Club President's Christmas message

It has to be said that any glance at the Club’s Advertiser & Diary in the last eight months has made for pretty depressing reading, ‘Cancelled’ or ‘Postponed’ being splashed across every event listing with increasing monotony through the year. And now here we are, heading to the end of this bizarre year. Despite the truly unprecedented loss of so much of our motoring activities, and against many dire predictions, the Club is actually in extraordinarily good shape.

The Chairman and Board have done an exemplary job of managing the Club’s affairs behind the scenes and, as the Chairman reported in his recent Full Throttle article, these efforts have resulted in the Club ending the year in its strongest position for some time. But, arguably much more important than that, it is the way that the spirit and support of the Members has shone through that truly gives comfort as to the strength of the Club.

The Regional Committees have had a terrible time this year – all around the world – and their fortitude in dealing with the situation is to be highly commended. In hand with that sentiment, our staff at Club Office must be roundly applauded for dealing with everything that the year has thrown at them – professionally and personally. We are indeed in their debt for their impeccable performance.

There is no end yet to the challenges we all face in our daily lives, but large glimmers of hope are starting to appear on the horizon. We must go forward into 2021 with optimism in the belief that we will be able to enjoy a year of relative stability for our motoring and socialising. The Regions certainly have a bursting programme of activities in the pipeline, and the Club’s principal events are shaping up very well indeed.

BDC Silverstone, by rights, will be opening its grandstands to the membership once again; Dean and Sabine Kronsbein are throwing open their doors for the Club’s Annual Concours and Rally at their stunning Cubberley House home at Ross-on-Wye; and in mid-May we have the exceptional 100 Years of Bentley Racing celebration at Brooklands – an event set to rival our 2019 Blenheim Concours for significance. There is much to be optimistic about going into 2021. 

Finally, Phillipa and I look forward to seeing you at Club events next year. We wish you every happiness for Christmas, and a healthy, prosperous and – above all – action-packed New Year!

Duncan Wiltshire