Why we exist

Several years ago, I realised my father was becoming isolated and lonely. Living alone with established neighbours in the street moving on and his mobility decreasing, I could see he really looked forward to going to his local sports club a couple of times a week.

Then the pandemic hit us, and it was obvious there were many more people in the same situation lacking social contact, including myself. Communities rallied round, and many people benefitted from the support they received.

A year or more on, and as we’re coming to grips with the pandemic, I see some of this support dropping away. This is a natural process as more volunteers get back to work and are busy with their pre-pandemic life.

Leading up to a significant birthday, I'd started thinking about what I’d like out of life. I realised that the non-family related things I value are those around my hobby, classics cars, and chatting to men of a similar age with the same interests.  We drink beer or coffee, chat about cars, bikes, the news and politics. We’ve usually solved all world problems by the time we go home!

Having volunteered at Kop Hill Climb on the main and subcommittees for many years, I realised I’d met people who could well be in a similar situation. How could I help myself and some of these people?

The germ of an idea to form a car and bike club had been in my mind for few years, so why not expand the remit to get some of these people and machines off their sofa’s, out of their garages and into small groups to socialise, put on meetings and runs out to help others in need and start to improve both mental and physical wellbeing.  Not just their own, but the people they help in the community.

I hope we can do some good, however slight, and have some fun in and on old* machines in and around High Wycombe and the Chiltern Hills.

Take care, and stay safe,

David.

July 2021

* Or new!