Club benefits

[tex]

I've been a member of the WSCC now for 10 years.. Live in the North East and don't track day, race or do competition. 

There's virtually zero interest from Westy owners in the area, yea there's a few about but few n far between. 

As a long term member is there a benefit to me continuing paying £28/yr for 

1. Forum access (Facebook forum is free isn't it) 

2. A sparse glossy magazine every now and then. 

Not being disrespectful to all the hard work people do as I know it's great but I need some justification to continue I feel. Not selling up but there's better cheaper options out there. 

I've tried local WSCC meets before but I personally can't make the time it's on.. (shift work very rarely lines up). 

I'm going to try much harder to get there as cars nearly* back on the road. 

Just wondering if the club as a whole has more to it than currently (meaning stuff I don't know about, ie discounts, insurance benefits, national club events other than Stoneleigh) no racing not me.. Touring is more value both in cost and time behind the wheel.. 

Am I missing out on something I don't, havnt heard of? 

[SootySport]

Best benefit is tech know how on this forum .  I've sometimes thought of buying new parts for my car but after asking a question on the forum, I find that someone has come across the problem and a repair solution has saved me forking out for new parts. I did buy one part from a member in  parts for sale that saved me £200, That alone pays for my membership for 7 years.

Bit of a shame about the Meet times and you being on shift work,cant be helped.  

[chriss1455]

Do you not use your wscc club code for insurance discount terry? The club discount that insurance companies offer, for me, cover the price for the forum alone.

Ive also seen a few that have mentioned the club and managed to get some discount from certain companies 

[Trevor Little (Trevturtle) - Treasurer]

6 hours ago, SootySport said:

Best benefit is tech know how on this forum . 

Agreed, the time saved finding a solution to a problem.  2 minutes on the forum can save hours of head scratching in the garage

[Mark (smokey mow)]

8 hours ago, tex said:

 1. Forum access (Facebook forum is free isn't it) 

Facebook isn't a forum and IMO could never replace it. Try doing half the things you do on the forum at the moment such as searching for old technical posts or following an individual build thread an you'll see what I mean. It's great for asking a quick question or posting up a photo but hopeless to use as an archive resource.

the club IMO gives you the opportunity to get involved with other like minded owners in different ways and it's then down to the individual to decide how much or how little they want to do.

I only tend to do stoneleigh now and if it wasn't for this club and the membership subscription we each pay it simply wouldn't happen and the community spirit we see now would be lost.

 

[Kingster]

8 hours ago, tex said:

There's virtually zero interest from Westy owners in the area, yea there's a few about but few n far between. 

I have to disagree here Terry. 

The North East is a very large area and has  members spread far and wide, but to say “virtually zero interest” is a bit harsh. 

[Hornet600]

I believe this to be an excellent topic and should generate further chat on the subject. I believe the club could and should do more and cater for all its members and not just the speed series participants. I live in central Scotland and pay my money.... I contribute to the forum when I can, I use the clubs name and appear to get a discount on my insurance. That’s where it ends. There are no activities financed by the club north of the border. I attended the Bo’ness hill climb revival representing the club along with several members yet we have to pay our own entry fee. I am aware of other lesser clubs striking deals with for example the 10% of trade cards from Halfords. I believe the club could do more......  

[andy665]

Very interesting topic and I'm sure we all have our views.

I enjoy the magazine and that alone justifies 50% of the membership fee, the forum more than justifies the other half.

Having said that I do believe that  there is a real shortage of activities - I'm a member of the North West Kit Car Owners Group - set up and pretty much run single handedly by one man. Recently we have moved to a £12 per year fee of which 20% + goes to support a childrens hospice. We have a very lively Facebook page (members only) but where it really excels is in its attendance at a huge number and variety of events (local shows, breakfast meets, runs out etc) 

Like many people I have a fairly hectic life but having access to such a great number of events is superb and I'd say I get to 1-2 per month - this is where this club could I believe do better, or maybe there is a lot of stuff going on that just does not get promoted well enough

[Mark (smokey mow)]

21 minutes ago, Hornet600 said:

I believe this to be an excellent topic and should generate further chat on the subject. I believe the club could and should do more and cater for all its members and not just the speed series participants. I live in central Scotland and pay my money.... I contribute to the forum when I can, I use the clubs name and appear to get a discount on my insurance. That’s where it ends. There are no activities financed by the club north of the border. I attended the Bo’ness hill climb revival representing the club along with several members yet we have to pay our own entry fee. I am aware of other lesser clubs striking deals with for example the 10% of trade cards from Halfords. I believe the club could do more......  

Have you or the Scottish AO discussed with the clubs shows and events coordinator about events north  the order or contributing towards entry costs to such events?

[Kingster]

The North East and Scottish areas have a massive bit or "turf" to cover between them. As such it is utterly impossible to have meetings or events that will suit everyone due to the sheer geographical logistics. I know that personally, whenever I have asked via email if anyone would like to suggest a different area meet location, I have had zero response - so I guess it's a difficult one!

However, member's concerns need to be taken on board and I know that the Committee have discussed that supporting local events is something we should look at. The club has banners, a small marquee etc that can help an event - but bear in mind the logistics of getting it around the country.

