Running the club, the Committee and Structure - FAQ's

Frequently Asked Questions about how the club is run etc

Following on from the informal chat we had at the National Meeting at Sywell in July 2023, we thought it would be useful to put together a list of Frequently Asked Questions…..afterall, If you are thinking it, chances are someone else is too.

Let’s see if we can give some answers…

I used to get four magazines a year and now I don’t get any?

We as a Committee are aiming for one magazine a year. Ideally, we would like this to be two. Unfortunately, printing and postage costs have risen steeply, along with everything else around us. Our 2022 magazine cost £1020 for printing and close to £700 for postage. When the Club produced four magazines a year, it cost nearly £1000 for both printing and postage of each magazine run.
We also must take into account the increased usage of social media, (I know it is not for everyone). Also, a magazine can only be printed if we have content to print. Many club members put their news on social media now, making it out of date by the time a magazine arrives at your door so the nature of the magazine has had to change. We used to provide news of events coming up but now it seems more sensible to do this online and look back at meetings and provide feature articles in the magazine.

If you have material that you think would be interesting to include in a future issues, speak to the Magazine Editor and you could see your work in print!

How does the Forum work for us?

The OMOC website is a safe, secure and moderated site which holds a whole host of useful information for members. You are able to communicate with other members and make contact with Committee Members. Members can share their technical knowledge and list parts for sale which are vital to others when keeping their cars on the road. Events can be shared on the Forum so that members can see what is happening around them, whether it be near to them or far way.

Many members feel that posts are easier to find and go back to when using the Forum as opposed to Facebook. For this to happen, we do have to pay for Web Hosting. This is at a greatly reduced cost as it is done at cost price only with time volunteered by a Club Member. Last year this cost the Club £470.

How do I benefit from the Club Liability Insurance?

Our Club insurance covers all Club Members for all shows and events, either that they host or attend. We understand that not all members are able to attend the yearly Sywell Show. However, any local shows for your area, any Pub Meet, any gathering of Club Members; you will be covered under the Club Liability Insurance - as long as the event is organised by the OMOC. This covers things such as accident or injury to yourself or damage to your car. The last payment we made for this was £430 but this covers every member of the club for 12 months and not just a single event.

Why are we still paying Zoom Membership when Covid is over?

Our Zoom monthly membership is now £15.59. This does in fact save the Club money. Prior to Covid, Committee Members would travel to a convenient place to meet. Fuel costs were claimed for those members who wished to do so. With the Committee being wide-spread, fuel costs would amount to more than the monthly subscription to Zoom. Having this facility also allows us to meet more often now. We meet every 6-8 weeks which is allowing the Club to be more productive with plans that we have for the future.

We are currently looking at a more cost effective way of keeping in touch, potentially by using something like Microsoft Teams, which most of us use already. If we can save this money next year, we will look at doing just that.

Why do we pay a VBOA Membership at £326 for a year?

As a founding member of the VBOA, the OMOC are able to attend the annual show hosted by them, (which has been held at Sywell for the last 3 years). The VBOA historically has run purely on income from the annual show, which is very costly to operate. Subscriptions from member clubs help to ensure that the VBOA have enough money to host a show and meet all of the criteria for that show to be enjoyable and safe.  Membership of the VBOA was free for the first 30 years but now we need to pay £1 per member of the club so this figure will change yearly.

2023 is the first year the membership fee has been mandated and the OMOC paid the VBOA £340 to be a member of the association for this year. In the past, the VBOA has been able to operate on the proceeds made from the various events they have organised but, since the pandemic, this has not been possible for a variety of reasons. The VBOA has acquired a large amount of kit and equipment which costs money to store, along with the other running costs such as web hosting etc. The club subscription fee give the VBOA funds to run even if the show doesn't happen (eg covid or is a complete washout etc.)

It has been noted that the VBOA are hoping to bring back parts day and maybe some other events in the future. Membership of the VBOA gets OMOC discounted pre-booked show tickets and OMOC members are entitled  to show their cars with the VBOA at events even if the OMOC are not attending.

