What would you like on a rally?
The CAMC has seen over 100 years of successful rallying. But the membership is changing and my question to you is what does todays membership want from future rallies?
Some may ask, what is a rally? It's simply a social gathering of likeminded members organised by local members for all to enjoy. here’s some ideas, Hardstanding pitches?Electric Hook-Ups? Event Weekends (Live Bands etc)? Free & Easy Budget Weekends? Any other ideas?
Comments
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Martyn
I suspect, sadly, many members are not particularly aware of the rally scene within the Club. In all the years that Club Together has been up and running we have had surprisingly few posts relating to rallies. Now whether there is a divide between members using Sites or CL's and those that rally I don't know. Anecdotally the THS run by the other Club seem to be mentioned more frequently so maybe that is a format more would be interested in? I also think that Local Centres could be more proactive in using Club Together to foster interest as this has also been missing in the main over the years. Glad that you are asking and I hope you get some feedback.
David
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Very nice to have someone from the Rallying Membership to start a good discussion👍
When/if we rejoin, I think we will try some rallies.
We wouldn’t need toilets and showers, perfectly happy using our onboard facilities, happy to have no hook up in Summer as well (May to end of Sept), and could manage short Winter breaks without. Firm grass in Summer, HS in Winter is fine. The main elements to attract us would belocation, price and something of interest nearby.
Location wise, we like somewhere nice to sit outside, a walk direct from rally field, lovely views if possible, not too much passing traffic, perhaps a half hour max pleasant stroll to a pub or eatery.
Price? Not easy, but if we thought all our needs were met, we would look at the value against other providers, (Club Sites, CLs, CS’s, small private sites) and opt for the cheaper. I would feel cheated if rallies charged the same as most of these, as I think they should be more unique. Without facilities and hook up, we would happily pay up to £15 a night, which is less than most CLs nowadays. I think it’s a different mindset required to keep price for everyone low, encouraging a more basic, eco friendly, self reliant, take your litter home sort of approach. Why try and replicate Club Sites/ enhanced CLs?
Rallies based around things like heritage railways, re enactments, historic buildings, gardens, even off road events have always attracted us, where the rally field might just be a space to sleep and eat, in between actually doing, exploring something. Coastal visits, close to nice beaches are a good idea as well. Open minded about evening entertainment, but we went on a fantastic off road weekend, and one of the participants turned out to be a very good Elvis impersonator, with all his gear on him so he gave us a really good evening. Some of the re enactments are very good as well for getting folks involved.
We would do small, medium rallies, but not (yet😁) interested in big things like Clubfest.
It’s just a thought, but the Club has an awful lot of stood empty hardstandings between November and March. I wonder how feasible it might be to see if small rallies could use these in Winter, but without the facilities, hook ups, staff? Rally Marshall’s in charge, keeping an eye on things? Only certain HS in use?
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Firstly it would be very informative if the CC issued a monthly paper or on line listing of both weekend and holiday rallies run by all rally centres, similar to the C&CC's Out and About magazine which comes with their club magazine. It is very difficult trying to find what CC rallies are taking place across the country. As we tend to tour for numerous weeks at a time we visit quite extensive areas on each occasion and book a few sites to start with to ensure we get a pitch whereas we know that we can virtually always get a pitch on a THS.
Price, or at least VFM, are a serious issue, as is location, as mentioned by tda above. We are quite happy being off grid during the warmer months and don't need any sort of on site entertainment, which would of Clydesdale to the nightly cost. This year we have been on 11 THS with the most expense being on a caravan site at £14 pn, but from what I have seen of CC rallies most are far dearer than that.
We would consider using rallies on sites, or otherwise, with EHU and HS during the winter period if not over expensive to our eyes.
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I agree with pretty much all you say here, tda. I think that to attract new members to rallies there needs to be something akin to an “idiots guide” going beyond the normal description of a rally being a social meet up. It needs to include basics such as whether rallies include elsan, water drainage etc (I know the answers to this, but some won’t). Also can you take your van off site during your stay? Are they as welcoming to motorhomes as to caravans? Is entertainment compulsory? What is a free and easy rally as against any other. How organised/relaxed is it? I appreciate some of this you only get to know if you attend but a lack of knowledge and understanding puts people off. I would also say there is still some aura of stuffiness around rallies and a bit of a feeling of them being stuck in the past. I wonder if it would be better to call them meet ups rather than rallies? Do you have to attend for the whole rally or just a part? Do you have to book? How far in advance? As I say a real step by step guide is needed.