Us AO's are here to help - but we are also doing this purely voluntarily on a part-time in-between-family/life basis, so it is also up to the individual member to try and join in (and shout up) as much as possible in order to benefit from being part of the club 

Also, if you are in an area that is a bit too far away from "where it's all happening" - why not try and see if there are others nearby in the same boat and encourage them to join you. You never know, you could become an AO of your own area 

[Onliest Smeg David]

As far as 'zero interest' Terry from my experience as an AO it can be like trying to draw blood from a stone getting members along to meets/events. There is plenty of members out there, but the majority do not respond to any communications.

I think WSCC and NWKCOG are both great clubs/groups but they are very different. Trevor must run NWKCOG like a full time job with the amount of commitment he gives, and the choice of events within the local area is excellent as you say Andy. The WSCC is a much bigger beast organisationally which results in a different set of parameters for the volunteer committee to work under and obligations to meet. And volunteers time is finite.

There is loads of support available for local areas or individual members to set up meets/events, but perhaps communication has slipped with the net being so logistically disparate. 

The bias may appear to be towards the Speed Series and Sprinting, much of that is because the volunteers and participants in that sector of the club are very active and promote themselves on the forum and magazine. Local areas and members could do more to be pro active in that area (Nationally as a whole! I know several areas are very active and forward with submissions).

ITs GREAT FOR EVERYONE TO FEED BACK THEIR HONEST THOUGHTs ON WSCC ACTIVITIES. THIS WILL HELP FEED DIRECTION FOR THE COMMITTEE AND THEREFORE PROGRESS FOR OUR CLUB

[tex]

I'm not knocking anyone's efforts by a long chalk, but for the whole of my area there is no activity, Chris your area is 40 /50 miles away as near as, there are some runs out and that I think is great albeit quite a long run out for me/teesside area. If I go south I have to go towards Scarborough way or Leeds, that's a lot of distance. 

My main question was at national level the club does events but nothing to justify the people in the North. We're forgotten about. There's a great* summer ahead this year... I'm looking to see what I can do club wise, and tbh it's very sparse unless I organise it AGAIN. I did this before and had you guessed pretty much no interest most the time. 

So £27 to access a forum is steep 

Forget the technical archives which is good if you need it but it's the events, they don't exist by the club. 

We have people here with westies, chap at the end of my road has one. But he says the same thing.. The club is poor. 

It's hard to see if your from an area that has plenty going on. 

Myself I'm very active.. Have been totally rebuilding my car nut and bolt renovation, have started also a register of "mega" cars for current and prospective owners worldwide and had some great response., still plenty to do. Have come across some interesting cars. 

Dunno just like to see a bigger national club event further north as teesside is a huge island surrounded by nearly hundred miles right round. Ask Mark Leybourne or Chris how hard it is or nick Algar, they've struggled for years. Mark organised runs but gave up due to lack of response, Chris is having a good go up in tyneside, nick did.. Racing and a once a month quick email but no runs organised.. Maybe I'm wrong to rock the boat but if no one shouts up "we're here" this area dies and is dying.. 

 

[Onliest Smeg David]

Rocking boats keep the sailors awake!   

[Kingster]

6 minutes ago, tex said:

unless I organise it AGAIN. I did this before and had you guessed pretty much no interest most the time. 

you hit the nail on the head here mate. I get very little response to anything, so the lack of runs and meets is usually down to apathy on the part of those invited.

As Dave said it's like pulling teeth!

I admit though that I personally am guilty of not pre-arranging a calendar of run outs and promoting them to the masses (like for example Geoffrey and Julie do, amongst others) - but that is down to my own lifestyle (I have a life and a wife I wish to keep!) and my own driving choices.

For me, in an aeroscreened car, there's no fun in going out on a rainy day to visit a place and have a sarny. It's all about the corners. Therefore, I tend to organise runs on an ad-hoc basis and promote to those who show an interest. That includes the WhatsApp group that we all use when arranging runs at short notice as you know. I email every month to advertise the meet and have asked all members in my area if they wish to be on the run-out group.

You are right though - there's not a lot of "club" activity up in the North East - so that's something I'll look into and see what can be done to help promote the amazing roads we have access to.

[tex]

To be fair Chris what you do is fine, it's the national club that does nothing north of the Midlands at best.. I'm not talking about my needs but the health of the club in the North. There'll be loads willing to go on track at Croft, knockhill, or do a borders tour, tour into Scotland etc etc.. It should not be down to one man but the club to help out from committee level. Allocate some funding.. Maybe then the club will benefit vastly. After all we have in the North THE best roads a Westy can ever want.. 

Just got back from Dumfries, Galloway forest.. You forget just HOW good those roads are, and how long they go on for.. No worries about anything just enjoying the drive.. I can't recall the last time the club used these roads other than Coast to Coast tours which were a long time ago.. If the CLUB organised it guaranteed it would be full. It was everytime I went on all of them when Si and Carla organised it.. 

If you get no response maybe your advertising the wrong thing.. A midweek meet with no run out isn't appealing to me.. Nice to see people but you buy these cars to drive them firstly