everyone.

Any member planning to marshal at an event outside UK mainland is recommended to arrange BMMC Emergency Medical Repatriation insurance.  In 2017, 68 members paid the nominal £10 for this protection but we know many more of you travelled without cover. Please do not put yourselves at risk for the sake of such a small premium.  Full details on our website https://www.marshals.co.uk/marshalling/repatriation-insurance/

We are in to awards season for many organisations – it is good to honour the drivers and championships for their achievements.  However it is even better to award our own!  So congratulations to Regional award winners who have already been announced. Our National awards will be presented soon and we’ll publicise these in due course.  Previous winners can be found on the website.

The volunteering system is filling up with dates and a few enhancements will go live very soon so watch out for a separate message about these.  Then you will be able to fill your calendars – hope you’ve got your brownie points in for all the good deeds and best behaviour!

Keep an eye out for updates to the website too – monthly prize winners will continue so don’t forget to check if it’s you.  If you have trouble logging in please contact our IT officer or check your email is correct with your local membership secretary.

Happy New Year

I hope you have all enjoyed the festivities over Christmas and New Year.  If like me you’ve eaten half your own body weight in turkey, cheese, chocolates, contributed to the bottle recycling mountain and for some reason none of my clothes now fit – daren’t try on my overalls!

Any one made any resolutions?  Getting fitter?  Slimmer?  Less drinking?  Complete an upgrade?  Attend a training day?  Maybe some or all of the above?

One of mine is to travel around and visit some areas of the country I haven’t yet managed to make an appearance at.  I hope to get to a couple of training days and am planning my volunteering dates for the coming season but where else should I go?

I can’t guarantee I will accommodate every suggestion but where would you like me to visit?  And which event / time of year would be most interesting?  Entertaining?

Please email me your thoughts and I will see what I can achieve.

The first event of 2018 for me will be the Autosport Show at the NEC in Birmingham.  We will have two stands this year so do pop by to say hello.  BRMC – Stand 7166 / BMMC – Stand 8232.  I will also attend the Watkins lecture – this years speaker is David Richards CBE, newly appointed Chairman of MSA.  He has already made some interesting comments since his appointment so this will be fascinating to hear his thoughts on the future of UK motorsport.

Which reminds me of another David!  Don’t forget to renew your membership to be in with a chance of winning a drive at Bedford Autodrome courtesy of Jonathan Palmer and MSV.  Remember the easiest way to renew is online or why not set up a direct debit for next year?  Please note we will not be able to accept cash or renewal forms at Autosport so please send to Dave Reed, National Membership Secretary.

My other resolution is to continue to serve your club as your Chairman and ensure that marshals are at the forefront of clubs, events and organisers responsibilities.  I am again Chairman of the MSA Marshals Working Group – our first meeting is on 8 March.  This group reports to Volunteer Officials Committee (NOTE: was Volunteer Officials Advisory Panel) – meetings on 22 March and 18 October.  As Chair of BMMC I also hold a position on Race Committee – meetings on 11 April / 25 July / 31 October.  If you have any queries or concerns please raise with your regional committee in the first instance and they will pass on to me if it requires raising at a higher level.

We are hoping to have the volunteering system up and working fully including a few enhancements very shortly.  Dates are normally finalised at or just after Autosport and will be added by the regional coordinators shortly afterwards.  So watch this space for forthcoming news.

Keep an eye out for updates to the website too – monthly prize winners will continue so don’t forget to check if it’s you.

I hope you are all signed up for training days – don’t forget your PRC card!  Just need to sort my kit out – new stopwatch for Christmas and may invest in a new kit box on wheels.

Wishing you all a safe and motorsport filled 2018.

A few reminders and announcements for this month….starting with:

Social Media.  The MSA have created guidelines to assist users avoid some of the common pitfalls that can arise and to help social media to be used in a responsible way.  This is for your protection – please think twice before posting! (https://www.msauk.org/assets/msasocialmediaguidelines-6.pdf)

In particular:

• Don’t write something that you wouldn’t be prepared to say to someone.
• When posting on a social media website, assume that anybody can access that post.
• Determine whether you are participating in a personal or official capacity and consider whether your opinions and activity are appropriate in that context.
• Remember that participating in social media results in your comments being permanently available and open to being re-published by other media outlets. It should be assumed that anything published in social media will remain available indefinitely, even if it is deleted from the original site.
• You should be mindful at all times that MSA regulations and UK law continue to be applicable in the online environment.

AGM

Regional committee AGMs are in the process of taking place – your chance to have a say and get involved locally.  Or how about attending the National AGMs??

BRMC – 37^th AGM at Twycross Village Hall, Leicestershire on Sun 26 Nov at 14:00

BMMC – 60^th AGM at The Jury’s Inn, Milton Keynes on Sun 3 Dec at 14:00

Membership subscriptions

I am pleased to advise that there is no increase in the annual subscriptions for 2018 and renewals are now open. Details have been sent by email.

Training

Events and dates are being planned and confirmed – watch out for further updates on the website training page and regional newsletters etc.

Thanks

As a Club we wish to record our our very grateful thanks to the organisers of Kop Hill Climb and Donington Park for their recent donations of £2,000 and £1,200 respectively. In both instances these donations reflect the ongoing support our members have provided.

