Very true. I have just done 2 years as AngleMog Centre Sec & will stand down after 3. It tends to be a thankless role & as you said I have had the negative comments etc but I did it to stop AM ceasing to be and have enjoyed it. Sadly no one seems keen to take on the reins next year.
Did 3 years as Devamog Centre Secretary and had much the same experience. Arwyn
I am a dedicated non-joiner for obvious political reasons,
though I am an honorary member of 11 clubs and read their newsletters faithfully. In my humble opinion, all clubs are social groups bound together by a specific common interest/need/pleasure. Car clubs are for keeping cars on the road. These days, that task can be much better done with private internet forums. However, local centers and clubs can still charmingly cater to locals with BBQs, outings, noggins, breakfasts. Varies a lot from place to place.
"Mother" clubs have very few but vital duties. Parts gathering, repair advice, group insurance, racing support, annual mega-meets and an inhouse largely on-advertising newsletter, preferably with an ever-changing director. Without these tasks performed, these clubs fail owners and should disband to open the way for another organization who will. Sadly, their very existence obstructs something better from forming.
I can envisage great compromises can created by adapting. The Jaguar Mother Clubs, for example, are inspirational. Very open to new blood at the top rather than being cliquish and insular. Years, one year, they decided they had accumulated more money than they needed so they put on their elaborate annual event for free for all the members! Mother clubs have no logical reason to accumulate large dormant sums. That is proof of a lack of imagination and membership fun unhad.
gmg
