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 – Keith Bourbage
Keith Bourbage was caretaker-secretary after Linda Daniel stepped down, but at the June 2008 AGM was voted into the role in his own right.. Keith is doing a sterling job, organising the Committee and keeping the paperwork in order. We’ll talk more about Keith under his other elected role – read on!
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 Carol Jarvis. As one of three new members of the committee please extend a warm welcome to her. 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. Ian and Tina are also due a warm welcome as new members to the committee.
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, Sean 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 – Tim Hutchinson
Tim has been the Club Shop Manager for two years now. He was co-opted onto the Committee in November 2006. He has toured the country over the last year going to a dozen shows in his orange T2 to support the Club. Tim loves to go on long-distance tours in the van, and so far he and his partner Clare have been to Germany via France, Belgium and Luxembourg, and Sweden via Holland, Germany and Denmark. For Tim, having a camper is the fulfilment of a long-term dream.
Camping Manager – Keith Bourbage
Keith joined the Committee at the 2007 AGM in a vote that was as odd as a coin being flipped and landing on its edge. He and Keith Miller, the previous Camping and Events Co-ordinator, received exactly the same number of votes! Paul suggested that the role be split, to reflect the democracy of the vote. Keith does not actually drive a VW camper now, though he used to – he is the proud owner of a rare working Citroen H van. It is the only vehicle anyone can remember being successfully crank-started at a rally. Keith is highly skilled in bodywork and painting besides mechanical expertise, and is one of the Valuation Officers.
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 the van, especially on the long tours to interesting new European destinations. She helps out with the Club Shop and Memberships at events and shows.
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.
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.