AROC Wins Prestigious Club of the Year!
David Faithful
1 December 2020
Club News
Everyone at the Alfa Romeo Owners Club is delighted to have been unanimously voted the 2020 Club of the Year by Classic & Sports Car magazine in their 2020 Club Awards!
The prestigious Club Awards broke with tradition in 2020 and were announced in a virtual live event streamed on Youtube. Classic & Sports Car stated, “Our Club of the Year was a unanimous verdict among the judges. Rather than sit back and lick its wounds during lockdown, this club has been incredibly active, launching podcasts, virtual racing championships, an online club archive and photo gallery, plus an interactive map of services to help members track down good specialists”.
“It has also added to its local area groups and model registers, revamped its website and club shop, and even surveyed its readership to find out how it can continue to improve over the coming year. Congratulations to the Alfa Romeo Owners’ Club UK”.
We wish to thank the whole team at Classic & Sports Car, and congratulate all the other fabulous winners in the 2020 Club Awards during what has been a difficult year for us all. We are hugely grateful, and ever-more determined to continue to grow and improve in the coming years.
We were also shortlisted in the category of Best Virtual Event with our Virtual Racing Championship!
AROC’s Chairman of the Board of Directors, John Griffiths, responded with the following statement:
“We are immensely proud to receive this prestigious award. In particular it is great recognition of the efforts put in by a number of people in our Club to deliver a raft of new services for Club members during this particularly difficult year”.
“From Podcasts, Virtual Racing, Zoom meetings and Kahoot Quizzes, to the AROC Archive and the fantastic Affinity Scheme with Alfa UK, a great many hours have been put in. The Club magazine has gone from strength to strength with a host of great member content, the website has been enhanced with additional services and content, our Social Media presence has expanded with over 20,000 accounts engaged, the Club Shop has further grew its offerings thanks to Danielle Kisby its operator, and there’s been continued effort at Section and Register level too in very difficult circumstances”.
“In particular I want to mention the efforts of AROC magazine editor Guy Swarbrick who has been instrumental in delivering our high quality podcasts and the Virtual Racing programme on top of ‘the day job’; David Faithful who’s helped drive the new-look website with enriched content and with Club Manager Nick Wright brokered a great many more Club benefits, including among many; Best Western and Warner Leisure hotels plus Cottages.com, Disklok, David Thomas Motoring Books, Tayna Batteries and Revive auto detailing”.
“Of course, existing major partners have also renewed their long-standing partnerships, including Halfords and Pirelli – a clear sign of the strong relationships we’ve built over many years”.
“Then to Paul Jones who was instrumental in agreeing the exceptional discounts through the Affinity Scheme with Alfa Romeo and Jeep; and to Grant Richardson who, with the tremendous efforts of the dear departed former Club Chairman Jon Dooley, and Webmaster Bill Smith, delivered the Club Archive giving online and searchable access to six decades’ worth of Club Magazines. Also of course to Nick Wright, our Club manager of 10 years now, who has had a personally difficult year with illness yet has been instrumental in maintaining membership levels through his slick administration and contact with people”.
“There are many more in the background too – the remaining members of the Board of Directors who put in many hours, sometimes on more mundane but equally important matters to guide and ensure the smooth operation of the Club, then the aforementioned broader organising team at Section and Register level, plus of course the many active Club members who help to make this terrific Club something truly great to be a part of. A huge well done to all!”
It goes without saying that our Club is nothing without our members, and everything we do is for them. Whilst this accolade will not change our determination or our levels of commitment and hard work for all our members, it is heart-warming that the efforts of all our volunteer teams has been recognised.
If you missed the live awards ceremony, you can watch it on the Classic & Sports Car Youtube channel here.
And you can find all the latest news and features along with how to subscribe to Classic & Sports Car magazine here.
