Committee Chatterbox

1 February 2026

At last, we have made it through January.  It’s such a long month!! 

I thought I would take the opportunity to give a quick financial update. 

You may be aware that we receive an annual grant from CAMC which is based upon the Centre membership.  Although the amount received has varied over the years, the last 2 years our grant was £2300.  HQ have implemented a new process.  From January 2026 onwards, a fixed amount of grant will be payable to all Centres.  Based on 2025 accounts, the grant will be set at £1,150 irrespective of the size of the Centre's membership. 

This unfortunately represents a 50% reduction for Derbyshire Centre. 

The Committee has had some discussion about this and we have a few things we can look at, to try and make up for the shortfall, before we look at increasing rally fees. 

These include:

• Gaining more income from sponsorship.  If any member can help to identify a business who would sponsor us, please let a member of the Committee know. 

  
  

• Running 50/50 draws at all rallies.  We would appreciate it if Marshals would note this on the rally broadsheet.  When we identify a Committee member to do flag at a rally, we will also get a volunteer to run the 50/50.  Please support this initiative if you can.

  
  

• Looking at other options for plaque suppliers.  We spent £903 on plaques last year and although we understand that around 50-60% of members want a rally plaque, we want to try and to find a supplier who can make the exact number we need so that there is less wastage and reduced costs.

  
  

• Reducing the amount of storage space needed and therefore the cost of storing our equipment.  The storage unit cost £1569 for 2025 and the daily rate has increased for 2026.  Work is ongoing to go through the storage unit to ensure that everything we are storing is still fit for purpose and relevant to rallying in 2026. 

It’s not all doom and gloom.  We have a full programme of rallying to look forward to in 2026 starting with Sherwood Forest Holiday park next weekend, 6-8 February.   This is followed by the Valentine Rally 13-15 February at Bolsover – there are a few spaces left.  Winking Man and Peak Rail rallies are both full (please use the waiting list) but there is space on the Lickpenny CAMC site Rally being held 27-29 March.   It’ll be April before we know it. 

We do still need marshals for the Christmas Bash, 4-6 December and co-marshals for Hatton Country World 7-15 August. 

The Committee all look forward to seeing you on a rally field soon. 

Denise

Chair