I have been asked on behalf of my father (Patrick) to post the following as he is not a user of forums.
Cheers,
Franklin.
As of the 4th February this year I retired from my business (more details on my own website - link) and as of today (19th February) I have resigned as Chairman of the CX, XM and Xantia Section of the Citroen Car Club. This is upon the instruction of my Doctor.
I wish the incoming Chairman all the best and hope the Section can continue to run smoothly. I must thank the current committee for their sterling work under my watch.
I am delighted that the X Rally will apparently be continued with. This was a show of my own inauguration, my baby if you like, and was delighted at it's success. At this point I would like to point out to the sceptics that I bought every trophy and prize from my own pocket for this show never seeking any advertising or reward for it - not the action of a profiteering car dealer that some brand me as which is most hurtful. Likewise the majority of raffle prizes at the CX, XM and Xantia Rally were donated by myself - again for no gain other than the success of the show and ultimately your enjoyment. I hope the sceptics feel guilty because they are.
I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the hundreds of you that have done business with me over the last 4 decades.
Just to clarify so nobody get's confused, the above posting was on behalf of my father, and this post is from me.
Firstly, I have decided that I will be stepping down as Secretary of the CX, XM and Xantia Section of the CCC.
This is firstly due to my University commitments that are taking the vast majority of my time nowadays, and also that I do not wish to continue considering that Dad is stepping down as Chairman too.
Thanks go to you all on the committee for doing a great job and I hope that the Section will go from strength to strength in the future.
I have only (so far) been to one X Rally, and I found it completely enjoyable. The atmosphere, the geniality, and the general "let's have fun" attitude made me want to come back for more (so I did attend 2 more rallies). Your replacements will have a lot to live up to. I hope to see you at forthcoming rallies.
James ex BX 1.9
ex Xantia 2.0HDi SX
ex Xantia 2.0HDi LX
Ex C5 2.0HDi VTR
Ex C5 2.0HDi VTR
C5 2.2HDi VTX+
Yes, I am paranoid, but am I paranoid ENOUGH?
Out amongst the stars, looking for a world of my own!
Thanks for all the excellent work that you and your dad have done so far Franklin.
As he has stepped down on medical advice I do hope there are no worrying aspects to this.
I'd just like to follow up the past few posts in this topic...
The news that Dad would be stepping down as Chairman of the Section, as well as the news that I would also be stepping down as Secretary has been clearly publicised around all of the well known Citroen websites (Citroen Car Club, French Car Forum, Club-XM, BXClub etc) so the majority of people will now be aware of the situation especially taking into consideration that of word of mouth for those that are not regular viewers of the Citroen websites too.
As well as the news being publicised, there was also a call for volunteers for the Section as to either join the committee and/or wish to stand for the position of Secretary or Chairman. Unfortunately the response has been rather poor indeed with nobody whatsoever wishing to stand for these positions or even help with the Section - a real shame however seems all too common nowadays.
In light of this when I visited Alan Kemp (CCC Secretary and Section Liaison) earlier this week I had a long conversation with him regarding the Section, and as well as talking to Dom Weston (our Section Treasurer) we decided that some sort of action needed to be taken for the Section. With this in mind a week ago I sent an email out to the committee expressing the following points:
-I had not one person come forwards with the view to join the committee
-I had visited Alan and had a good chat regarding the Section,
-I had spoken at length with Dom Weston who was happy with continuing being Treasurer
-How the CXM Rally in September looks likely to be not going ahead due to lack of volunteers, as well as increased hire fees and lack of available dates.
-How Dom and I thought best to revert back to the CX Section
-How to hold smaller CX Section meets throughout the year as opposed to one large meeting in September, and possibly combining with the Midlands Section Rally at Stratford with a CX Section appearance.
-How I would be willing to act as interim Chairman of the Section in light of the non-existent response.
Since that email was sent out unfortunately we received just one reply (thanks Matthew) and with this in mind, after speaking at length with Dom and also Dad we have gone ahead with reverting to the CX Section, with myself as interim Chair and Dom as Treasurer.
*****This is where the Club needs YOU*****
There is no doubt that the interest and support for the XMs and also the Xantias is growing, looking at the attendance of the shows this is obvious. The majority of you reading this are CCC Members, so the reigns are being handed to you. The enthusiasm is here so why not set up an XM and/or Xantia Section/Group of the CCC? As time goes on and these cars move into Classic territory they deserve to stand alone in the Club which is certainly possible, just like the Ds, GSs, CXs etc.
This leads onto the subject of the CXM...due to the total lack of volunteers Dom and I have decided we will not be organising the CXM. When Dom and I were speaking about the Section we agreed that if we was to stay on the Section we wouldn't be organising a large show by ourselves, as just like in the past it'd end up with one or two people doing everything which isn't fair at all and we haven't got the time and resources to do that between us - our enthusiasm towards the CXs is still as strong as ever, of course. Once again the reigns are handed over to you - how about organising some meetings? They don't need to be the big event like the CXM, but it is the XMs 25th this year don't forget...
I look forward to hearing your thoughts, and if anyone fancies setting up a Section or Group it really is rather simple and I can point you in the right direction.
