Find out how the West Sussex Mini Owners Club all started. Worthing.

West Sussex Mini Owners Club was the brainchild of  Aaron Foord who, with his then wife (Christine), formed a club for  local Mini enthusiasts in May 1992 and set about recruiting members from  Worthing and the surrounding West Sussex area by advertising in local  motor spares shops etc. In designating the Club as a "Mini Owners Club"  Aaron first had to seek the approval of the National Mini Owners Club,  which at that time was run by Chris Cheal and his wife. Unfortunately  that Club has since folded although Chris appears to still be involved  in the Mini scene.

The first meetings were held at various local  pubs but these were unsatisfactory as the owners felt that their cars  were not secure but eventually settled at "The Roundstone Pub" in  Angmering where they were able to obtain a separate room for monthly  meetings and a large car park to accommodate the cars for a growing  membership. A Committee was also set up by Aaron to run the Club  recruited mainly from members who had previous experience in running  clubs or committees.
Regular meetings were held on the last Wednesday  in the month, a tradition that survives to this day. On the agenda were  talks by local organisations and businesses eg. The Police, Car Hi Fi  experts etc. They also held the odd Table Top Rally organised by Tony  Gardiner (a well known local Mini Artist / photographer and author) he  was a Mini rally enthusiast who was also a Club member at that time.  Tony had many contacts amongst the Mini rallying fraternity and on one  of the Clubs early stands at the "London to Brighton Run" on Madeira  Drive Brighton was able to secure a couple of well known rally cars. He  also had an unusual rallying Riley Elf that was rebuilt by Patrick Howe  of "Raven Racing" (a founder member) and featured in Mini World.

Eventually  the Club were told that their "home" at "The Roundstone" was to be no  more when the pub was taken over by a chain of brewers and completely  altered with no separate accommodation being available for the Club. The  search was then on for an alternative but despite attempts by several  members nothing could be found until Aaron happened to mention it to  Michael Cooper who had a close affiliation with the Club in the early  days, as did his father John. John Cooper Garages were then based in  Ferring, West Sussex and both Michael and his father were made honorary  members. Michael was at that time heavily involved with Worthing Rugby  Club and suggested that they had a spare function room that might be  available for meetings. A meeting was arranged with the Club Secretary  and soon afterwards the Club moved its monthly meetings to the Rugby  Club, which strangely is only a stones throw from "The Roundstone" in  Roundstone Lane Angmering. It was here that the Club held its AGM in  June and elected a new Committee for the following year. About this time  and as the Club grew there were disagreements amongst members as is  quite often the case with organisations and as a result a small  breakaway group formed their own local Mini club but WSMOC soldiered on  and set up a set of rules for future Club members guidance.

Fairly  early on and before the upsurge in the Internet and social networking  sites the Club set up a monthly magazine and managed to purchase a  second hand photocopier to print these. Various members submitted  articles and the editorial was by Aaron. By this time Aaron and his wife  had split and he remarried. His second wife, Caroline (Cassie), was a  club member and together they set about moving the Club forward. Many  Club members attended their wedding and helped send them on their way  with tin cans tied to the bumper of Caroline's lovely black custom built  Mini cabriolet! Their wedding was even featured in "The Sun" newspaper.

As  time moved on Aaron had one dream and that was that the Club should put  on it's own show and this eventually became a reality in 1987 with  "Wheels & Steel" held at Worthing Rugby Clubs ground. This did not  just include Minis but also a Formula 1 car and a vintage monster race  car from Beaulieu Motor Museum, not forgetting vintage buses, military  vehicles together with assorted invited Mini Clubs and traders stands.  There was also a Trad jazz band, which entertained the punters during  lunch. Unfortunately the weather took a hand just as the show looked  like being a success and down came the rain. There then began a steady  exit of exhibits and very few visitors through the gates not to mention  no further vehicle entries. Aaron and the Committee were distraught. The  show turned into a nightmare and resulted in a severe loss to the Club  and an eventual falling out with Worthing Rugby Club over various issues  surrounding the organisation of the show which then resulted in the  Wuzzies (group term for members) deciding to leave the Rugby Club for  its monthly meetings. The hunt was on again for a new home. At this time  the Club was in extreme financial difficulties and would have folded if  it had not been for the resolve of the Committee and other members to  keep it afloat. An amazing fund raising campaign was begun and with the  help of raffles and car boot sales etc.. sufficient money was eventually  raised to save the Club. Thereafter it was decided that never again  would the Club get itself into such a predicament and a savings account  was set up to hold a "float" for future events.

