Rallies
My wife and myself have caravanned since 1981 and for many years rallied with the usual centres but after a long period of time drifted away and did our own thing. After about 10 years we were introduced to a group called RCA (Retired Caravanners Association) and haven't looked back since..Members consist as you would expect, of entirely retired caravanners and motorhome owners so we are offered a book of rallies being of 5,7,10 and even 14 days duration.. To keep prices down we, in the height of summer , use our solar panels..We have great fun comprising field games, visits to local theatres, group outings to the local village pubs for lunch and even the odd breakfast on the field. The rallies are arranged in such a way that from the choice of rallies on offer you can,when the rally you are on finishes you can have your next choice of location can follow on from that you are leaving but never too close to be found duplicating your holiday sightseeing area.. If anyone wants details contact me through C.T.
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Totally agree with scottie2, my wife and I joined the RCA nine years ago and have never looked back, we are not a bunch of Fuddy Duddies as you may think but young at heart and enjoy living life and caravanning to the full. Check out their website.
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Retired Caravanners Association (RCA) website :
www.retiredcaravanners.co.uk gives all the necessary details who to contact for more information. Once you are a member the annual cost per couple is only £15 and I don't think you'll regret joining. Try it and see, they are a happy bunch and no cliques.
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The reason we, and many of our caravanning friends, left the RCA was primarily for the following 2 reasons :-
1) It didn't used to be possible to go for a shorter period than the specified length of the rally. If it was a 10 day rally you paid for 10 days even if you could only make say 7 days.
2) There was always, on the many rallies we attended, many activities laid on for the attendees whether they wanted them or not. This of course was reflected in the price of the rally.
The good news, however, is that no VAT is payable on the rallies as is the case of C&CC and CAMHC meets and rallies.
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Bill, what you say is correct but may I just point out that the social activities cost only form a small part of your RCA total rally fee so even if you don't feel that you want to join in it still represents excellent value for money . The VAT is an extra bonus. The brand new RCA website which has been completely redesigned, and is up and running, offers much more information no an easier way to plan your holiday.
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Thanks for that Scottie. It's a good thing that we all look for something different in a rally !
I ran a 17 day rally last year on the coast and provided no entertainment, except endless tea and coffee, as there was plenty of entertainment nearby. Seven of the attendees were also members of the RCA who I knew and I thought they may not be happy with the lack of activities but interestingly they seemed OK about it.
Best wishes with your rallying !
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Bill are you running another rally at the coast this year? Cos we can only get away for a couple of days at a time and didnt know the caravan club did long rallies and usually only go with the other club on their ths , is there anything similar with cc ? Cheers mrs bc
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There are plenty of longer rallies if you look through this website in the area you want to go. The CAMC classify rallies up to 5 nights as short and over 5 as long. Most Centres will let you stay for as long as you want. A few years ago there were many rallies that filled up really quickly so marshals were reluctant to give priority to short stayers when they knew they could fill the rally but this is less of a case these days.
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RETIRED CARAVANNERS ASSOCIATION.....The 2018/19 Rally book is now available to members...If you haven’t considered joining this happy band of retired caravanners before perhaps do so for their new season..check their website where you will find all the information you need to know regarding this organisation and a list of their rally venues for this coming season ..Also who to email for further information on how to join.
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I can't see the 2018 rallies for the RCA on their website as you can only see a sample list unless you are a member and sign in, perhaps I've missed something.
We originally left the RCA, where we used to do many rallies, because you had to pay full price for a rally even if you couldn't stay the whole time. Perhaps it's moved on since then.
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You are right, unless you are a member the rallies are kept a secret, which I find very odd and off-putting with the connotations such groups operating like that give out.
Pity, as we have met up with them when they double booked a site we use. As individuals, they seemed to be good company.
If seeking to recruit, that I feel is a change that is long overdue.
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Hello Bill, I read of your concern of having to pay a full amount for leaving an RCA Rally early...There can be several reasons why a rallier leaves a rally before it’s completion....I am not a committee member but I would have thought that if circumstances such as a medical emergency, the rally officers may decide to discuss the circumstances with you but I don’t know what your reason was and if you approached the officers...You must remember the officers work out their rally programme from the monies collected in but I’m sure you are only to well aware of this fact as you were previously a well established rallier yourself.
Regarding the details of rallies....The cost of joining and subsequent subscription is so reasonable that obtaining the required information you want is excellent value.
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RETIRED CARAVANNERS ASSOCIATION
In response to yours and Bills comments about the RCA.
The reason for not publishing our current full rally listings for Guests was purely for Security Reasons to protect our members which as you would expect is paramount in our association, there is no underlying agenda as suggested.
If you revisit our website you will now find that as a guest you are able to access the current rally list with dates and the location of the rally but Not the full rally details for the reasons given.
Hopefully this has clarified the issue raised, so now is the time to go to www.retiredcaravanners.co.uk and have a look at what the R.C.A. has to offer you. You will not be disappointed, if you require further information go to the Contact Us page.
Rob Wilks (Chairman & Webmaster for the R.C.A.)
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Pam, thank you for putting up your 2018 rally list. Can I ask, do you use EHU. I was wondering if attending a ten day rally or longer and then attend a follow on how you keep the battery charged. If using gas for everything isn’t it expensive?
