Newsletter No 29 - VMCC - Isle of Man

Secretary’s Notes
Hi Everyone,
Time really flies by when you get to a certain age, seems like one magazine
is put to bed and the next one is on its way.
The start of the year has been reasonably good for the Club with a sell out
Dinner at Mount Murray. For those unable to attend a presentation cheque
was made, from the VMCC Isle of Man Section,to the Hyperbaric Chamber
Charity for £3,250. This was followed by our highly successful first film
night at the Peel Centenary Centre. Profits from that were £200 and this was
given to the Joey Dunlop Foundation. So we can all give ourselves a pat on
the back.
With the impending Budget about to hit us all, one might be forgiven for
fearing for the future of the MGP Festival. Comments in the newspapers and
on the various forums place a serious focus on what appears to be, on the
surface, a loss making event for the Government. If it was decided to scrap
the MGP the Island would immediately lose the five and a half million
pounds spent by visitors. Some hotels would close and the Steam Packet
Company would be in an even more serious condition. The Government
would lose the VAT revenue that the MGP produces, no VMCC Rally, no
Festival of Jurby, no tourists. Clearly this scenario is out of the question, and
I am sure that we will see the continuation of this great Festival albeit with
possibly a change of name and changes to the Race Programme. The
organisers should be aware that if the programme is shortened or the classes
changed too much, perhaps the riders will not bother to come here as the add
on cost to them in a declining UK economy is horrendous.
On the brighter side huge savings must be available within our bloated
Government, which has spent money like water during the years when the
UK were being over generous with the VAT revenue. Accountants should not
be allowed to make the ultimate decisions over events that affect us all. We
need people with vision and courage to make the decisions affecting our
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