Why do we pay to be a member of Historic Vehicle Federation at £179.54 for a year?

Admittedly, this is something that we should make more use of. We receive a hard copy of their magazine throughout the year from this. This is something which should be accessible to all members. There has been a recent post on the Forum and on Facebook (paid up members only) with instructions to register yourselves with your own login. You will be able to access their website, the magazines and much more.

As a club we pay a subscription to be members of the Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs. We are aware that we could be using this so much more than we do but each member of the OMOC is able to register as an individual member of the FBHVC and receive updates and new directly from them (as we are a member club). There is a lot that you will have access to, including their bimonthly magazines, classic car news and even what is going on with government legislation to do with our hobby. These are the people that represent all of us classic car enthusiasts to the government and try to keep us all informed about what is coming in the future.

From an email to Louise recently: ..

Every member of the OMOC is allowed access to the members area of the FBHVC site. You just need to create your own login in https://www.fbhvc.co.uk/register  and ticking the ‘member of a club’ box, then selecting the Opel Manta OC from the drop-down list. Check your inbox for a notification that your account has been set up and you should then be able to log in and access the members only data.

Why does Parts Production seem to be so Slow?
We do have to commit to selling a certain number of each part we ask to be produced before production can start. This means taking deposits from members and being certain that we will then receive final payments. The Club isn’t in a position to pay completely upfront for a batch of parts which we then have to sell. We also have to be mindful of covering ourselves as a Club when entering into parts sales for Liability reasons.

Some members will have benefited recently from windscreens and battery trays which were produced and sold with a discount to Club Members.

The process for making pressed steel panels is also a very complicated one and there are only a small number of manufacturers that can do this. They have very long waiting lists for parts to be made and the truth of the matter is that if the MG club pay for 100 MGB rear panels to be made, these will go to the top of the queue as they know they will be sold. We are somewhere near to the bottom of the pecking order, which is why we need to confirm numbers up front and give the manufacturers some money to show our commitment.

I don’t go to Sywell or the NEC, why does my Membership money contribute towards this?

We know not everyone attends these shows. This isn’t something that we can control. As is life, people have the choice to attend, to live closer to certain shows, to have the finances to attend etc. We appreciate this, however, these shows are there, they do happen, we can’t run a club with no shows because some people can’t attend. These shows will always involve a financial element for them to operate. The Club is always mindful of acting in the best interests of the Club and spending wisely.

Try and make the most out of your membership by attending events and meeting club members. It’s a bit like paying for Gym membership and then never going – you don’t feel the benefit!

Why are we paying for Storage?
We now own a large selection of items which are used to host events and Club Get Togethers. This is too large a collection to store at one person’s address, therefore has to be stored in a central place where it is accessible. Some Area Reps have in the past asked for items that they can have and keep in their area to use for local shows and events. This is something which the Club has been happy to provide. If you think there is something that you would like for your area, please submit a request with some costings to the Committee. This will then be reviewed, and a reply given. Storage last year was £378 Jan – Sept.

We used to insure our cars with Adrian Flux.

We now promote a competitive Insurance Scheme for Club Members when using Cherished Insurance. This is of no cost to the Club. In fact, we receive £10 per policy that is taken out from a Club Member. The new scheme is run by real classic car enthusiasts and some of them are also Opel drivers, so they know our cars well and keep in touch with us as a club quite regularly. They are also willing to help sponsor events and be active with the club in many different ways. Coupled with all that, they are also very competitively priced and speak our language when it comes to Manta Valuations.

What are we doing as a Club to help with Costs?

We are looking to stop using Paypal as a way for members to renew as this takes a considerable amount of money from us each year. Members will be able to pay via Bank Transfer instead. We are also looking at using Stripe on the website, which should cost the club less than PayPal does but will allow members to pay with cards still.