Ken
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I run rallies for a small club and we don’t publish details of our rallies in the public part of our web site either. They go in the members only section, which I feel is fair. If a non member wants to know, I’ll tell them the area we’re going to, which should be sufficient to decide if they want to come - if they do, then they have to join for £12 a year.
Nora
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Hi Bill.
The RCA does not offer Holiday rallies as other clubs where you pick and choose the days you require, to be able keep our rally fees low we have to do a deal with the site owners which as you may know is getting more difficult each season. The rally fees are a set price for the rally and not on a per night basis as we offer more than just a pitch.
The RCA has been using this method of running rallies for the past 42 years proving that it works and has had thousands of satisfied members therefore we see no reason to change at the present time.
Obviously you are looking for something different as they say you can't please everybody all the time.
Rob Wilks
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Hello Ken.
In answer to your question, most of our members like to have electric hook ups as modern caravans are power hungry. Therefore we try to arrange our rallies to suit all tastes, most of our rallies have the option of EHP's the non-electric rallies are mainly in the mid summer months and mostly between follow on rallies that have them. Most of our non- electric ralliers have two batteries and solar panels and can last several weeks if necessary.
This information is on our website but please do not hesitate to contact us for more information, if you go to the Contact Us page you will find an enquiry form, fill it in and we will get back to you.
Pam
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IMO Ken you should with that kit give off EHU rallying a go, you might like what it opens up, its the only way to find out if it is your thing or not. It potentially avoids that awful "car-park", all lined up type vanning, a great plus for us, though some rallies still try hard to replicate that perfect symmetry.
Through the main part of the year, let's say from May till end of September unless you are glued to a TV screen a 100 Watt roof-mounted panel should make you "autonomous" without any need for an EHU. Come the other bit with the increasing need for heating, longer nights so more pressure for TV, plus it comes with a lowering sun angle and less hours, then it is too challenging.
We use a free-standing 85 Watt panel and 80 to 85% of our UK base caravanning is way off EHUs, this can be 28 days at a THS.
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Thanks for coming back and more so for adding the site outline info to your website.
I accept your group wants to keep the details out of potential member's view, though we don't understand the concerns the membership has.
We have been for 40 years using well published C&CC, CC and Ramblers Ass meets where there is no secrecy of the location and without knowledge of it causing issues.
IME that very feature, where specifically we are going is vitally important in deciding to attend or not, about the first question I get at home in mentioning a trip, is "what site?"
The list has been noted, thanks we could find we need to make contact with the RCA again.
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Hi Rob thanks for your reply. I merely stated that when I left the RCA I wrote a letter stating why I and several friends left, as I think we were asked for our comments at the time, and paying full price all the time was one of a few issues.
I run many rallies for the CAMC and attend many rallies with them, the C&CC and an Owners Club and all rallies are costed at length of stay. I appreciate if RCA membership is thriving there is no reason at all to change anything especially as they are able to avoid the dreaded VAT !!
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For what it’s worth I agree with ocsid. You should give Rallying a go and in the summer period your solar panel should cope. This is assuming you are not glued to your 50” plasma screen tv 16 hours per day. Very often even with a non ehu rally there may be one hookup which can be used for battery charging. Gas usage the big gas user is the heating hopefully you won’t need to have it on very much. We ran a 7 day Rally in the Cotswolds last week of October last year. We had one hook up. Ok a 13amp plug split between 2 vans then only perk we got as Rally Officers was we got to run the fridge on electric. But it provide charging points for Batteries iPads cameras etc and as far as I know no one actually died surviving a week without hook up.
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Thanks Boff, I’m sure once we’ve tried it we will be fine. We don’t watch the tv that much unless something special is on. Our lighting is all led so won’t draw much. The main worry is heating and it seems the RCA use hook up in the cooler months so have it sorted. I don’t think the fridge is gas hungry, will have to wait and see.
Ken
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The afore mentioned Cotswold rally and a Rally in December where the solar panels didn’t do much but every one managed the weekend, actually we were there for 3 nights.
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Still plenty of Rallies that don't have ehu. Of the 2 rallies pictured we had a ehu on the green rally because we were the organisers, no one else did. The white rally was no ehu for anyone and we made full use of the Alde heating, survive three nights no problem. Whilst I agree that Alde heating needs 12v as I assume do the Truma combi and Whale systems. The advent of Led's in both lighting and TV's has actually reduced the demand from these by quite a large amount
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Hi Boff...On Retired Caravanners Rallies, what I do if no electric hook ups, is use my 100 watt solar panel, not fitted on the roof but on a stand bought through Amazon...Move panel three times a day to follow the sun. The stand angles the panel at 45 degrees for maximum exposure...At bedtime turn the panel around from facing West to facing East so that while you are still in bed the panel will get the benefit of early morning sunshine (can be charging your battery at 4am)....My battery is deep cycle 110 amp leisure type....I also bought for absolute emergencies a 13 pin extension lead of sufficient length so that if I have to plug into the car’s 13 pin socket, I won’t have to have the vehicle too close to the caravan......Never short of 12 volt power ....Happy rallying.
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