ABOUT THE MG CAR CLUB SOUTH CAPE

On Saturday 16 October 2006, an exploratory meeting was held in Knysna to discuss the viability of establishing an MG Car Club Centre in Knysna. Previously a meeting of 12 locals, with an additional 6 apologies, had met to establish the level of interest in forming an MG club in the area and the feeling was unanimously in favour. Ross Lawson, Ricky Cooper and Peter Vadas were given the go-ahead to form a sub-group, under the auspices of Port Elizabeth Centre.
Much lobbying with local MG owners followed and, on the 27th February 2007, a founding meeting was convened at the Knysna Angling Club. 23 interested parties signed the attendance register and the club was officially formed, with office bearers being duly elected and decisions taken regarding regular runs and noggins.
At the Port Elizabeth International Indaba in September 2008, the South Cape Centre was granted its autonomy as an independent centre of the MG Car Club by Brian Woodhams, Overseas Director of the parent body in the UK.

Membership

The Club currently has 67 fully paid up members at present, owning 83 MGs. Several more exist in Knysna and efforts continue to try to bring those MGs into the Club. Many members have more than one MG and there are a number of cars currently being repaired, refurbished or rebuilt.

Website

In mid-2009, the Club’s website was developed and this has been a great success with “hits” from around the world. The monthly newsletter is distributed to most members on the website.
Other information available on the website includes the calendar of events, details of the committee members, downloads about Club activities and MG related matters, and a list of interesting links.

Newsletter

A newsletter is compiled and distributed every month, via eMail, using the website or in a few cases by Snail mail. Members, the National Body, all other MG Centres and many other interested parties are informed by email when the new edition is available on the website. In addition to articles of general MG information, the newsletter carries details of previous runs, future planned events, an up-to-date table of attendance points and a smalls section.

Activities

The first event organised was the October 2006 Cape Centres gathering at Lake Brenton, Knysna. 38 MGs registered for the event, with an additional 4 local cars participating. Because our club was at such a fledgling stage at that time, fewer of our locals attended than was hoped for, probably because we did not have our communication channels properly in place. We now have an SMS system set up, and all members, plus some potential members, are reminded of an upcoming function on their cell phones a few days prior to the event. This system has proved invaluable in swelling attendance numbers.
A regular noggin is run every second month, on the first Tuesday of the month and club runs are held on alternate months. A breakfast run is held on the last Sunday of each month. In 2010, the Club will tour the Karoo and Western Cape over five days and a similar annual tour is envisaged. An average of over 16 members attended 22 events during the 2009/10 Club year, mostly in their MGs.
A register is signed and filed, data is gathered and points scored for the awarding of the floating Club Trophy. Competitive events are held and a similar trophy is available for the winners.