Vulcan XH 558 Threads (merged)

[saracenman]

I never saw Rusty as 'my arch enemy'!

certainly i was constantly amazed at the way in which she dealt with things, and yes i did cross swords with her on a number of occasions. even so, i have always pointed out that i have the greatest respect for the commitment she showed to 558 over the years.

Rusty's retirement has enabled many changes to occur - not least of which is her day-to-day duties being undertaken by Michael Trotter who, as i understand it, had previously been employed on a consultancy basis only. he's now 'Mon-Fri 9-5'

i have spoken to Michael on several occasions now and, from the outset, i found him to be a very forthright and straight-talking person, aware for the problems and challenges. he was a little bemused not to have heard anything of my own endeavours and, after i had the opportunity to explain them, he promised to follow up on them as a matter of importance. this he has done - and within a few days! prior to Michael's new post, i had banged my head against the brick-wall for over 12 months, but now two particular concepts have been discussed further, to the point where they can finally become reality later in the year.

he was determined to publish detailed figures for all to see - something which we Club members have been screaming for for nearly 2 years now; true to his word, the figures appeared when he said they would!

ALL my emails are now answered within 24 hours - usually within 2 hours! just speaking with Michael Trotter, it is easy to detect the change in attitude at the top - the attitude to Club members and the public alike. Michael certainly means business and is not afraid to confront things rather than sweeping them under the carpet as it appeared was the general policy before.

also, since October last year, the actual structure of 'TVOC' has changed; it is now firmly separated into 3 specific 'departments' concerned with Engineering, Operations and Commercial. each has the rigidly defined structure and defined rôle that they lacked before. the one thing that was clearly missing in the past was organisation - i lost count of the number of times that i heard lines such as "well i wasn't aware, otherwise it would have been dealt with"

even those at the very top have admitted to me that "internal communication is woeful" some months ago, and i recall questioning just what defined structure there actually was up at Brunty - did any of the employees actually have job descriptions? it wasn't difficult to see just how shocking the so-called organisation was - it's no wonder that so many blunders were made, so many missed opportunities and just why we are in the mess we are in now.

in addition, the importance of the educational aspect of 558 has finally been realised; it has always been treated as an 'also-ran' with very little core focus on activities and interest for children. i have been banging on and on and on for months just how vital and pivotal the education programme is - get that right, and everything else will grow as a result. Michael Trotter certainly agreed with me on that one, saying that 2009 will see a huge 'push' in that direction.

TVOC's attitude toward the Club has also seen a major change. we appeared to be nothing more than a 'cash cow', constantly being relied upon to bail them out time and time again. even at the Farnborough Airshow, the Club's representatives suddenly found that their accommodation (paid for by the Club i hasten to add, not the Trust!) had been purloined for use by others, meaning that the Club had no presence at the airshow at all!

the vital importance of the Club, and the need to increase its membership (and therefore funding for 558) is now realised for what it is - VITAL! the newly appointed Press Officer, as i have mentioned previously, is not 'another TVOC cronie' but a Club member - if that isn't a indication of faith in and respect for the Club, i don't know what is!

isn't it interesting to note that, in his recent website update, Dr. Pleming says, "...if 15,000 supporters were to pledge just £4 per month then (with Gift Aid) the target would be met." - well I'm not sure what he defines as supporters, but the Club (aka the core of support!) can boast less than 10,000 doesn't this demonstrate just how important it is to swell the Club's numbers considerably?

so, in conclusion, there's definitely a new attitude, a new outlook, a new focus, and a new realism. TVOC and the Club seem more 'united' than ever before which is long overdue, especially as we are all fighting on the same side!

i hope that sheds a little light on why my own opinions seemed to have turned around in such spectacular fashion - it might not be the be-all-and-end-all that is so desperately needed for 558, but it is a bloody good start!

sm