Motor Clubs and memberships

It's now that time of year when many renewals come through for club and association memberships. Admittedly, lots of these are no longer fixed to a Jan/Dec timeframe, but at least in my case I seem to have many joining dates in these months.

Receiving the renewal invitations makes me briefly wonder how many clubs I have been a member of, and how many clubs other people tend to join.

I have done a bit of trimming over the years, not automatically renewing unless a can make a reason for continued membership. After all, it's my money I am parting with for the membership fee, but that isn't all there is to it.

Being a member of a motor club should be a bit more meaningful than paying an annual cheque to the club and receiving a newsletter or magazine in return every month, quarter, or whatever. Clubs depend on input from their members to actually run the organisation, to put on events, to round up volunteers and to define the future of the club. In almost all [motor] clubs, these roles are generally covered by a relatively small number of members.

Paying a membership fee to the club doesn't do full justification to the efforts put in by these people. As a member, you really should be more involved than that; turning up for club nights and meetings, sending photos and articles in the the club newsletter, posting comments and advice on forums - all these activities mean that a club will thrive.

So instead of just thinking 'Do I want to pay x pounds for this club newsletter for the year', the decision-making process should be more along the lines of 'What do I get from this club, and what can I put into this club as a values member'.

There are of course some motorsport organisations that you just have to be a member of so that you can compete at regional or national level (thinking of BRSCC, BRDC and the like here). In my view, they operate much less as a motor club and instead as a business with a form of monopoly. But maybe that's just me.

Back to the opening statements in this blog, I can recall being members of the following motor clubs:

• Craven Motor Club
• AWDC: All Wheel Drive Club (or the All Wet and Dirty Club)
• AROC: Alfa Romeo Owners Club
• Lancia Motor Club
• Hart Motor Club
• Stratos Enthusiasts Club (previously the Stratos Replica Club)
• BRSCC: British Racing and Sports Car Club
• BARC: British Automobile Racing Club
• 750MC: 750 Motor Club (for the SRGTC: Sports Racing & GT Challenge)
• MLR: Mitsubishi Lancer Register

Looking at this list, I've probably been a member of between 3 and 6 clubs at a time over the past 15 years or more. The current list is down to 2 at the moment, although I am looking to join a different local motor club in the new year, which will bring my expected tally up to 3 again.

Do you think that is excessive - too many, too few, too expensive, pointless?