As a club, we attended the subject show yesterday. I am also a member of the HVSC (Hull Veterans' Support Centre) Model Club and so was involved in the set up and running of the show. I was also able to give Brid a head start in the set up by having our tables covered at the show set up the night before, allowing the rest of the crew a little Sunday lie in. Being a member of 2 clubs befits my duel personality.
The venue was the small sports hall of St Mary's Academy on Cranbrook Avenue, Hull. Spacious, well lit and with very good toilet and catering facilities, ample parking and ease of access for loading/unloading, it had everything needed for a good model show. The venue staff were very helpful and accommodating not least because the event was to support the HVSC which is a charitable organisation set up and run by ex-armed forces personnel (nowadays somewhat obscenely referred to as "Veterans", a term for which I do not particularly care) to provide help and support to other ex-armed forces personnel suffering either mentally or physically. The model club is part of that support as it provides occupational therapy to those suffering in some way or another - although of course not all the members have a physical or mental issue.
The deputy Lord Mayor of Hull Councillor John Hewitt opened the event and it was also attended by The Hon. Mrs. E. Susan Cunliffe-Lister, Lord-Lieutenant of the East Riding of Yorkshire and a few hangers on including Alan Johnson MP. All took a keen interest in the models and JH told us of his model Cutty Sark which he built and put too close to the fire to dry out. It promptly melted.
Attendance by clubs and traders was good - there were 11 clubs (although 1 was a no-show) and 9 traders, all of whom had more space than was originally allocated on the joining instructions and there was a huge amount of space between the stands. The only "let down" of the day was the lack of public through the door - I don't have a head count but it was in double figures only. Although it made for a very quiet day, to take the positives from it, the clubs exhibiting lost nothing as they had the chance to do plenty of socialising with other clubs and buy plenty of wares from the traders. The traders were also not upset as they had all sold enough (thanks to the exhibitors!) to at least cover the costs of attending. Also, due to the low attendance by the public, all were offered half their money back - but most refused and said they would come again next year anyway. In the words of most of them, "you win some you lose some". To my knowledge, all the clubs and traders said they would return next year.
The low attendance was put down to a combination of 3 major sporting events being scheduled (tennis, motor racing and football), 2 local-ish air shows, a day of decent weather and it being the start of the holiday season. I have only really just joined this club and so wasn't involved in the organisation of the show early enough to comment on the promotion and publication of it but was flattered to be called upon constantly throughout the day for guidance due to my experience with the Brid shows so hopefully, using Brid as a template and a more structured "committee", next year's show will be better attended by the public.
As a club, Brid walked away with 3 prizes. Tony B got a first for his "Russian Battleship" in the "naval" category and John Cook took third and first with a couple of his tractors for the "civilian" prize.
Thanks to Tony B, John Cook, Peter Dobbs and Joe Olmo for representing Bridlington and Wolds Scale Model Club - and me I suppose as I had some models on our table as well as theirs.