*****Friends Round London Run Update*****

[puds121]

Just an update for those who may be interested, my Friends Round London Run is taking place this Saturday. As already stated on another thread here, it is not affiliated to ANY forum whatsoever. If anyone wants to join....they do so as with any event at their own risk

The totally awesome news is that so far for this event, I/we have raised in excess of £2,600 for Help 4 Heroes which is truly remarkable in the current economic climate, down in no small fact to the remarkable generosity of some run attendees.

Meeting point is South Mimms services @ 9.30pm. So far I have 80 cars registered to take part, all relevant police forces have been spoken to, along with the Highways agency and the events co-ordinator @ South Mimms. All relevant agencies have said they will be watching the event as it takes part to ensure safety throughout.

http://www.justgiving.com/Lee-Pudney

If there is anyone here who would like to attend, please post your interest.

[MeetwithDamien]

Well I as a fully paid up member of the MGCC and a member of various forums, am totally impressed the way Lee has gathered so many MG owners together for one great event that shows the true admiration for their MG's , together with introducing the shared charity that the MGCC has chosen this year. What initially was posted as trying to raise £500 has escalated massively as in the above post, the support and rallying of the troops has been amazing and I admire Lee for sharing his posts within this forum, I understand the MGCC view on why the ACR did not take place but this event was in fact posted and open to whom ever wanted to take part.. I must admit I am thoroughly ashamed that I have just seen this post and have seen how many hits this thread actually got and to say the MGCC is sponsering this charity is a sham....! Not one person has wished Lee well, and offered a hardy congratulations for his efforts..... it seems to me that a gathering, that has not had the endorsement from the MGCC, to what, is in fact an MG gathering and that has also been endorsed by the local authorities, is not worth attending yet .. the MG moto is "The Fun is Back " I, as member of this club and a lover of my MG find this very difficult to understand, why no body has even taken the courtessy to comment on Lee's efforts, we all belong to the same club really ands it the "MG" Club wether its has a differant lead name in the title..... To support a charity, it does not matter which one but to put your name to it and and say this is your chosen charity and not show admiration for a fellow member that has gone far and beyond any of our expectations and has raised so much money in one event is a disgrace... putting a pound in a tin goes a very long way to help a charity ... and it only costs one pound..... yet simple manners does not cost you anything...! I am a member of this club and am entiltled to post my views I am just amazed that we all cant share in what has to be the biggest gathering of MGF's and TF's and most importantly that it sponsered the same charity as the Club..

Im not interested in hearing excuses I have said my peice... there is no rules and regulations in simple manners..!

Lee, I as a member of this club , I think you have shown yourself to have true MG Spirit, the support your fellow MG friends have shown you by all coming together to make this happen is admirable... I look forward to attending and being part of this MG gathering as well as 79 others tomorrow night... !

[tanamana]

Just made a donation, Lee. I wish I could join you all, but it isn't to be.
I'll be there in spirit, though.

That glass of brandy you drink at the end to warm yourself up
- that's me that is.
Cheers.

[puds121]

Thank you Damien for your comments and thank you tanamana for your donation,

as of 10.45 pm tonight, the total now stands at £3,016.16and I am convinced we will top £3,500 with donations on the night which is incredible.

I have been very disappointed by the number of views of this thread and no comments at all....not even a 'well done for the amount you've raised' to support our fantastic troops.......POOR SHOW!!!!!

I organised this run because people wanted to do it.....not as an ego boost!!!....the support from the other forum has been incredible and true measure of the Marque of Friendship. Such a pity after all the support I have given over the years to the F register in the past.

[TimM]

I'm sorry that some people have taken a rather adverse attitude towards the Register over this run. What seems to be forgotten is that this idea actually stemmed from Andy Philips and the Essex Roadsters in 2008 and that the MGF Register then helped with the organisation for the next two years raising both its profile and a good deal of money for various charities in the process. Lee has taken on that organisational and motivational role this year building on the Register's work and raising the number of cars by at least twenty.

Sadlky the fact that we reconsidered our position for 2011 has somehow been twisted and construed by some as something akin to the devil and all his works. We've already explained our reasons so I don't intend to go in to that any further. There have however been hurtful things said about the MGCC and MGF Register by some on an open forum and in private which I feel was totally unwarranted and has certainly made me seriously question this "marque of friendship" that is readily bandied around. I'm sorry Damien if you have been caught up in some of the misinformation and that has caused your posting here. We certainly do not wish you, or anyone, ill.

