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Rally Officer Guide The annual rally programme is the lifeblood of this Club. A good rally programme means that more caravan owners are interested in joining or renewing their membership, more Members will rally, the Club gets more income overall and we get more material of interest for our newsletters. The rally programme is therefore vital to the success of our Club. If you care, and are interested in running, or helping to, run a rally for your Club then we hope that the information contained within this guide removes any fears and answers any questions you might have. If your question is not answered and you require further information please do not hesitate to contact the Rally Secretary or any Member of the Committee who will only be too pleased to offer you the benefit of their experience. What Is A Rally? A rally is simply where Members meet together for a weekend or holiday to promote friendship and enjoy themselves. Rallies are organised by ordinary Members, sometimes to coincide with a local event or just to give other Members an opportunity to visit the area. Children are always welcome on the rally field and they are welcome to join in any of the activities of the rally. The Rally Officer will sometimes organise activities to take place during the rally such as a competition, communal barbecue and field games. You should never feel obliged to join in anything that does not interest you. The rally site may be a grass field with basic facilities of a water tap and a chemical toilet emptying point, or it can be a full commercial site with electric hook up and other facilities. If any other facilities are available it will be noted in the individual rally information. You are usually expected to take your dry rubbish home. Levelling blocks may be required as some fields may be slightly sloping. Thinking Of Running A Rally? I don’t know what to do and don’t want to make a mess of things. The Rally Secretary and Committee will give you every help and support; helping you organize and run your rally, in booking venues, even finding you an experienced rally officer or co-rally officer to help. The easy way to see how things work is to be a co-rally officer prior to running your own rally. The Committee wants Members to enjoy running rallies and to want to do so again. So, for an insight into running a rally have a chat with an experienced rally officer or contact any of the Committee. If you need help finding a rally venue, then please contact the Rally Secretary who will have a list of suitable sites which, hopefully, will meet your needs Where Can We Run Our Rally? A rally can be held anywhere that you/we can get permission for the Club to meet, e.g. on a licensed caravan site, a school or a farmer’s field. If the rally is to be run on a site which is not licensed YOU MUST display the Club Exemption Certificate and fly the Club Flag - see later for more details. What Must A Site Have As A Minimum? Safe entry and exit to the rally field are the obvious ones but as a minimum it must also have clean running water, somewhere to empty the wastewater and the chemical toilet. If the toilet emptying facility is a hole dug by the site owner it must be a reasonable distance from the caravans and MUST be cordoned off for safety. Booking A Rally We Already Have A Site In Mind, What Should We Do? Contact the Rally Secretary and inform him of the location of your site, the preferred dates to run your rally and any relevant contact details. Remember it is never too early to book a rally - next year is really only around the corner! What Happens Next? The Rally Secretary will send you a simple form asking for the relevant details about your rally, e.g. directions to the site, dates the rally is running, price per night, confirmation of the names of the Rally Officers and Co-Rally Officers, and any attractions and events that are running, or will be run, in conjunction with the rally. If space is limited at the site, do ensure that you quote a limit on the number of caravans. The form should be returned to the Rally Secretary. It is always advisable to write to the site owner to confirm the dates, prices, minimum and maximum number of caravans expected and any other relevant details so there is a record of what has been agreed in the event of any subsequent confusion. You should also start to think about any social activities that you might want to run. If there are costs which will be incurred it is best that these are identified to the Rally Secretary so they can be included in the relevant newsletter. What Is The Exemption Certificate Mentioned Earlier? This is a Certificate of Exemption issued by DEFRA which the Club has to purchas in order that we can hold rallies on non-licensed sites such as a school or farmer’s field. It is not required when we meet on liceensed commercial sites, or on a rally field on a licensed site. The Exemption Certificate must be on display along with the flag when we rally on a non-licensed site. A copy of the certificate will be included in the rally pack of your first rally, or subsequently if the existing certificate expires. Not displaying the Exemption Certificate renders the Club liable for the withdrawal of the Exemption Certificate. Before Running Your Rally What Happens When You Have Booked Your Rally? The Rally Secretary will send you your Rally Officers pack containing all the necessary paperwork you will need, along with some advice notes. The rally pack contains: *See later for information on how to complete the small amount of paperwork needed to run a rally. When Will We Start To Receive Bookings And How Many Can We Expect? You may start to receive bookings soon after the dates are published in the Rally Book or newsletter, which will confirm the closing date for bookings. It is always difficult to know how many bookings a rally will get, usually 6 to 20, but on a Bank Holiday it can be higher. What If There Is A Problem With The Site? From experience we would recommend that it is always good to visit the rally site during the weeks leading up to your rally to ensure the site is as you expect it to be and that the site owner is prepared for your rally. As a minimum you should phone to check but a personal visit is best. What About Rally Equipment? Rally equipment consists of: Please contact the appropriate people well in advance of your rally to ensure everything will be available. What Do We Organise On Our Rally? It is your rally and you can organize as much or as little as you wish. As a minimum we would suggest a welcome cuppa on the first night. If you want to run a social you can use the party tent or book a village hall or scout hut, etc. as they