Rally Programme Update.

As the Rally at Offley Hay Village Hall falls during the Governments rule of 6 restrictions on social gatherings we will not be able to proceed with this rally.

The Village Hall Committee have kindly allowed us to swich our booking to December 10-12 so this weekend will now be our Christmas Party Rally.

Welcome to the 2021 Rally Programme

I would like to welcome you to the 2021 Rally Programme for the North Staffs Centre. Last year our whole Rally Programme had to be cancelled due to the pandemic so hopefully, with the roll out of the vaccine, we will be able to start rallying again very soon. Pulling a programme of events together has proved very difficult and I would like to thank our Rally Sec, Andy Kelsall, for all his hard work in putting together a varied programme for our enjoyment. Many landowners have been difficult to contact during the pandemic, and some are still reluctant to take rallies until they know if is safe to do so. Similarly we have, quite understandably, lost a number of regular Marshals due to the pandemic, so there are not as many rallies as we would have normally. Hopefully most if not all of these rallies will be able to proceed in the coming season.

This year the Committee have decided not to produce a printed version of the Rally Book. This is on the advice of Club HQ who are suggesting that Centres should go digital and not produce any paper versions, but instead to have their Rally Book available digitally on the web site which members can view and download and print out if necessary. To this end the Committee have agreed to produce a leaflet as an interim measure to going fully digital. Much of the content of this leaflet is for the benefit of newly registered members who have yet to rally with the Centre. If this is you, I would recommend you reading the section about "Why not try a Rally". Things will be different as we start back up again as we need to ensure everyone is Covid safe, and we will need to follow all guidelines which are issued by HQ to make rallies Covid safe and secure.

I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible on the Rally field in 2021, and let's hope it is a far better year than 2020

Brian Joyce
Centre Chairman

Coronovirus update.

Due to Covid-19 restrictions all rallies were cancelled by The Club up until the end of July. However recent guidelines issued by HQ allows rallies to commence from 7th August 2020, subject to a number of strict rules and regulations for marshals running them and for members attending. This is to allow everyone to continue rallying in a safe and secure environment. At the moment a number of landowners are still unwilling to take any rallies, and some will not allow them until 2021.
Due to lockdown your Committee have not been able to meet since early March. However a Committee meeting was held earlier this week when the discussion was largely around Covid-19, and the protocol for starting rallies issued by HQ. After much discussion the Committee took a very difficult decision to cancel all remaining rallies until 2021, with the exception of the holiday rally at Paignton (17-31 October). Rallies cancelled include the Christmas Party and New Year Rallies at Salt. The AGM is unlikely to be held this year due to Covid-19 restrictions and following advice from Club, all existing Committee members have agreed and are willing to serve for another 12 months. This will allow the Centre to move forward into 2021 and plan a Rally Programme for next year.
The Paignton holiday rally will be run with reduced spaces and in accordance with the guidelines set out by HQ and will be quite different to normal. Unfortunately we are no longer allowed to hold any Flags, or any socials, or pass out any plaques or paperwork. Hoburne have told us the toilet and shower block will remain closed for the rest of 2020 and at the moment the swimming pool, restaurant and other site facilities are closed. The Marshals are still keen to run this rally and Hoburne are happy to take us - there are still places available but payment will be taken in full by BACs when booking
We know this news will be a great disappointment to regular ralliers, but we have to ensure the safety and security of our members. as well as being able to have Marshals willing to run them and landowners who are happy to take us. Please continue to view the web site for any further updates. Your Committee will continue to review the situation in light of any new guidance issued by HQ.

M.J.Winks
Centre Secretary.

09/09/2019
Committee members wanted.
At the 2020 AGM next year some of our current Committee members will be standing down following many years of service to the North Staffs Centre.
If the North Staffordshire Centre is to continue in existance beyond next years AGM then its vital that we attract 3 or 4 new members at least.
The current committee will by then have completed over 110 years service between them so a welcome break is well overdue. If this is something you would consider please speak to any committee member for further information. The Committee generally meets once a month for around two hours to discuss centre matters in a friendly environment.

01/08/2019
Carney Pools Fishing Rally.

The winner of the Dunning Trophy for the 'biggest catch' in a closely fought contest was Anthony Banks.
Keeping it in the family, Calum Banks was the winner of the Diamond Trophy for the 'biggest fish'.

There were no junior entries for the Jock Black Trophy.

22/05/2019
Website Outage.
Due to technical reasons outside of our control, the website has been unavailable for a few days.
Thanks to the sterling efforts of Teledata and Fasthost in conjunction with Internet Connections Ltd I'm pleased to say we are now back up and running.
Steps are being taken this week to ensure that we do not suffer a repeat incident of the same nature.

10/04//2019
Cauldon Lowe Photographic Rally.( 5-7 April)
The winners of the Photographic Trophys for 2019 are as follows.

The Duke Award – Members Pet(s).      Pat Ollerenshaw
The Heritage Studio Trophy – Most Humorous.  Jeanette Gilmore
Robinson Shield – Open Colour Print.   Maureen Joyce
Trentham Trophy – Children’s Colour Print (up to age 15). No Entries.
Richards Trophy – Colour Print at a Caravan Event.   Brian Joyce
The Torr Scroll - Colour Portrait. Jeanette Gilmore.

Thanks to all those that submitted Photographs for the event.

Caravan and Motorhome Club, Centre Registration Renewals.

Please remember that you do have to re-register with the centre each year as you renew your Caravan Club membership.
You can now check, change and renew your Centre Registration on the Caravan and Motorhome Club's website
If you have registered with the centre and do not receive your current Rally Programme or leaflet please advise Mike Winks so that the issue can be resolved.
Existing members will find Mike's contact number in previous centre rally books, while new members can send their comments via the Centre Secretary's email.