COVER STORY
Bath Motor Club working to improve their local environment
“ I was appointed to take the plan forward and my experience in environmental work in the motor industry pushed me to set up an Environmental Management System to identify and analyse all our impacts . This provided a systematic approach , resisting the temptation to jump straight in to doing things that might or might not work .”
One of the biggest initial challenges was convincing the whole Club and all its members to back the approach , and Cross acknowledges that while there were plenty of ‘ dynamic and eager ’ members , there were also a few who were a little more reticent and not keen to make changes to things that were working well in other areas .
For Cross , it was important to emphasis through the Club ’ s activities that while calculating carbon emissions is important , it is not the only element of environmental focus . There are other aspects such as waste , noise , spillages to consider . Creating a methodical process that encompasses all of these was an important part of the task .
The key to getting everyone onboard was simplicity , and he explains : “ We integrated all our sustainability needs into an easy checklist for planning , setting up and running the events , and confirming things afterwards . Organisers have a lot to do , so this adds very little and is an accepted part of the job – but it also makes them think !
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“ We need all our members to support us , and to participate if they can , so we use our club news sheet , website and social media to keep everyone informed . We have had mountains of feedback , almost all positive and constructive , and that has helped us to improve the processes further over the five years since we gained accreditation .
“ We have a lot of support from outside our Club , too , from other Clubs and from the area associations – and really , that is the whole point . It ’ s about spreading the word and encouraging others , and I enjoy presenting what we ’ ve done to others , to help bring them up to speed . I just wish I could spare more time for it !”
The Vintage Sports-Car Club ( VSCC ) gained its accreditation in 2023 and the head of its Sustainability Working Group , retired academic Mark Dibben , recalls : “ One of my main professional interests was the link between the climate crisis and management as a human practice of running businesses and other organisations .
“ I saw that there was both a huge risk in not acting on the sustainability front , but at the same time a tremendous opportunity in acting , so I approached the Club ’ s then President Paul Tunnicliffe and he agreed immediately , having himself been accosted by climate change protestors while driving his 1920s W . O . Bentley 3-litre in the Lake District .”
The Club immediately took action , put together a panel of interested members and began to research vintage car
CO 2 emissions and how to mitigate them . This became a large piece of work that included building CO 2 emissions
Revolution - March 2025