We stopped posting on the .org forum to explain our position as everything we said was being turned against us so the best thing was to say nothing.

Much is being said about this being the biggest MGF gathering ever and it has been mentioned here again.That's fine as a promotiobnal tool to encourage people to take part but is not actually the case, there have been plenty of other much larger gatherings in the last fifteen years and even day runs in the past including over 80 cars on a run at MGFest07. The Register has now moved to organising weekend events but our local regions still organise smaller scale day runs. It must be remebered that as an established and historic club and part of the MSA the MGCC is in a very different position to an internet forum when organsiing events

When we decided back in October not to organise this run this year we had no inclination that it would cause so much fury with some people, and to be quite frank we still don't understand why this should be the case as at the end of the day its just one run that we are not organising. We chop and change all sorts of runs and events from year to year and this was no exception so why get so upset about it?

We recognise that the vast majority of F/TF owners are not interested in the politics of all this at all and just want to have an enjoyable night out and to them we wish well and applaud the amount of money raised and we are pleased that the cash rasied is going to the same charity that the Club and Register are supporting this year as well.

[Art]

With all respect I feel that the registers initial response as posted by Keith was a little heavy handed and over the top in it's content, Lee has not once mentioned any connection between this run and the register all he was doing was announcing the event to a forum whose members may not be aware it was taking place.
Rather than ignoring the run and the amount already raised Lee should be thanked for the efforts he has put into getting this off the ground, it should be remembered that as the register had no interest in organising the run this year the H4H fund would be without the £3000 already donated.

[sniperpenguin]

Well, I can report to all that having waking up the next morning I still have all my limbs, a fun time was had by all (except Art getting lost during the diversion - Sorry about that mate ) and the response from the participants was overwhelmingly positive.

The total raised lies at a shade under £4K for H4H, so All in all I would say that its a success

[tanamana]

Would be nice if it could be rounded up to the full 4K.........

[TimM]

Glad you are still intact SP ! Looks like most got round OK but I kept my eye out for anyone still trying to find their way back to the M25 this morning ! An excellent amount raised for HtoH thanks to the generosity of those taking part.

[Art]

To use a Morcombe & Wise crib, I think most of us completed the tip but not necessarily using the same roads, Nigel the trip through Wimbledon had other benefits as the scenery that was tottering down the pavements took our minds off the fact we were slightly off route.
A perfect night out with a minimum amount of officialdom , everyone with big smiles/grins and a fantastic amount of money raised for a very worthy cause !
This photo sums the night up

[dwkmgf]

Damien - I think you need to cool down a bit Perhaps the reason that there has not been many comments on the Register Forum is because the comments were made on .org. The invitation to attend was an open invitation that required a response on .org - pointless then to post here, so wishes of support were made on the appropriate forum.

I am pleased the run made so much money for H4H and well done to everyone for arriving home safely.

Perhaps it's time to stop the digging at each other and to bring a little understanding between the two groups, we after all the marque of friendship

[sniperpenguin]

I am pleased the run made so much money for H4H and well done to everyone for arriving home safely.

Perhaps it's time to stop the digging at each other and to bring a little understanding between the two groups, we after all the marque of friendship

Hear, hear..... I personally am a little worn down by the "war of words" that goes on on both sides (both in public and behind closed doors) as it largely seems based on general perceptions and vague opinions which tie specify events/occurances to the other as a whole.

Both .org and the Register need to accept that they are different in form, function and attittude, but that they can both benefit greatly from each other.

[puds121]

Total raised on Just Giving £3,385.04 inc gift aid, £550 cash collected on the night + £250 from my employers' community fund = £4,185.04 so far for Help 4 Heroes with more pledged to come in.

[tanamana]

Very well done.

[Softly~Softly]

Well, I can report to all that having waking up the next morning I still have all my limbs, a fun time was had by all (except Art getting lost during the diversion - Sorry about that mate ) and the response from the participants was overwhelmingly positive.

The total raised lies at a shade under £4K for H4H, so All in all I would say that its a success

A personal Thank You to Sniperpenguin for his kindness at this event ..
Very much appreciated, you are a genuine credit to both the register and the other site ..

Jan