Chairman’s January Musings
Money – that party subject that you shouldn’t talk about. How much do you earn? How much was your car? What did you spend on holiday? Who wants to disclose that??!!
Except money is a form of currency and for volunteers this doesn’t always mean hard cash. Giving thanks for your support, maybe a raffle prize and how about a surprise gift? Many organising clubs and championships already support our volunteers in many of these ways already. We keep the subject a topic of conversation as much as possible. However some go even further and enable the club to give back to our members too and for this we are immensely grateful.
This year we already have agreed ongoing support to ensure overall and waterproof subsidies can be supported. We thank NGK, Tiga and MGCC for their continued commitment to the club. (I took the opportunity to accept a cheque from MG at Autosport). We also welcome new sponsorship from Reis Insurance, Polyflor and Autosport. Any new overalls purchased will have the relevant logos already in place. All members will also receive badges with the goodie box so you can get your sewing kits out to add to existing overalls. Don’t forget to make sure these logos are on show as much as possible – a small way of thanking our sponsors when you get seen by the public and occasional TV camera!
Talking of Autosport – we were well represented at the International Show at Birmingham NEC last weekend. A number of us manned the BMMC and BRMC stands. Plus we had members of the Midlands region helping out on the Reis stand (brilliant job ladies!). Reis invited me to attend the announcement of their sponsorship of the BMMC on the Thursday of the Show. I was interviewed by Alan Hyde alongside BTCC driver Tom Ingram and Reis MD Mark Taylor and they have included us on their website. Some superb publicity for us and them! Thank you to all our sponsors.
This year we took over 70 names of potential new recruits from all around the country as well as answering questions particularly on the rally front. The names will be sent out by Pete Wilson to be processed by regional recruitment officers who do a great job ensuring they are invited to training days, Taster days and encourage them to join our club. It is then up to each and every one of us to be responsible for ensuring they stay. Please make sure they get involved on their first day, help them to volunteer, give them advice for getting experience to upgrade – we can all do our bit. And if you are amongst our new members already this year – a big welcome to you all and keep asking lots of questions.
A final ‘Thank you’ to Paul Sutcliffe for setting up and managing our new National Facebook page alongside our Instagram and Twitter accounts. We will endeavour to publish info directly on all our Social Media outlets and our website to keep you informed. We will also keep our MailChimp messages to you so please ensure you sign up. Our regions will continue to update you on local activities as well. You can also sign up for regional newsletters via your volunteering / website log on.
Nadine Lewis