Rep's Reports

Tyne & Wear Rep

Norma Lee

Brian Fossey, one of my area members, from Craghead, Stanley, got a NABD grant for his trike. He came to the National Rally in May, unfortunately the trike wasn't finished but he made it in the car. After the National, he decided that he should give something back to the NABD as he was very impressed with the work we do. He has organised not one, but two fundraisers, in his local club. The first one raised £250.00 and the second £261 30, He got a disco, 'Howling Wolf' to play rock music on both occasions and both times they refused even an expenses fee, all they asked for was that it was donated back to the NABD and could they have a Tee Shirt each please. No problem! The club committee are impressed with the bar takings and have asked Brian if he can make it a yearly event. Both nights were brilliant, lots of fun when I organised games as well. This makes a splendid night out when there are no rallies to go to. You get to see loads of mates/have lots of fun as well as raising money for a very worthwhile cause. The more the merrier.

My very grateful thanks to Brian for his splendid organising.

London Rep

Ken May

Hello London. I Hope you all had a good Christmas and new year. I don't know about anybody else but I think that December should have 5 weeks in it There are just too many Christmas parties and not enough weekends to fit them all in.
!n September a whole bunch of us from the South East headed off for the Autumn NABD'ness rally in Oxfordshire The weather was amazing as was the site. You tell people about the site and they won't believe you till they get there and see it for themselves.
A great time was had by all and I can see this turning into one of the major rallies of the season. I hope to see a few more from London next year as it's nearly on the doorstep. You're missing out on a really fantastic weekend, As it happened this turned out to be the last rally of the year for me due to the unfortunate cancellation of the 'Grab Your Ghoulies' bash down in Somerset. Hopefully everything will be sorted out for next year.
The London meetings are going well and slowly more members are starting to come along. But there's always room for more so come on down and join in. If any of you find that the Ace Cafe is too far or difficult to get to let me know and if there's enough response I'll look into starting another meeting somewhere more accessible for those who can't get to the Ace.

Ride safe, and I'll see you out on the road somewhere.

Kent Rep

Gary Tompkins

Winter has crept up on us once again, and the cold, rain or lack of daylight has put paid to our outdoor activities for a few months. However we managed to finish the season on a high, with a great mass ride-out to Hastings in August to collect a donation (see separate article), and a weekend in September at the Travellers MCC at their 3rd Rawhide rally near Ruislip.
The attendance at Rawhide was down on last year's event, but we still enjoyed ourselves and managed to make a small profit on the stall. As part of the silly games on Saturday, the club held the traditional axe throwing competition! As if that wasn't mind boggling enough, they later managed to round up a small (and very worried) group of rally virgins, and proceeded to christen them in fine style - oh what a mess. After all that excitement it was nice to relax by the bonfire with a Jay Dee or two before crashing out in the small hours.

We took a large posse of 1st timers plus Kent regulars to Cornbury Park for the 2003 Autumn Nabdness rally and had a fantastic time. This rally just gets better by the year, both the weather and atmosphere were superb, and as a bonus I managed to pick up a trophy for best adaption on the 900 Monster. I've also heard on the grapevine that the event made a substantial profit, in what is only its third year, so well done to Jules and the rest of the team for all their hard work.

We've managed to gain a quite few extra members in Kent this year, and it's been nice to see some new faces at the monthly meets. I'll be sticking with the last Thursday for our meetings next year, and also plan to fit in a few weekend events with ride-outs to the coast- I would again like to thank Nigel and Jan of the Crown P.H. for being great hosts, and continuing to support the association.
As Rick said in his editorial in Open House 45 this has been an incredible year for NABD, and proves that our hard work and determination are beginning to reap huge rewards. The breakthrough with Motability was great news, and I was chuffed to bits with the recent Granada Men & Motors, and Carlton TV coverage, but the announcement that we had finally been awarded a lottery grant was the icing on the cake.
Thank you, to everyone that's helped NABD this year, and here's looking forward to 2004

Best wishes to all of you for the New Year

Essex Rep

Sean Edwards

HiFolks,

This being my first report to Open House as Essex Rep I have no idea what to say, so am going to rush on regardless and hope you understand me.
Out of over 30 members in my area that I sent introduction letters to, I would like to thank the two of you that responded. Unfortunately this is not enough to warrant the monthly meetings I had wanted to set up. So, if you would like to meet monthly, starting in the new year, please contact me as soon as you get a chance and I'll get it organized. I realise that Essex has been without a full time rep for a little while now and nothing much has been arranged, but, hey, I'm here now. Let's make Essex rock! after all it's for the best of causes.

My telephone number is in the reps list , or you can reach me on email. I look forward to hearing from you all soon and getting some stuff happening.

And finally....a BIG Thank you to Keith and Bob at Klicktronic for all the help they have given me over the last few weeks.

(C'mon now you good folk of Essex. Being an NABD Rep is a heartbreaking job at the best of times, but it can be so much harder if you don't have any backing from local members. Sean has taken on the job but he needs the support of NABD members in the area to make a real go of it. Phone him or send him an e-mail so he can arrange a meet to plan some NABD activity. Take my word for it, there is a lot of fun and camaraderie to be had in local NABD groups, and you get the chance to make a real difference to peoples lives! Got to be worth a try eh? Rick)