Prize Draw

Finally – we are pleased to offer a monthly prize draw to our members.  I will select at random a member from our database, whose name will appear on a specially created page on the website.  By logging on you will be able to find out if it’s you!  Contact me to claim your prize of an item of clothing from our Teamwear range.  Remember to check your log on details via the website and volunteering database.  First draw to take place within the next 10 days!

How exciting – let the fireworks commence!

How’s the job going?

Mostly this question comes from fellow marshals who I haven’t seen in a while or have not met before and I realise that the inquiry refers to my role as Chairman of the BMMC and not my employment during the week.

Yes that seems to surprise some people too – the role of Chair and the other Council and committee members are all voluntary.  I can claim expenses to and from Council meetings – train fare for example – and any time I am on official business but otherwise I am a volunteer as you all are!

(For those who don’t know I started a new job in January as Interim Supply Chain Manager for a gluten free product manufacturer – no names but we just launched waffles in the UK!)

In terms of my role as Chair I can honestly say I am amazed how quick this year is flying by.  I set out some aims and objectives for my tenure in position and I am pleased to report I have been working closely with Council to achieve these.

• Increasing communication to members was one of my main priorities and I hope my updates are seen as interesting and useful (any topics I haven’t covered??). Social media interaction has increased and work is taking place to improve the website with further plans ahead.  Plans for a members monthly draw in progress.
• We refreshed the Regalia with the launch of Teamwear – lots of you have purchased this already – looks great!
• Regional committees need new recruits to ensure that all roles are covered – and not all by one person! Are you interested?  Regional AGMs are being planned by your committees
• Recruitment continues with the website, Team Wilson at BTCC but don’t forget we all have a role to play to encourage volunteers to come back
• We have joined all Regional Associations to enable better working relationships with all aspects of motorsport. Maybe you would like to help out at another type of event or maybe compete?

I also sit on a number of committees with the MSA which keep me busy.  The MSA recognises that their achievements are wholly supported by an army of volunteers.

• MSA Marshals Working Group (MWG) of which I am Chairman, consists of marshals from various organisations covering all disciplines. The objectives of the Group are to ensure marshals welfare, training and development.

The MWG works closely with the Training Working Group to ensure training materials are available and up-to-date in all aspects to cover marshals requirements in all disciplines.  The MSA will be updating on this further before the end of this year.

• As Chair of MWG I report to Volunteer Officials Advisory Panel (VOAP) which recognises all volunteers – Rescue, Clerks, Scrutineers and Timekeepers
• As Chair of BMMC I also sit on Race Committee with all areas of racing considered from circuit owners, technical regulations as well as marshals.

I am making our voice heard and you will note the increased recognition being given by the MSA to volunteers with competitions, goodie bags etc.  We are also contacted for items for MSA news – so keep your local committee informed of newsworthy items for inclusion

So when I next get asked how it is going my reply is now – you tell me?

Training, training, training

One word that can’t be mentioned enough and an activity we should partake in as often as it’s available.

Recently BARC NW ran a mid-season training event and the BRSCC NW Rescue Unit offered BMMC marshals the opportunity to watch and partake in an extrication exercise. A great hands on experience with a couple of Historic Formula Fords belonging to a couple of BMMC marshals. What a fantastic opportunity to get involved! Trainees and experienced marshals welcome – this was not for a training signature but nonetheless useful, money-can’t-buy training that was well received. Thanks to the rescue guys and Rachel and John! Photos courtesy of Bill Gray.

Training in any form is useful and all good experience. However it is absolutely vital if you want to maintain your grade or progress further. The MSA have recently sent out the grant application forms to all UK MSA Trainers so that they can start planning their 2018 requirements. The MSA contributes a substantial sum of money towards all training in the UK. The BMMC organised events are carefully planned and managed to ensure that the modular requirements of the grading scheme are available for everyone to maintain and progress. Planning is already well underway in many regions and our National Training Officer is liaising with the regions to ensure we offer the best level of training we can around the country. Your participation helps and the comments and feedback from previous training events will be taken into account.

At this time of year the MSA also renew marshals licenses for next year. It may seem a bit premature for 2018 but avoids their year end rush with drivers! You can apply online or by post but don’t forget this is separate to your BMMC renewal which will be later in the year.

This year the MSA requested PRCs again from a number of marshals to ensure compliance with the grading scheme. As a requirement of licence renewal you must be able to comply with the grade maintenance attendance and training days statement. If you can’t comply you must apply in writing stating the reasons for non-compliance.

If your PRC was requested you have hopefully received an email to confirm your licence will be issued on application. However you may have received an email stating you are not in compliance. This may be because you have not recorded the required signatures in your PRC card. You still have time to rectify this! Either by gaining additional attendance signatures or attending the next possible training day. Or maybe you attended a training day within the last two years and can get the Training officer to provide a record of your attendance for you to scan to the MSA? Any issues please contact your local grading officer for help or clarity.

Going forward the MSA will be strictly adhering to the requirement of recording signatures in PRCs – please make every effort to make this process as painless and smooth as possible. This will make renewals simple and quick in the future.

So keep an eye out for dates in your region and take the opportunity to participate in training.

NOTE: The PRCs are checked by members of the MSA Marshals Working Group of which I am Chairman. This group consists of marshals from various organisations covering all disciplines. The objectives of the Group are to ensure marshals welfare, training and development. Anyone can raise items on the agenda through any member of the group or directly via the MSA. Therefore if you have any items for discussion please direct via your regional committees and they will forward to me to raise as appropriate.