Start as we mean to go on!

We had a great 4 days at Autosport in January.  Well done to the Midlands team for organising the stand and cars – it looked great!  Thanks to everyone who visited us and helped out – we took a number of names of people interested in marshalling and also gave out leaflets to prospective new members.  We also were honoured to get a photo opportunity with Sir Jackie Stewart in support of his Race Against Dementia charity.  Great also to get support and invited to speak with Downforce Radio, Motorsport UK and Silverstone Interactive Museum to plug the BMMC and all the positives of volunteering.

By now you will have no doubt started making plans for your volunteering this year.  The volunteering system is populated for Race, Sprint and Karting events and Jon Cordery has produced a calendar of all things Rally related on BRMC.  There’s a few Krazy Races to get involved in and an event in October over a number of days where separate information will follow.  For those itching to get started we always wait until after Autosport in case there are date changes to correct – but now it is … go, go, go!

We would be grateful if you use the volunteering system so that we can obtain some data on how many days our members are attending.  A number of organising clubs are offering deals to join their club and attend their events – as well as ways to volunteer direct – we have no problem with that!  But please ensure that if you do volunteer direct that you just put “volunteered via club” in our system to register your attendance.  And remember some events may require you to volunteer direct but most events won’t give you priority if you do that!  We ensure your details are passed to organisers accordingly and you are treated exactly the same no matter how you volunteer.

Hopefully I will get to see some of you at training events coming up.  Our trainers have worked hard to ensure these events cover the old grading scheme and the new Pathway to gain your signatures accordingly so please put every effort in to attend and support these where you can.

We are running a new series of Sponsor spotlights as they reach certain milestones this year….CSCC up first for their 20th Anniversary Year a rather special event at Anglesey.  We thank them for their continued support for the club and hope you will enjoy their entertaining events!

I was delighted to receive the BWRDC Goldstar Volunteer of the Year award at Motorsport UK last month at the Bicester Scramble.  Note to all female members – you too can join this organisation (free in year one and £10 per year going forward).  I will be attending their lunch and book launch in a couple of weeks to recognise their Diamond Anniversary.

I also was honoured to be invited to the Royal Automobile Club for the Motorsport UK Night of Champions on Saturday.  Congratulations to Steve Tarrant who was presented with a Lifetime Achievement award.  A veritable plethora of stars were recognised alongside championship winners.

Sadly we have already said goodbye to three members of the North West community this year – condolences to the families and friends of Brian Hayes, John Watt and Jason Breeze.  All of them long standing supporters of the club and passionate about our hobby.

So time to dust off the overalls and tabards in anticipation of new grading patches coming soon – and look forward to seeing you out and about.