MUC-19 BMW Club Oxford ‘Working Group’

When the COVID-19 pandemic struck a lot of our normal motorcycling was interrupted. Not just riding but also the social activities that make the BMW Club what it is: ride outs, pub socials, events, meeting up for a coffee, etc. To help improve the situation we established a working group ‘Motorcycling Under COVID-19’ or ‘MUC-19’ for short! MUC-19 has been meeting weekly using Zoom conference calls.

We quickly decided that the priority was to increase the amount of electronic communications to members. So every week we are making 4-5 website posts, with re-posting on Facebook and Rosemary Hicks summarises the activity with a Weekly News Bulletin which goes out by email. We have shared posts in the BMW Club UK Facebook Group (members Only) to help encourage communication across the club. Geoff Clough has been kindly printing and posting the Weekly News Bulletin to a very small number of members who don’t have access to email or the Internet, so no one is left out.

James O’Shea, with help from Dave Tomlinson, has launched a series of ‘Pub Social Film Nites’. The events are managed through Meetup (you need to be a member of Meetup to participate details on how to do this are available here). The basic format is a Zoom call with pre-film catch-up and chat, we then go off to watch the film and after the film there is an excellent 20 question quiz with a small prize. The first three events have been very enjoyable, helped by the excellent choice of films by James and Geoff Clough: ‘The World’s Fastest Indian’, ‘One Week’ and ‘Somewhere Else Tomorrow’ – all the films are motorcycle related. It’s well worth getting involved in the Pub Social Film Nites – you will improve your Zoom skills as well!

Dashwood Arms Pub Social – Not for the Moment – Try the Film Nite!

 

Motorcycling is now possible again, with restrictions, a very positive development but social activities are still severely curtailed, so how long should we continue MUC-19? Well it is possible that the social activities of the club might restart in the summer which would reduce the need for MUC-19. But we need to remember that the more elderly and vulnerable members of the BMW Club will still be in strict isolation for some time. I think the most important thing for us all to do is to make sure we are communicating about motorcycling as much as we can through electronic and print channels to a wide audience. This will help keep the social life of the BMW Club going and keep members connected. As the Christian saying puts it ‘it is always better to give than to receive’ – I am sure that is certainly true of most of my posts – apologies!

Many thanks to the MUC-19 team whose hard work has made this effort possible: Tim Bolderston, Geoff Clough, Ian Dobie, Carl Flint, Rosemary Hicks, Derek Johnson, Bob Mack, Steve Moxey, James O’Shea, Dave Tomlinson.

We are always looking for new blood and ideas so if you want to join in please get in touch!

The Balcone d’Italia – A Fantastic Trip in 2017, More to Come in 2021