Minutes of the committee meeting of the Deux Chevaux Club of Great Britain (2CVGB) Limited held online Sunday 30th March from 10.00 GMT
Attending: Vanessa Harrison, James Duffell, John Thompson, Colette Clapham-Dickenson, Sean Sowley, Chris Farnham, Jean Sowley, Carl Baker, Nigel Herring, Gary Dicks (for some of the meeting) and Richard Harrison (joint National meeting representatives)
N.B. Referred to subsequently as Vanessa, James, John, Col, Dave, Sean, Chris, Jean, Liz, Mark, Carl, Nigel, Gary and Richard respectively
Observers: John Mellor, Chris Maxfield and Nicky Ryland (both for part of the meeting)
Item
- Apologies for absence
Apologies were received from Dave Crane, Liz Rogers and Mark Dunmore.
2. Correspondence.
An email had been received from Darren Arthur of 2CV Shop complaining about not being invited to the National. A response will be made subsequent to the committee meeting.
Action: James to draft a response and circulate to those concerned.
4. Reports. Reports had been circulated in advance. The reports can be found in the relevant folder in the club’s Google Drive.
Each committee member highlighted any items from their report they wished to draw attention to and answer any questions that may arise from their report.
4.1 Chair
No questions
4.2 Secretary
SPOG. Only Jim Rogers had responded to the email James had sent out about SPOG.
Action: James to incorporate Jim’s input into a document to send to the SPOG sub-committee.
National Camp briefing document
Action: James to incorporate John’s input and circulate the document again for comments.
4.3 Treasurer
John highlighted the fact that insurance and postage costs have increased by 11 per cent and 15 percent and the rent for the storage at Ruskington will probably be similar. The increase in membership fees, while sufficient to cover inflation over the last five years, will not be sufficient to cover increased costs for next year.
There were no questions.
4.4 MemSec
There have been a few posts on social media saying that some copies of the April magazine had duplicate pages. Col asked if committee members who spot such posts could ask that those affected should email memsec@2cvgb.co.uk so she could send replacements.
There was some discussion about whether local group organisers should receive just a list of new members from their area each month, or whether the list should include lapsed members as well.
It was decided that they should receive both and it would be up to them who they wished to contact.
4.5 Editor
No questions
4.6 DVLA Liaison
No questions
4.7 Local Groups
Liz was not present, but her report generated no discussion.
4.8 Registers Co-ordinator
Registers Co-ordinator’s report
Mark was not present, but his report generated no discussion.
4.9 Equipment
Mark was not present, but his report generated no discussion.
4.10 Club Shop
Jean stated that she was happy to stand for election this year, but proposed that this post should no longer be a committee post.
Proposed: Jean
Seconded: Dot
Carried unanimously
Jean subsequently left the meeting.
4.11 Communications
The membership survey is scheduled to be sent to members at the beginning of May (email and hard copy).
Action: Chris will circulate the link in advance to committee members.
No questions
4.12 Web
Dave was not present, and there were no questions about his report.
4.13 Advertising
Dot had not yet received Mark’s changes to the registrars’ forms so had not been able to produce a revised design for Dave to publish on the club’s website.
There were no questions.
4.14 NEC Shows
No questions
4.15 Risk & Compliance
Nigel did not submit a report
No questions
5. Matters arising from previous committee meeting not covered in the reports
5.1 WhatsApp group.
There was a brief discussion about the purpose of the official WhatsApp group that Chris had set up. It was agreed that he would be the main admin for the group, adding other people for the duration of specific events (e.g. Gary and Richard would become admins in the build-up and during the national).
5.2 Digitising the club’s archive
Sean had circulated information about the FHBVC’s digital archive service, which was welcomed by the committee. Sean will arrange for the digitisation in instalments. Much of the material may be able to be sold after it has been digitised (or donated to Citroën’s conservatoire, for example).
Action: Vanessa will contact Julian Kettleborough, Mark “Bean” Dunn and Tony Stacy to start the ball rolling.
6. Registers 2025
At 10.49am Chris Maxfield and Nicky Ryland joined the meeting from the venue for this year’s Registers Day.
The budget had been circulated before the meeting.
Proposed: Sean
Seconded: Nigel
Carried unanimously
There was discussion about the provision of an additional disabled toilet specifically for one member who had requested it be situated close to the camping pod the member wished to hire for the event, at a cost of circa £250. The committee rejected the request as there are already sufficient disabled facilities present at the site.
It will be up to the organisers to decide on the layout of the site (e.g. display areas, trade stands and camping zones).
The booking process will be through the club’s website.
Chris and Nicky also sought approval for their new local group – Citrons Amers.
Proposed: Tim
Seconded: Sean
Carried unanimously
11.05am Chris and Nicky left the meeting
7. Ruskington storage unit
John reported the termination timetable for the rental agreement, which highlighted that prompt action is necessary. Additionally, there could be insurance implications if secondhand parts are sold by 2CVGB, rather than SPOG. SPOG already has insurance in place covering any liability that might arise, whereas the club’s insurance does not cover this.
There was discussion about alternative storage solutions, including the acquisition or rental of shipping containers. There are three types of material stored at Ruskington – SPOG parts and material, events material and secondhand parts. They could be separated and stored closer to the person responsible for them. Carl volunteered to sort, store and sell the secondhand parts. Chris offered to store a shipping container on his own farm land, which is about 20 miles from Carl’s home. His generosity was welcomed by the committee.
It was proposed that Carl sources a 40’ shipping container within a budget of £6,000 (including delivery etc) and it is located at Chris’ property.
Proposed: Chris
Seconded Nigel
Carried unanimously
Action: Carl to ask Mark for measurements of the space currently taken up with spare parts, to work out whether they can be moved in one go or in instalments.
Action: Vanessa to circulate information about “fire sticks” (to replace fire extinguishers) to the committee.
8. 2CVGB News
Tim and Dot recommended dropping the January issue (which is the most difficult to produce because of Christmas). There was some discussion about alternatives, such as online-only membership. It was decided to postpone discussions until the results of the membership survey are known, as the survey includes questions about 2CVGB News.
9. Election of non-committee members.
James had proposed that all club posts, not just committee posts should be subject to election. This would help ensure that holders were still committed to their rôles and would give an opportunity for other volunteers to come forward if they had fresh ideas, rather than be forced to wait until an incumbent stood down.
The proposal was that these posts would be elected for three years, with one-third of them elected each year.
Proposed: James
Seconded: Sean
Carried unanimously
Action: James to communicate the decision to those affected and to seek volunteers to stand for election this year.
At noon the meeting took a 10-minute break.
Gary joined the meeting after the break.
10. National 2025
Gary gave an update on preparations for the meeting. There were no questions.
11. Any other business
11.1 Expectations on committee members.
Col expressed her concern that expectations on volunteer committee members were sometimes unreasonable and that there should be no expectation that committee members should undertake additional tasks (e.g. manning a stand or organising volunteers at the national) over and above those they already undertake as part of their rôle on the committee.
11.2 Borrow a Classic scheme.
Chris mentioned that a member of the Broadland Ducks had loaned a car to a young driver as part of the scheme.
Action: James to add to the agenda for the next meeting.
11.3. Promotion of the national camp.
Dot made the comment that it was a shame that there had been no articles in 2CVGB News updating members about the camp – just adverts. Perhaps it’s a sign of the times that promoting events occurs mainly online.
Action: James to add something about promotion of nationals to the national camp briefing document
12. Dates of future committee meetings
8th June
17th August
28th September