We are looking at discontinuing Membership Cards. As much as some people like to have these in their wallet, these cost a large amount of money to purchase. We are looking into alternative options so that members would have acknowledgement of paying and being an active member within the Club.

We are thinking about asking members to register if they are happy to receive a digital copy of the magazine to reduce postage. We are also looking at alternative ways to present the magazine to save printing and postage costs.

We asked for £5 from club members towards the cost of the BBQ at Sywell 2023, with the OMOC subsidising the rest of the cost of BBQ hire and food. This was still we feel, a competitive cost for the quality of the food that was bought in for this. 

Membership Fees

You can probably see that costs to the club are rising. Postage has gone up massively in the last few years, Insurance has also increased and we now need to pay out for things like Web hosting, Online Meetings, Card Processing fees and Storage – all of which are relatively new costs for the club to absorb. We have an annual budget that we need to operate to and with these rising costs, the operating budget will soon exceed our income if we are not careful.

Unfortunately, the Club Membership Fee will need to rise. It hasn’t risen since 1997 and that is 26 years ago. Everyone must agree that the cost of living has risen considerably in this time. For us to continue to provide what we do, we must also raise membership fees. We think that this will be proposed and voted on at the 2024 AGM.

Club Shop

When the club started, members soon wanted to have branded clothing, mugs, key fobs and all the usual paraphernalia that goes with any club or society. These were only available at club events and the larger shows. When the website started to get more sophisticated, we realised that we could create an online shop, which is also open to the general public. The shop is financially separate to the club membership as at a club AGM in the early 2000's, we voted to have separate shop and membership bank accounts. This is why you will see a separate accounting report at each AGM. It is only financially separate though. It is not a private business.

The reason this was proposed was two fold. The club shop could stand on its own two feet and not need any subsidies from the membership money and, more importantly, to protect the club from any liabilities from good sold. The benefit is that all club members (and Manta enthusiasts),  have OMOC branded clothing and gifts available at a decent price.  Any money made goes straight back into the bank account to buy more items. The club shop is not a business and does not make any profit. It is run by club volunteers in their spare time, which is why you dont always get the same quick turn around you would expect from an online business such as Amazon. Please be patient, as it is run on goodwill alone!

How is the club actually run?

The OMOC has a set of rules that we use to run the club and provide guidance on how to manage things. This in called the “Club Constitution” and was written many years ago by Ron Daymond. Ron was involved in the British Telecom Sports and Social club and he modified a version of their own Constitution for the OMOC to use. We have updated this numerous times over the years but each time, we must propose these changes and ask the membership to vote on them at an AGM. The constitution also sets out the rules for all the positions and how they are managed and gives guidance on running the Annual General Meeting.

Important things like the Membership Fees, executive committee posts and how the club funds are spent are also documented in the Club Constitution, so it really is the club “Bible”. A copy of the current club constitution is always available on the club website at the following link:

https://mantaclub.org/club/constitution/

Committee Positions

A question was raised about who runs the club and how they are voted in. The executive Committee positions are all voluntary unpaid posts and need to be proposed and seconded at an AGM, where the members can vote on who they think is best to fill a position. The Executive posts are Chairman, Vice Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer and Membership Secretary.

If someone steps down during the year, someone can step in on a voluntary basis to help out as an “acting” committee member, until they are officially voted in at the next AGM.

There are other non-executive committee posts that do not need to be voted in. These are positions like Magazine editor, National Meetings organiser, Area Reps, Publicity Officer etc etc.

There is also an Honorary position of Club President. You may remember that Ron Daymond was club President for many years until his sad passing in 2019 when the position was vacant for a while. The club constitution states that the President role is filled by the longest serving chairman, which then fell to Paul Brennecker to pick up, which he did when he passed the Chairman role on to Lewis Price in 2022.

The Committee is run by volunteers who give up their spare time and resources in order to run the Club. The Committee have the good of the Club in their minds at all times and volunteer because they want the Club to be successful. If you feel that you have a skill that would be useful to the club, why not speak to one of the committee about how you could help out?