For us one of the down sides of rallies is that they seem to all be over weekends and we don’t normally camp over weekends unless part of a longer trip.
I do think now is a good time to start this discussion. If I have understood things correctly the change of regions to divisions will be more than a name change and will hopefully enhance the relationship between division and centre. This with eventually vamped up websites etc should facilitate for example better descriptions of individual rallies. Having looked at a number of themed rallies, other than the name, I am no wiser about rally content than I was before looking.
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Having been to neither I sort of imagine that a rally is mainly a group of people that know each other getting together to socialise. On the other hand something like a THS is more like a proper campsite where people come and go and stay as long or as little as they like with any social side, if it exists, takes a lesser role?
David
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We have seen Club Rallies, and to be honest, whilst we have never bothered with Club run ones, all have looked well organised, safe and look a good option to Club Sites, and I’d even say some CL’s. We have seen Rallies held on Club Sites and those on rally spaces. The smaller ones look more like the kind of touring we enjoy, a place to pitch up, enjoy the surroundings/things of interest, enjoy some fresh air. Share a chat with some like minded others.
We have used our outfits, tent and caravan for special interest meets. Brilliant fun. All day doing something, in our case off road exploring, then back to base for food, a drink, a bit of a chat, then bed.0 -
We didn’t know anyone DK, but we soon had new friends. The other thing about Rallies is you don’t have to take part in what’s organised, you can just do your own thing if you want.
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I’d sort of beg to differ with one comment hja…..😁
”I would also say there is still some aura of stuffiness around rallies and a bit of a feeling of them being stuck in the past”
I tend to think ralliers are very experienced at not requiring much more than what their outfits provide, and using their experience to cope with more basic touring, if there aren’t facilities, hook ups, staff to hand. So, in actual fact, many will embrace using their outfits and everything onboard to full potential, and are happy reaping the benefits of much lower nightly prices. They might share a particular interest, might like being with lots of other families so that children make new friends, and are probably superb at fully enjoying the great outdoors. Hence, you might have very interesting, active people on rallies. Whereas, at times, Club Sites are as sedate as things come. Both are generalisations, but you get my drift…… Rallies happen on Club Sites of course as well.
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Martyn
One of the factors rallying with this Club compared to the CCC club who I used to rally with,is you have to had to book this Club's rallies,where with the CCC you can/could just turn up knowing they had room.
I did post about this before,and received a "we do it this way" or don't come.Another point with this club rallying programme ,is the rally are restricted to say 30 units or 50 units,on the same fields that the CCC use,but without the restricted number of units.
I still rally ,but mainly the large ones,i.e. Royal international Air Tattoo,Bristol Hot Air Balloon festival,and the Club fest (but I did miss this year)
There are feelings that rallying can get cliquey,but this soon disappears when you rally a couple of times with them.
As to answer ,do not need hook up,or toilets as happy to use our own.
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We had caravans for two main reasons - to visit places we wanted to visit, and to meet up with family and existing friends. We did both.
We didn’t want to find a group of new friends or get get involved with social activities. We didn’t want to haul a caravan out after work on a Friday just to spend the weekend on a caravan site. So we never went to a rally.I admire the efforts put in by rally organisers and can see that they deserve credit, but it was never going be for us. And to answer the original question I don’t see that changing the format of weekend rallies or adding new features would have tempted us to try.
Sorry Martyn.
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I have a lasting memory of rallying - and try as I might, it won't go away. It was in the early 80s and I was an active member of the East Yorkshire Centre and used to rally with them most weekends - with my 'ex' and our son who would be about four or five.
We were at this rally at Bishop Burton College and on the Saturday night there was disco - or something. We got up and danced - as did our little boy with another little girl he had befriended and some other children. They were having a lovely time until this grumpy old woman came up to us both and said, "Get those children off the dancefloor - they shouldn't be here" - in exactly that manner.
I have never been on a rally since and have no intention of doing so in the future.
