Name: Jay Allan
Position: Centre Chairman
Centre Member For: 17 Years
Hello everyone, a new initiative for this season is for the main committee members to introduce themselves by way of a bio, as Chairman I volunteered to go first.
I joined the Caravan Club (as it was then) after Jo and I purchased our first caravan, which was a Mendip Magnum 556 single axle, with double bunks at the back for the kids. We had initially joined the South Wales Centre as our geographical local centre but after 5 rallies and on the back of meeting up with members of the West Wales Centre at the Gwent Centre National held at the David Broom centre in Crick, we changed centres. On arriving home from that rally I contacted the club an explained that there had been a huge mistake and we had been put in the wrong centre, they swiftly transferred us to the West Wales Centre and we have never looked back..
I first joined the committee in 2009 when I was elected from the floor at the AGM when Mike Checker was Chairman. I served on committee for the following chairperson, Andrea Glew and then I was elected as Vice Chairman when Gary Glew became Chairman a couple of years later.
I took over the Chairmans role when Gary stepped down in 2013 and my committee and I swiftly set about the final preparations for our Welsh National rally held at Bank Farm on the Gower.
I have so many fantastic memories from so many rallies, venues and ralliers along the way, some rallies stand out more than others, the many New Years rallies at Felindre and the fantastic times we had at Greenhill School – Tenby, for sure are some of my favourites.
I have had some extremely proud memories too, being voted Chairman for the first time, representing the centre at the many dinner dances through the year, receiving the inter centre cup when West Wales won the National, starting and captaining our centre darts team and being part of the winning team at the darts competition at 5 national rallies.,
I really look forward to weekends away, meeting up with friends on the rally field, laughing at antics that people have got up too, people’s mishaps, silly things that have happened over the years, generally having a great laugh in a venue as diverse as a farmer’s field, a school yard, club site or a proper caravan site.
I will end by saying this, I have thoroughly enjoyed my time on the various committees, ensuring that the centre is viable and going from strength to strength. It is rewarding too, when you turn up a big rally with lots of members and their families enjoying themselves, then you know it’s all worth it… But the centre has struggled to encourage members to come forward to join the committees over the last few years. If this trend continues then there will come a point where the centre will no longer meet the Club’s requirements to operate and then would have to be wound down into hibernation. This would be a real shame and almost certainly unrecoverable, as has been proven by the South Glamorgan and North Wales centres who have gone this way in recent years. I sincerely hope that members come forward at future AGMs to support the ongoing longevity of the West Wales Centre.
Hopefully I will see you in the coming months on the rally field.
Thanks for reading this bio, Jay.
