Vintage vehicle club keeps on rolling along
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A LONG-established far north car club will live on, thanks to a recent John O'Groat Journal article.
That is the view of David Green, the outgoing treasurer of Caithness and Sutherland Vintage and Classic Vehicle Club, who believes our report helped generate renewed interest in the club and saved it from folding.
"We had 31 people at a recent meeting – nearly double what we normally have," he said.
Mr Green added that a new committee had already been formed.
"We've got a chairman, secretary and treasurer," he said. "There's a meeting on the ninth of February at the Seaview Hotel in John O'Groats to get the new committee organised."
Mr Green said that the article, published on January 17, led to "quite a few new members joining".
He added: "I think they [existing members] needed a wee push and that seemed to do the trick."
The club put a call-out to the community after running for more than 50 years.
At a meeting last month it was hoped a new chairperson, secretary and treasurer could be appointed but no-one came forward for any of the positions. The meeting closed without any progress being made on that front.
"Younger people might have better ideas about how to move the club ahead," committee member Les Bremner had said.
Though the club was in a "solid financial state" it had been struggling in other ways and it was thought that an injection of new blood would benefit it.
It was feared that if the club folded there would be no vintage rally at John O'Groats.
"The rally at John O'Groats is the biggest rally of its kind in Caithness so it would be a shame to see it go," Mr Bremner said at the time.
The club’s 50th anniversary rally in June 2019 attracted almost 200 entries and a crowd estimated at around 2000.
Annual membership is £15 and this includes a newsletter and regular meetings.
Anyone interested in finding out more information can contact Caithness and Sutherland Vintage and Classic Vehicle Club through its Facebook page.