Eventually the  Club managed to find a place for monthly meetings at the Arundel  Football Club. This was not ideal and throughout the next two years or  so the membership declined to the extent that it became obvious that the  Club would have to move its monthly meetings again. At this time  reconciliation came about with Worthing Rugby Club and the  Wuzzies returned there for their monthly meetings. Unfortunately the  hire of the room was no longer free and so a small entrance fee for  members and guests to monthly meetings had to be charged and the selling  of raffle tickets was intensified. (Fortunately, due to the financial  stability of the Club, the entrance fee was discontinued in 2013).

Just  as things seemed to have moved onto an even keel another bombshell was  dropped early in the new millennium when the Club Chairman Aaron and the  Club Secretary, Cassie announced that they had decided to leave West  Sussex to move to the Shetland Island of Unst the most northerly  inhabited island in Great Britain, to run a chocolate factory!  (Foords Chocolates www.thenorthbase.co.uk ).  At first it was thought that the Club would fold but again through the  determination of the members an Extraordinary General Meeting was held  and a new Chairman elected. This was Dale Goodchild, a long time member.  Unfortunately after a few months Dale found that the job was just too  much for him and stood down, as he was unable to give it the time and  commitment necessary to maintain the Club. A further meeting was called  and another long time member John Gray was elected and took over the  reigns and so a new chapter began in the saga of WSMOC. 

The Club  continued under the guidance of John Gray who at that time was an avid  enthusiast and had owned various Minis since the early 1960's. His many  years of helping to run other clubs together with his enthusiasm brought  fresh ideas and a renewed vigour to the Club. WSMOC continued to attend  a variety of regional and national shows, often travelling in convoy as  it still does to this day. In November 1999 WSMOC attended its first  show since the retirement of Aaron and promptly won 3rdplace at the Cool  Yuletide Show, Sandown and continued it's success by coming 2nd in  2000. In the following years the Club decided to change it's Club  colours from green and black to yellow and black as it was felt this  would have more impact at shows.

In 2002 the Club voted on  allowing the new "BMW" MINI to be admitted to its ranks with pretty much  a majority and later in September of that year arranged its second  national show "Mini's by The Sea" to celebrate it's 10th Anniversary.  Wuzzies set about leafleting every Mini show they could get to and  circulated details to the local radio and television. As a result,  unlike the show of 1987, the sun shone and it was a profound success  raising a large sum of money for local hospices St Barnabas and Chestnut  Tree House. The show continues to this day and has become part of the  national Mini calendar. By 2013 it had raised over £30,000. As a thank  you for the shows contribution to St Barnabas they placed a plaque in  it's "Walk of Life" path at the new hospice. This acknowledges the Club  and the wonderful support of the Mini fraternity and the general public  who attend these shows every year.

In 2004 John Gray stepped  down and Martin  Black was elected to take the reins. Martin was a  founder member and had served from the beginning on the Committee as  both Treasurer and Vice Chairman. Martin's Clubman Estate appeared in  the Mini Press on two occasions as a feature cover car and had been  included in two hard back Mini books. In addition and over the years  several other members and former members cars appeared as feature cars  in monthly Mini publications, notably Dickie Dowsett, Tony Gardener  (already referred to), Patrick Howe of "Raven Racing" and Ben Creasy.  (Apologies for others that may have been unintentionally left out).

In  the early 2000's Martin arranged the Club's first overseas adventure  called "The Fizz Run". A trip with a dozen cars to the Champagne  district of France staying in Avize courtesy of Champagne Pierson  Whittaker. A fabulous long weekend of touring around quiet country roads  and sipping lots of Champagne and eating some wonderful French food.  Plaques were made up for the cars on the run and they caused quite a  stir in Avize and the nearby towns of Epernay and Reims. On the way back  the cars were well loaded down with bottles of fizz and other booty!  The trip was so successful it was repeated. Laterly the owners of  Pierson and Whittaker went there separate ways and so no further trips  could be arranged.

In the later years Martin stepped down as  Chairman through work pressures and illness and long time  member Dickie Dowsett took over guiding the Club through some difficult  times but always trying to push the Club forward with such events as  breakfast runs and trips to the IMM in Italy and Hungary amongst  others.  

In the summer of 2012 a BBQ party was organised to celebrate the Clubs 20th birthday
and  a special souvenir T-shirt was printed. It was very well attended by  members both old and new proving that even after nearly 55 years since  its inception Mini ownership was still alive and as popular as ever!
WSMOC  under Dickie Dowsett's stewardship continues to flourish with a stable  membership a healthy bank balance and a full and enthusiastic Committee.

* This account of the Clubs history is accurate to the best of his knowledge but he apologises if anything or anyone has been omitted or the there are any discrepancies.