'Might be right time to end MGP supporters club'

The chairman of a motorbike charity that has supported road racing on the Isle of Man for 50 years has said it "might be time" to dissolve the club.

The Manx Grand Prix Supporters Club revealed last week it had agreed to call a members meeting on 26 February to vote on whether it should be closed.

The club was founded in 1975 with the sole purpose of fundraising to provide an air ambulance helicopter for riders who were injured taking part in the Manx Grand Prix, but has since moved to offer other support.

Ahead of next month's vote, club chairman Allan Brew said a decision for the group to stop fundraising for the helicopter in 2022, as well as a lack of younger members was to blame.

Brew, 68, started motorbike racing one year after the founding of Manx Grand Prix (MGP) Supporters Club in 1975, and said the group had always been a part of his life.

"I had a 40-year career of motorcycling," he said.

Brew said: "As a young guy you grow up on the Isle of Man and you have the TT, the Manx, and other races.

"My father used to race and had his own racing team, and so it has always been a part of my life, and in my blood."

In the years since it was founded, the club has raised more then £1.2m for different causes, including for the helicopter, donations to injured riders, and race entrance fees for riders.

At present the club has more than 400 members, with some now living around the world.

When Brew eventually hung up his leathers in 2016, he became the chairman of the supporters club, and his wife, Jan, worked as the secretary.

But the turning point for the club came when events were set to resume again following a forced two-year hiatus due to the Covid pandemic.

When Brew approached the government asking whether the club could start fundraising for the rescue helicopter again, he was told it would be paid for by the the event organisers - the government - from that point.

"The government said it felt we should spend our money on something else," he said.

"But that meant we weren't raising money for the primary cause on which the club was founded."

As a result of that meeting in 2022, Brew said it felt like the club "has lost its main focus".

"This has been the catalyst which has caused us to stop and think whether we do need to continue."

The decision to hold a vote on whether the MGP Supporters Club should dissolve was passed by a 5-1 majority of the group's executive committee.

"We have decided that some of us are getting on in years," Brew said, "and there're no younger members coming through to carry the club on.

"Maybe it's time, after celebrating the 50th anniversary of the club last year, to draw a line under it, stand down, and finish the club."

He added that if the club were to be dissolved next month its funds would be donated to the Manx Grand Prix Benevolent Fund, which supports injured riders.

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