President’s Report – Feb 2025

Hello and welcome back – I hope your festive season was a good one and you’re looking forward to some great MGCCSA times in 2025.

First up, a reminder that the Annual General Meeting will be held on Tuesday March 11^th at approximately 8.45pm, immediately following the Monthly General Meeting which commences at 7.30.

Under the terms of the Constitution, all positions become vacant at the AGM and nominations for Committee positions are now open and must be with the Secretary, Berry Treffers, by close of business on Friday February 28.

I have decided to seek a second two-year term as your President and if I am successful my theme for the year will be ‘inclusiveness’. Not in the trendy sense, but I think it has an important meaning for our club.

I believe we need to find a way of being more inclusive of younger, family members; and we need to be more inclusive of modern MGs: like them or not, they are part of our future. These are both challenges the Committee is aware of, and if I continue as President, they are issues on which I will take some leadership.

The first part of this challenge has been made somewhat easier by the results of the Member Survey which you received late last year – and thank you to those members who responded and shared their ideas and suggestions.

The Committee began discussing the findings at its January meeting and, while no firm plans have been made, I’m confident that this year you will see more technical nights, more guest speakers, and the expansion of events with broader appeal such as last year’s highly successful inaugural Mallala Ladies’ Day. If you have specific ideas on what you’d like to see covered at a technical night, or who you would like to hear from as a guest speaker, please tell someone on the Committee.

Most clubs have a core of active members and a larger number who aren’t, and we fall into that category. I’d like to see those numbers swing back to more participation in the year ahead so your feedback on how to achieve that is always welcome.

Last year a member suggested to me that we introduce a mentor/buddy system so that new members had someone to introduce them to others, show them around and support them at events. It was suggested that 3-4 volunteers from the general membership could take on this role at each MGM – so please give it some thought and offer to help out. Remember your first night at the Club when you didn’t know anyone . . . can be daunting.

Early in January I had a lengthy conversation with Ron Hay, the last surviving committee member of our Club who was at that founding meeting in April 1956. Ron’s health isn’t good, but he has some amazing memories of those early days and the article I wrote resulting from that conversation appears in this edition.

Our Patron, Peter Cundy, has made a video of a fascinating conversation he had with Ray Finch about the Jaguar C Type project, and Peter and I have had an informal discussion about the two of us teaming up to record video interviews of Club members with interesting histories as an archive and for general interest. This may include guest speakers at monthly general meetings, which has been raised at committee level and held over for further discussion. Watch this space.

On a more sombre note, vale Faye Edwards, an extraordinary woman taken from us much too young. So many Club members paid their respects at her funeral in January, truly reflecting her very special place amongst us. Once again, our sincere condolences to Jason, Michelle and her family.

I will end on an upbeat note, with a promise of an action-packed year ahead. I’m starting the year full of energy and enthusiasm and I hope that, with the support of an excellent Committee and you, the members, we have a great 2025 to look forward to.

Safety Fast!

Stephen Marlow
President.