Summary; My Chat, October/November Events, 90thAnniversary Year, Centre Facebook Page, Wiscombe Hill Climb 2027, Ian Benningfield’s Donation Page, Jon Pittard Donation Page.
My Chat,
Sunday 18th October MGCC SW Kimber Car Trial, CANCELLED
Due to a distinct lack of pre-entries, we have decided to cancel this event. We needed at least 6 to make it viable and we had 1. The SRs state 15 as the minimum number. In past times we had 30 or more entries for Car Trials. I cannot explain what has made this type of fun event so unpopular. It’s just an autotest but on a hill. Whether we try a Car Trial next year will be down to the new committee.
I attended the MGCC Council meeting last Saturday and the main club has a healthy cash surplus and looking good with subscriptions pegged at current levels for the next year at least.
There was a presentation about the updated Customer Relationship Management tool, RevUp Blaze. RevUp has been used as the membership database for the of the club for many years. There is a new version being considered, RevUp-Blaze, which uses the same database but has a web based interface, which will allow a selected member of each of the CRBs committees to look at their members data as a designated Data Controller rather than being sent an excel spreadsheet as is the case now.
We were also encouraged to sign up to Easy Funding. This is a widget attached to you web browser which monitors which sites you purchase from and if the company have signed up to Easy Funding, a donation is made to the MG Car Club, at no cost to yourself. I signed up and have already donated by watching the demo video on the Easy Funding website.
The AGM followed the Council meeting and our own Martyn Lucas, was voted onto the board as a director. Congratulations Martyn.
Upcoming October/November Events
Saturday 24th October – Cars and Coffee Meet at Compton Abbas Airfield
Martyn Lucas has arranged another visit to this popular breakfast venue. Full details on the website at this link Cars & Coffee Compton Abbas
Saturday 31st October 2026 – Cars and Coffee Meet at Castle Combe Race Track.
To coincide with the MG Speed Championship being held in conjunction with Bristol Pegasus Sprint at Castle Combe, Martyn has organised a dedicated MG parking area and the Café Bar H will provide breakfasts for those that require one. Details on the website at this link Cars & Coffee Castle Combe
Thursday 19th November 2026 Centre Christmas Lunch
Advanced warning for the SW Centre Christmas Lunch. This is the normal date for the Lunch Natter at the Star and everyone is welcome. Once the menu has been received, I will post on the website and the MGCC_SWC_Social_Chat WhatsApp Group. so that menu choices can be made and pre ordered.
Saturday 21st November Christmas Mood – Hunt an MG gathering in Herefordshire
This is not an MG Car Club event but a private event being organised by Julija Chalmers for any MG owner that would like to join in the fun. Full details on the website at the following link Christmas Mood – Hunt
90th Anniversary Year 2026 – 90 for the 90
Although the challenge is closed. Please keep your entries coming. We are setting up a Fickr Page to show all of the photos posted. Full results of the challenge are available on the website at the following link, 90 for the 90 Challenge
All items in the Clothing Store are now available with either the normal South West Centre Logo or the new 90th Anniversary logo. The 90th Anniversary logo will only be available until the end of the year, so it you require some clothing as a reminder of our celebration, then order it quickly. Select the item you require, T-shirt, Polo shirt, Sweat Shirt, Premium Cap, Beanie, Hoodie, Fleece Jacket, Softshell Jacket, Shell Gilet, Soft Padded jacket, soft padded gilet or long-sleeved shirt, then select the colour and size and then you have the option to select which of the two logos you require. It couldn’t be simpler.
Centre Facebook Page
Another way to keep up to date with what is going on in the Centre is to visit the SW Centre Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/MGCCSW regular updates are posted there. Also, we have a SW Centre WhatsApp group, message me on my mobile 07773491953 to be included in the group. We are revamping the WhatsApp Group to make it more secure by creating an MG Car Club South West Community. Once the community has been set up and tested, we will ask current members of the South West Centre WhatsApp groups to move across into the new secure community.
Wiscombe Hill Climb 2027 Event Organiser Required
As a consequence of Ian Benningfield’s passing, we have managed to sort this year’s event with a lot of assistance from Woolbridge Motor Club, Torbay Motor Club and Wiscombe Park. The current committee do not have the relevant experience to carry out the administrative functions of organising such a prestigious event and are therefore seeking a volunteer to become the ‘Wiscombe Hill Climb Event Organiser ‘ it would be the sole task of this person. No experience is necessary as the role will be well supported by Wiscombe Ltd. and the Clubs helping us out this year. The task is not onerous and should take very little time during the beginning on the year up until late June when it starts getting a bit more involved as the event date in September approaches. If you are interested and want to know more drop me an email at jim.lott@hotmail.co.uk.
Ian Beningfield’s Donation Page
Following the untimely death of Ian Beningfield, The Meningitis Research Foundation have set up an official donation page in memory of Ian at https://ianbeningfield.muchloved.com/ and all proceeds go to the Foundation.
Jon Pittard’s Donation Page
Following Jon’s celebration of life service last week, his family are suggesting that donations be made in memory of Jon to St Peters Hospice, who did an excellent job of caring for Jon in the last days of his life. Donations can be made vis Jon’s Tribute Page https://www.stpetershospice.org/tribute-funds/jon-pittard/.
Jim Lott
Chairman, MGCC SW Centre
jim.lott@hotmail.co.uk
Mobile: 07773491953