Club Committee
Club President – Phil Shaw
This role was created at the 2007 AGM, and Phil is deservedly the first holder of the title. He was voted into the post as a mark of respect for the enormous contribution he has made to the Club over the years. As one of its founder members, he has been the Secretary for most of the Club’s history. A long-term illness has slowly taken away the ability to camp in or work on his beloved VWs, but his knowledge of them is almost encyclopaedic. Phil loves to chat, especially about VW campers, and he is great company.
Club Chairman – Paul Jarvis
Paul has been the chairman for a few years now, and he has been trying to give the Club a friendly but professional edge. He loves camps and events, and particularly likes long-distance camping rallies. He is planning a trip to the South of France this year. He is usually accompanied by Carol and their large black Labrador, Smudge. The dog is fairly harmless, unless you are a rabbit or a dead fox... Paul travels in a coach-built T4, which is almost open house throughout most camps; if you don’t mind sharing a seat with Smudge!
Club Secretary – Phil Shaw
Phil is covering this role while we find a suitable replacement for Keith, who stood down at the last AGM. This is a demanding job, and requires someone with the time, dedication and trustworthiness to handle legal documentation for the Club. If you feel that you could help with this, please do contact Paul for more details.
Club Treasurer – Jenny Austin
Jenny is new to the campers and the camper scene, but has previously helped the Club out by auditing the accounts for Helga Edwards, the Treasurer until the 2008 AGM. Jenny is diving in at the deep end, having bought a lovely Karmann Gypsy. She loves dogs, and is a good friend of Paul and Carol Jarvis. Helga has not completely given up helping out the Club - she will audit the accounts for Jenny.
Membership Secretary – Ian and Tina Grice
When Carol Jarvis told the members at the June 2008 AGM that she wanted to hand this role over to someone else and asked for volunteers, Ian and Tina Grice kindly offered to take it over. This is a vital role, and involves contacting all the members at some point or another, keeping their details up to date, and ensuring it is kept within the Data Protection Act. Both Tina and Ian took this role on to meet more members, so please make sure you go to speak to them if they are running the marquee at a show you are attending.
Magazine Editor – Carol Jarvis
Carol has taken this role back on, after stepping down last year and then caretaking when her replacement resigned. Carol would be the first to say that any opportunity that she can, she would like to hear from anyone with a story, technical piece or other item useful for including in the magazine.
Valuations Manager – Sean Powell
Sean was already an officer working on Valuations, so when Chris Daniel stepped down from this post, Shaun was co-opted from being a General Committee member. Sean drives a hightop T25, and is taking up the paperwork for the valuations. He has already got a Valuation Rally planned for this coming year – see the Events page. Sean is a trained in automotive maintenance, and specialises in electrical work.
Club Shop Manager – Rex and Natalie Bale
Rex and Natalie Bale have offered to take over the Club Shop, and were co-opted by a vote of the committee in February 2009. Rex has won Van of the Year with his lovely white bay van, and Natalie is a Business graduate, so the shop should be in very capable hands! Rex and Natalie both love to take the van on tour, with their daughter and dog. You should find them at plenty of shows this year.
Camping Manager – Derek and Christie Leary
Derek and Christie Leary were co-opted into this role by a vote of the committee in February 2009, and were subsequently voted in at teh AGM of June 2009. They offered to help Keith Bourbage concentrate on the Secretary post. They are well-known to the Club, as they are very capable organisers and entertainers and have previously been involved in camps for the Club before. They already have several camps in the events calendar, and hopefully will be spreading their expertise to a wider audience in their new position.
Events Co-ordinator – Keith Miller
Keith has been involved with the Camping and Events for the Club for a long time. He travels in an orange and white T2 with a very smart matching trailer, and is usually to be found at BVF or Vanfest orchestrating the marshalls in the Club camping field. He does not live just for VWs – he also likes the Trabant cars, and spends part of his time in Germany. He is one of our Valuation Officers, and he is very knowledgeable on the technical side of VW vans.
Website Manager – Clare Walsh
Clare volunteered for this role after the previous manager stepped down at the 2007 AGM, too late for any replacement to be voted on, and was officially co-opted in September 2007. After the 2008 AGM, she has been voted into the role. She has learned from scratch, and then received a lot of welcome help from a professional website designer. This has meant that the old website, which was in sore need of revision, has been completely replaced. Clare loves camping in her partner's Merino Yellow '78 bay, especially on the long tours to interesting new European destinations.
General Committee - Sheila Miners
Sheila joined the General Committee at the 2007 AGM. She is the only member so far to turn up at a rally with a cat who camped as easily as a dog. Whiskey was wonderful, but sadly passed on. Now, Sheila is accompanied by a lovely terrier called Josie. Sheila has experience in orgnaising camps and rallies and enjoys socialising, though recent illness has forced her to give up her Kameo T25.
General Committee - Tim Hutchinson
Tim previously ran the shop, but has found a dynamic replacement in Natalie. He owns a 1978 Devon bay camper - bright orange! It is certainly the easiest car he has ever owned when it comes to finding it in a crowded car-park, and very popular on his driving holidays in Europe. Tim is also known as 'Utch.
General Committee - Emma Hamilton
Emma joined the committee as a co-optee shortly before being voted onto the committee at the AGM in June 2009. Emma and her husband David regularly camp with the Club in their T25. Dave is known to more people as djhammy, and Emma is a dab hand at knocking up fancy dress costumes (a bit of a busman's holiday) for the themed camps. They are both keen on vans and meeting other members. They have joined local meets via the Forum pages.
Vanfest Coordinator - Simon Holloway
Simon has a place on this committee because the Vanfest event is owned by the Club. He seems to enjoy having next to no real spare time for himself, being on-call through work, and then running a very successful series of truck-bed music events near Oxford as well as Vanfest. To say he loves the VW van is a serious understatement. He drives a syncro campervan to take the family, a syncro pickup functional fire engine (the Vanfest Feuerwehr) and has a project Kemperink in case he finds himself at a loose end. He has written several articles for this website, and has a wealth of knowledge around the vans.