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Format For 2012 Events Program
The committee has discussed at length all the options for the events program and have decided that for 2012 there would be a printed book only. From 2013 members wishing to receive a printed copy will need to order one and include a payment using a form that will be included in the previous years book. Any member, ordering a printed copy only will receive credit notes to the value of the amount paid which can redeemed against any North Yorkshire rally during the year covered by the program. Members who do not complete an order form and pay for a printed copy will receive their program in CD format.
As many of you will know, I recently organised a sponsored walk in memory of Dean Hutchinson, who was sadly lost in Afghanistan earlier this year. The walk was approximately 15 miles long, along the old railway line from Whitby to Robin Hoods Bay and back. In total, the 16 of us have raised a massive £1839.11 for Afghan Heroes, which I’m sure will make a huge difference to the soldiers currently still out in Afghanistan and those families who have lost a love one. The whole idea of this walk was to give Dean a proper send off from North Yorkshire, raising the awareness for Afghan Heroes and in some small way giving some support to Paul, Elaine and Liam. For an event like this to happen, I have had a lot of support from family and friends, and feel it is important to acknowledge them:
• Firstly, to Hayley Linford, Hannah Walsh, Dan Stirling, Steve Smith, Jemma and Jeff Bringloe, Dana Omran, Jordan Read, Dan and John Loughran, Paul and Elaine Hutchinson and Sian and Chris Gray for giving up their time to do the walk and the for the fantastic amount of money they all raised.
• To Dad and Dave Stephenson for planning out the route.
• The Massey’s and Horner’s for allowing the walk to run from their rally at Whitby Rugby Club.
• To mam, for doing all the food for half way point and the cakes.
• Paul and Elaine for bringing the T-shirts and Balloons
• Finally, not forgetting EVERYONE that sponsored us.
Since getting our new van last year, we have always had the problem of the Microwave cupboard door opening up whilst towing the caravan. We have asked if anything could be done when we put the van in for its first service, but they were unable to come up with a solution. This happened even if we wedged it with cardboard. For those of you with the same problem, I have sent an email to the after service department at coachman and they have come back me after consulting Trevor Baxter, that we can put a warranty claim in at the dealer for a second catch to be fitted. problem solved.
In reply to Mrs Curwen's opinion that the centre handbook is paid for by the Caravan Club grant, it is an incorrect opinion. The fact is that the Caravan Club pay, to each centre of the Caravan Club, an administration grant based on the number of members in the centre and it is only to be used for administration of the centre, part of which is the running of the AGM itself. Under no circumstances should the grant be used to print or subsidise print costs of the centre handbook.
As Andy has already pointed out one third of the centre's expense in 2009 was taken up for the printing of the handbook, something that is not sustainable, especially bearing in mind the way postal costs are going.
The Caravan Club state that all we have to do for our members is to provide a programme of rallies with the necessary dates and contacts, the centre rules and the material necessary to run an AGM, which could be done on four sheets of paper.
Whilst I agree this is a drastic change to the way we have done things over the years, everything you get in your handbook would be available on CD, including rally booking slips, boxes to complete if you have booked or attended etc: and a CD could be posted out to members on a first or second class stamp and reducing the centres' expense.
Please keep your views coming in, it will help the committee in their deliberations on this matter.
Should we stop printing the events program?
Thank you to those people who have responded so far. I will try to reply to everyone individually in due course but want to wait until I have more information before doing so. This will hopefully mean I can provide some accurate feedback and gain a good picture of what the ralliers really feel and need. One important point to note though is that there is no suggestion that the printed copy would be completely unavailable, simply that it would need to be ordered in advance. Also the content on the CD would be exactly the same as the printed copy, you could even print it out if you wished. Please keep your comments coming, if nothing else it is raising some interesting points which can only help the committee provide what the members want.
Personally we would be happy with an emailed programme, but I can’t see how any one could object to paying a small fee for a hard copy, especially as you intend it to be refundable.
Presumably though, you would still need to print and distribute booking slips. We would be happy to take part in any trials if you need us.
Further thought:- If the Events section of the website could be expanded to include descriptions and directions you would not need an emailed programme or CD. With the option of a hard copy if anyone needed it of course!
Handbook
We would find the idea of no longer having a centre handbook extremely hard, if not impossible to come to terms with. We constantly use it as a reference, making notes against various dates and rallies; impossible to do on a CD. On most rallies, we gather together with our friends after flag and browse through our handbooks, agreeing on which rallies to book; again not possible using the concept of a CD. We are under the impression that the cost of the handbook is met by the Caravan Club from the allowance for every family declaring membership of a centre. Unless this factor has changed, we fail to see why the handbook should be replaced by a soulless CD. We feel that losing the handbook would be a totally retrograde step, leading to a loss of Centre identity and potentially a decrease in attendance at rallies.
Sorry Andy, we are totally opposed to this idea.
Should we stop printing the events program?
The biggest expense that the Centre has to meet is that of printing and distributing the events programmes to over 1500 members, other centres and various miscellaneous recipients. The audited accounts for 2009 show that of a total expenditure of £6835 the events program accounted for £2351 after income from advertising and sales of books to non-centre members. That is 34% of our total expenditure.With expected postage increases this figure is likely to rise and, unless we take some action to reduce these costs, will inevitably lead to increases in the admin fees we need to charge and the resulting increase in rally fees.
So what can we do about it. One suggestion is not to send out printed books to everyone. In place of the hard copy we could start by sending out copies of the programme on CD which are not only cheaper to produce but also incur less postage. Anyone wishing to receive their programme via e-mail could also do this by providing a suitable e-mail address prior to programme distribution. I realise that a small number of people do not have access to a computer and some will still want to have a printed copy and these would be made available at a small charge. Centre members who order and pay for a printed copy would receive with their book a credit note to the value of the amount paid which could be redeemed against any North Yorkshire rally during the year so they would not be out of pocket.
I am looking for feedback from the members on what your thoughts are on this idea and if you would be happy for it to be brought in or have any strong opinions against it. I would appreciate it if you could give your reasons for either when you reply. I am also interested if anyone would like to act as guinea pigs to trial a cd version so that I could identify any potential problems.
If you wish t comment on this idea, either post it here on the message board or e-mail me at andy@northyorkshirecentre.org.uk. I will be pleased to hear from anyone. If you would like to take part in a trial please e-mail me with your details.
A sponsored walk has been arranged to raise money for the Afghan Heroes in memory of Dean. It is a challenging family walk from Ravenscar to Whitby along the old railway line totalling 11 miles. It is on Saturday the 9th July in connection with Whitby rugby club rally. Many of you said you were interested in helping raise money and joining in the walk. We would love it if you could all join in and want to the event to be on behalf of North Yorkshire and get as many people as we can involved. If you cant do the walk but would like to help with refreshments. Please contact Kelly on Facebook or kelly.gray2k6@hotmail.co.uk if you would like to take part or help in anyway.
Re: Question For Advice:
I have been using my solar panel for many years and originally it came fitted with a 12S plug. Although this worked OK I have since replaced the cable with good quality copper core and connect it directly to the battery using an inline plug and socket. This makes it much more effective as it reduces the voltage drop through the 12S plug and caravan wiring.
Question for advice:
I have just bought an 80W solar panel with charger, what sort of cable, cable connectors do I need? Can I use the grey plug on the caravan to plug into?