MESSAGE FROM VCCNZ NATIONAL PRESIDENT
20 March 2020
Dear Member
As you will be aware the COVID-19 crisis has had an impact on almost every aspect of life in New Zealand and the Vintage Car Club is no exception. This unprecedented and previously unimaginable situation is evolving daily, if not hourly.
I sent an email out to branches on Tuesday advising that it was important that we took our time to evaluate options and to make the right decisions for our members, rather than knee jerk reactions.
You will be aware that the Government has now issued a ban on groups exceeding 100 in number but that may be reduced further going forward. Expert advice is saying that the peak of the pandemic could possibly be as late as August.
The Management Committee of the Vintage Car Club held an emergency meeting last night to discuss the crisis and the effects on upcoming national and branch events.
In relation to the Vero International Festival of Historic Motoring, in conjunction with the Festival Director Greg Terrill, we have made the difficult decision to postpone the Festival until early 2022. This decision was not taken lightly. Due to the uncertainty around how long it will take for the pandemic to run its course and the potential of facing a financial loss, if due to lack of entries the event had to be cancelled, it is the right decision to make.
The Executive Meeting which was due to be held in Wellington on Saturday 28 March is also cancelled and we have also decided that our National Day Daffodil Rally will also not go ahead for 2020.
I also had no option yesterday but to cancel the National North Island Easter Rally and by now all entrants should have been directly contacted by the event organisers.
During the next week or so we will be contacting the organisers of national events that are being held later this year and early next year to discuss what options we have in relation to those events. We will keep you posted on that.
Because the International Rally will now not be held in 2021 it does give us room to move national events into next year.
Some branches have already made the hard decision to cancel meetings, club nights, branch runs and events and even to postpone annual general meetings. A communication has gone out to all branches today with a strong recommendation that they also review all of their events with a view to cancelling or postponing them, at least until the end of June or until the situation improves.
The club website and Facebook page along with branch websites will keep you updated and the next issue of Beaded Wheels will have up-to-date information as of going to print.
I hope you understand the reason for these actions. Over half of our members are in the high risk bracket in terms of this pandemic. The cancellation of events now will mean that we’ve done our very best to keep our members safe.
Best regards and stay safe.
Diane Quarrie
National President
Correspondence regarding this letter should be sent to vcc_covid19@vcc.org.nz