Chairman Nadine’s July Message
Where’s summer?
We’re already more than half way through the calendar year and there’s so many more events to go! July was a mixed bag of events and I’m not even talking about the weather.
F1 came to town in July – literally in London town for F1 Live. What an event that turned in to! The lucky volunteers who represented the club at the event did a magnificent job and promoted our hobby too. Here’s a snippet of what Hazel Aaron has to say (full script on the website and in newsletters):
A Grand BMMC Day Out: All you needed was to be available on 12th July, have a set of BMMC overalls, your own flags and be able to get yourself to central London.
Walking out to our posts before the start of the event I heard someone in the crowd saying ”Look, there’s a female marshal”. There were loads of kids in the crowd and I am hopeful that by making this event so accessible lots of boys and girls will become motorsport fans and perhaps even marshals. The knowledge of those in the crowd was very impressive and I answered lots of questions on how to get involved with marshalling.
Five of us decided that we would end the day by going to the free concert by the Kaiser Chiefs which was part of the event. We stayed in our overalls and I have never had such a positive response from a crowd. We had many, many comments on British marshals being the best in the world and thanking us for giving our time to ensure there is racing at all levels in this country. Perhaps a little shamelessly, we took it as another opportunity to promote how easy it is to get involved with marshalling.
I will remember the day for the level of energy and excitement it generated, the buzz and the knowledge of the crowd and the appreciation of F1 making the effort to get closer to the fans. Hopefully it’ll all happen again next year…
Thank you BMMC for the opportunity to partake in a Grand “Top Secret” day out.
The Grand Prix circus then moved to Silverstone. (I forgot there were two x 5 o’clocks in the day!) I had a great team at Brooklands for the weekend. Was it a first that we had two female Post Chiefs and female Incident Officer on the same post?? Also thanks to Rob Jones, CEO of the MSA for the hospitality cake!
We were back at Silverstone a couple of weeks later for the Silverstone Classic. We get to use Woodlands campsite with electric hook-ups and permanent showers – what a luxury. Long days again and the weather didn’t behave. On Friday in particular – 10 minutes before the end the heavens opened – not great for a soggy return to the campsite.
I am currently looking at facilities at circuits with the MSA and the circuit representatives. Please remember anything that is made available is used by many people – please respect the facilities we are provided and we will hopefully get more installed with improved maintenance.
We also have our next Council meeting coming up on 3 September. Your committees work very hard on your behalf – make sure your voices are heard. Maybe volunteer to be a committee member? We need your input to ensure we are doing the best for all of you.
Enjoy what’s left of the summer!
NOTE: Congratulations to Colin Barnes, National Treasurer on becoming a Grandparent!