tend to be cheapest. You may choose to run some activities of interest, e.g. fishing, walking, cycling or anything which a few fellow ralliers could join in. Ordering Rally Plaques. Before your rally contact the Rally Secretary, or another member of the Committee, to borrow a copy of the plaque design catalogue from which you should choose a picture, that best represents the theme of your rally, to be put on the rally plaque. On the plaque order form provided in your rally pack, please fill in all the required information and forward to the address on the form 10 working days before the start of your rally. Also note that the minimum order is for 10 plaques. (P.s. Don’t forget the Rally Officer plaques). Putting The Rally Envelopes Together. A few days before your rally it is helpful to prepare a rally envelope for each caravan. Each one should show the costs on the front and these should agree with the figures shown on the Rally Costing Sheet. You should put a plaque in each envelope together with a welcome letter from you. As a minimum this letter should say what is planned during the rally in terms of socials, it can also include a list of all the ralliers attending, their car registration numbers and sites of local interest that are worth a visit. It is up to you but you can also insert leaflets or anything else you feel is relevant in the envelope. Running Your Rally What Should We Do When We First Arrive on Site? You should be the first to arrive on site, so site your caravan in the best position to see others as they arrive. Next, unless you have already decided, you will need to decide how and where these are going to be sited, taking in to consideration any specific needs of the ralliers, such as access to an electrical hook up, and remembering to keep at least 7 metres between the facing walls of each caravan (including awning, if appropriate) for safety. Put up the directional signs so ralliers can easily find the site and on the site itself you should put the signs by the water, waste and chemical toilet emptying points if necessary. Also the Rally Officer sign. Try to greet each caravan as it arrives, show the members to their pitch and point out where the facilities are located. You should also give them their rally envelope. Keep a record of who has paid, keeping the money safe and secure. It is quite easy to lose track of who has paid if you are not careful. Who Do We Turn To If We Have Any Problems? Before the rally – The Rally Secretary. During the rally – The Rally Secretary. If he is not available there will usually be at least one Member of the committee. Failing that, there is sure to be a Club Member present who has experience of running a rally. Any of the above will be only too pleased to help. Do We Have To Run A Raffle? You can run a raffle if you wish as it is a great way of raising funds at your rally, but it is up to you, you might have a better idea! If you purchase raffle prizes, the cost should be recovered from the profits and accounted for on the Rally Costing Sheet. Do We Have To Make A Speech? But basically - it is your rally - YOU decide what to do and when!! The Paper Work This part of the rally is quite straight forward but is very important. 1. Rally Costing Sheet. This form is where you record the details of those who have booked in to your rally and the amount owed by each caravan. This should tally with the booking forms you have received and what you have put on the envelopes. A good tip is to use this form to help you by ticking/marking/highlighting off the caravans when they have paid. IT IS VERY EASY TO LOSE TRACK of who has paid if you don’t control this properly! 2. Rally Balance Sheet. This form asks for a number of details such as those listed below: Balance Sheet for …………. Rally - This is the rally location or title. Income: Rally Fees - £2.00 per caravan. Multiply this figure by the number of caravans on the rally. This money is used towards the cost of tea and coffee, and rally plaques. Site Fees. This is the number of caravans multiplied by the number of nights, e.g. if you have 10 caravans and each caravan stays for 2 nights then the number of caravan nights is 20. This figure is then multiplied by the price per night to give you the amount of money which you need to pay to the owner of the site for its use. Social. This will depend on whether you run a social or not. If you do then the cost per person is quoted here, followed by the total received from those who attend. Raffle. If you run a raffle, then the total raised must be quoted here. Donations. Any donations given to the Club, such as monies from people who do not want change from what they pay. Other Income. Monies received that don’t fit in to any of the above. Total Income. This is the total of all the above income items. This shows what money has come in at your rally. Expenditure: Plaques. These will be paid for by the Club Treasurer so you have no need to worry about payment to the plaque maker, but you will need to ensure your rally profit covers their cost. Site Fees. The amount you have paid the site owner and should equal the Site Fees figure shown on the income side.Plaques. These will be paid for by the Club Treasurer so you have no need to worry about payment to the plaque maker, but you will need to ensure your rally profit covers their cost. Hire of Hall. The amount paid for the hire of a venue. Refreshments/Social. This is where you record any money that has been spent on tea, raffle prizes, etc. - please see the form. Raffle Prizes. Cost of any raffle prizes purchased. Other. Monies paid out that don’t fit in to any of the above. Important. Please ensure that all expenses are fully receipted and the receipts are attached to the Balance Sheet when you send it to the Treasurer. Total Expenditure. This is the total of all the above expenditure items. This shows what money has been paid out for your rally. The surplus between the income and expenditure should be deposited in the Club’s bank account using the paying in slip provided, and a receipt obtained on the stub. The amount should be the same on the paying in slip as on the form. You should send the receipted stub to the Treasurer, together with your Rally Balance Sheet, Rally Costing Sheet and any receipts you have, within 2 weeks of the rally. Last But By No Means Least Hopefully after reading these notes, which are meant to encourage rather than discourage, you are still willing to run a rally for your Club. If so please contact the Rally Secretary who will only be too pleased to get you started. You can be assured that running a rally is rewarding and just as much fun, if not more, as attending as a normal rallier! So, Go On, Run A Rally And Enjoy Yourself! |