Our Club medical team are gratefully acknowledged for helping us to understand the current Covid-19
situation, to anticipate the next changes, and to explain to members what this all means for our trips and
meetings. Simply keeping in touch with one another during these difficult times has been most important.
The need to improve our Information Technology area and especially its part in Club communication was
recognised in early 2019 and evolved to become a major project for 2020. We examined the available
alternatives before selecting the Wild Apricot membership management software. Many weeks of testing
behind the scenes in early 2020 preceded its roll-out to members on 8 th May 2020. The friendly attention to
queries and assistance offered to everyone navigating the new system was crucial in guaranteeing its uptake.
The first real test for Wild Apricot was our membership renewal process, and the consensus among leaders
and users is that it was a great success. Once the transition to Wild Apricot was completed, Team App was
officially closed on 29 th June.
A major review of the Club’s Rules and By Laws took all of 2019. We made a deliberate decision not to
attempt any revision of the Rules but to replace the By Laws with a set of Policies that were approved in late
2019. Sitting beneath these Policies, we have started to produce some Procedures that record our corporate
history as an aid to all leaders and volunteers in the Club in coming years. The Rules, as our highest governance
level, sit above the Policies, have legal status, and are now due for review and at least some revision.
We were pleased to be offered an opportunity to join forces with the Land Rover Owners Club of Victoria and
Four Wheel Drive Victoria to develop a shared meeting facility, and several discussions were held between
our members and these associations to examine various options. Ultimately the Pajero Club did not proceed
mainly due to the lack of a compelling business case and only moderate member support.
We took the difficult decision to retire the Pajero Challenge after extended member consultation and in the
absence of any feasible modifications. Ultimately the risks stemming from the summer timeslot, and lack of
member participation meant the end of the Challenge after three decades. Its wide influence and enjoyment
that it has given so many are things that the Club can be proud of.
Much of the hard work to achieve these results and finish projects has been done in the sub-committees who
were tasked with addressing important single matters. Other achievements can be traced back to small informal
groupings dedicated to resolving some long-standing issues, and the temporary membership comes to mind
here. The Committee this year has been extraordinary in the way that they have worked together, anticipated
issues and taken the lead, communicated with one another, and taken pride in finishing tasks. We have
benefited from the diversity of age and experience within the Committee that has let us tackle difficult
problems from various perspectives. Behind the scene, the archiving of club records, leading the Pajero Forum,
and counting for the Person of the Year Award are all activities that are maintained week in, week out by
volunteers. Some highlights this year recognising outstanding service to the Club were the award of Life
Membership to John and Robyn Burke, the 2019 Ironbark Award to Brian and Liz McCarthy and 2019 POTY
Award to Russell and Kerri Chatfield. Our full list of Club contributors can be found on the annual Person Of
The Year honour roll.
Our focus has been to re-enforce three values that characterise the Pajero Club:
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making visitors and members welcome,
providing value in our meetings, and
organising 4WD trips.
And our report card on these? The best that I can say is that we did well for the first half of the year. A special
message to our new members of 2020; we know that we have not offered the full meeting conviviality and
regular trips that we always promise, but we will be back in strength as soon as we are allowed to show you
what a great Club you have joined. To all others who have re-joined, thank you for your support and we hope
that we can meet in person again soon. Until then, stay safe, be sensible, and keep your distance.
On behalf of the 2019-2020 Committee,
Neil Phillips #1744 - President: [email protected]