The 2023/4 AGM was held at the St Nicholas Youth Centre in Godstone for the second year running. The AGM was hosted by the chairman, Tim MJorris, who was standing for election for a third year in office and attended by all the current committee members and some natter leaders plus MGCCSE members.
The Chairman called for a moment’s silence to remember two members who had passed away recently and had important roles within the club. Derek Edwards the former Chairman and President and David Griffiths, leader of the Black Horse Natter and Sussex Wanderers groups.
Those members attending heard reports from the chairman and the committee as to how the Centre has been fairing over the past year and the plans for the future. Principally these included much of the same and a full calendar of events for the coming year was revealed. They included a return to Filching Manor for the Annual Autosolo, a Summer gathering to visit the Ghosts at West Horsley Place, a new summer BBQ and PoO and, of course, our huge weekend event on the 18th/19th May celebrating 100 years of MG.
More research is being done into the history of the Centre and the results are being posted on this website. Will Opie explained how the club will be addressing sustainability concerns by carbon offsetting. This will add 50p to all our motoring events this year and we will be looking to lessen our paper use by making event registrations and applications online as far as possible. This has already been achieved with the MG100SE event using Little Box Office and a bespoke system for the Filching Autosolo. Online payments are also being explored this year to address the use of cheques and bank transfers to try and streamline applications.
The treasurer reported a healthy budget although there was a deficit this year due to some capital expenditure on new radios and flags for events.
The chairman reported on the fundraising for last year raising £1232 for the Brain Tumour Charity and announced the new charity for 2024/5 – Prostate Cancer UK.
Competitions and events were healthy last year although number of members attending has not recovered to pre-COVID levels yet. This resulted in the Autumn Naviscat being cancelled due to lack of entries. Luckily the Spring one has picked up on numbers and is going ahead.
The election of the committee followed the reports and the new committee for 2024/5 are:-
Chairman / Internet – Tim Morris
Vice-Chair/ Competitions – John Morgan
Secretary – Austin Banner
Treasurer – Ron Kemp
Events – Andrew Mitchell
Membership – Diana Calvert
Archive / Trophies – John & Gwen Davies
Natter/Wanderers – Ian Russell
Safety Fast / Newsletter – Will Opie
Committee Member – Philip Rousell-Smith
Finally, we caught up with Lis Wooley and presented her with the Ladies Trophy before adjourning to The Bletchingley Arms for lunch.
