Darren
Welcome to the club. It's nice to see that there are actually mebers in the 'real' North East. I'm in Sunderland but it seems that members around this part of the world are reclusive!!!
As for as meetings go, we have what we call a 'Noggin and Natter' (otherwise known as Sunday lunch at a local pub. This is taking place at the Ship Inn, Eighton Banks, Gateshead on Sunday 19 January. The format is quite simple: a group of probably about a dozen or so members plus wives/girlfriends/family members/dogs etc meet to talk about BMWs (mostly!) and have some lunch and a drink. Let me know if you are interested and I'll provide you with the details for you to book a place - you and your family are of course very welcome.
Other North East events (the North East region of the club goes from the Borders to the Midlands!) include a kart racing event in Bradford at the end of February, a visit to the BMW distribution centre in Thorne (near Doncaster) in March, track day at Croft in July and the annual concourse at Harewood House near Leeds on 7 September (these are all from memory). Don't forget all the other events from other regions, especially those from the North West as we are near and tend to go to each others events quite a lot.
Look forward to seeing you joining in.
Nigel
PS BMW actually make powered cars for Children (and no, I don't mean the Mini!)