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We were once on a privately owned site at the same time as a CAMC rally was taking place. I will never forget Mr Shirt and Tie with his clipboard directing vans to their allotted pitches as he bustled about. Then, on Sunday morning, came the formality of Flagpole. People gathered around with their chairs, speeches were made and the speakers applauded on cue.
Did I ever go to a rally? No way after witnessing that display!
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Taking into consideration the cost of fuel to get to the rally site, to us it is not really worthwhile for the two nights. Secondly no EHU is a big factor for us.
We did try rallies a few years ago and felt as if we were outsiders and not part of the rally due to the various cliques within the rally. We have not bothered since.
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The Other Club’s THS appeal to us. If the Local Centres provided what they call Free and Easy type rallies, then I think we would try. Mind, I wouldn’t use the word Free. It might be too literal for some. 😁
If all you had to do was pick a rally, pay a deposit, turn up, pitch up, that would be good. Refundable deposits of course if cancelled. To be bluntly honest, it’s the nightly price of staying somewhere legal, safe, and above all cheap that we want. Everything else is a choice as to whether or not you join in, make friends. I understand booking in of course. Rallies we have been on took a mobile number as well, but given the Air Ambulance was a regular feature (😱) quite happy to do this as well.0 -
I think some of the comments above indicate that latent view of CAMC rallies that organisers will need to get past. Especially as there are plenty of other organisations running rallies such as owners clubs, CCC, Motorhome fun, Motorhome happiness, motorcaravnners club to name just a few.
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I inadvertently came across a club rally in the field at the North East Aircraft museum (which is very good by the way if anyone is in the area - the smell of the cockpit in the Chipmunk brought back so many memories) and there were a number of caravans arriving and yes there was a chap with a high viz jacket (not really needed in high summer) with 'marshall' on the back of it with a clipboard ticking off arrivals and directing them to their pitch numbered markers, two of which were right next to the Lighting! Yes there was a flagpole as well.
People appeared happy enough though and it obviously takes a lot of organising so credit for all that but we like to do our own thing so not for us.
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Rallys have never appealed to me, I have this idea, rightly or wrongly, that there are a lot of cliques, as someone else upthread mentioned. We don't particularly want to be part of a big group when we go away in the van anyway. We have been to a couple of THSs from the C&Cc and that's a different concept.
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A very interesting thread regarding rallies. When I first started caravaning with my parents in the 70s, the world was already divided into those who rallied, and those who did not. The rallies were perceived as a get together for a group of folks who already knew each other. Would a new comer be welcome? Standing around the flag pole? What was that about? I appreciate that a lot of Centre Members have put a lot of work into organising Rallies over the years, but what are they about now? If members want to go for a weekend away, do they really want to congregate around the flagpole, or do they just want to relax, or do their own thing?
The world has changed. Rightly or wrongly, other options are now available. Hopefully the rally group will be able to continue, but it seems like a shrinking option.
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I don't know what the general age group is of those that attend a rally but I can imagine that if children are involved it must be nice for them to make friends which they see regularly throughout the year.
David
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David, I know that it was families that used to attend weekend and holiday rallies, at least when we started nearly 50 yrs ago. Newcomers were always welcome and the children soon made new friends. We rallied for quite a number of years but stopped when work and school activities took over our weekends. Over the last couple of years we have started to use THSs, where there is no need to book, arrive and leave whenever one wants, paying either on arrival if we knew how long we were stopping, or on leaving, with no official round the flag and only on the odd one has anything been organised with no compulsion to attend or participate. We just use the meet in the same way as we do any other type of site.
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I suppose I have been to three rally's, but run by the Eribfolk forum group. Yes we had somebody in the group showing us to our allocated pitch and telling us where services where, but very relaxed. I do not like large gatherings, the noise and the expectation that you will take part. They each had a program of get togethers and a food night. For one they hired a small barn next to the site and you needed to pre-order pie or fish and chips. Local beer was on tap and a skittle alley set up. I think another had a fish and chip van. One included a trip to the local dealer in Poole who laid on nibbles. At another they had a marquee where raffle, sloe gin competition etc were arranged. They were very informal and large enough for you to join in or wander around and chat in the awnings with old friends.
This is the sort of thing I would like.
Colin
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