No tin stars for these key members of our centre, but great fun and satisfaction in keeping rallies running smoothly. In a nutshell the role of marshals is to supervise a rally and generally look after the members while they are on site. Weād love to get more members to have a go at this satisfying role.
So, how it works: The main purpose of a CAMC centre is to run local event for its centre members. The lsle of Wight Centre is no exception, and we pride ourselves in offering a variety of rallies and events here on the Island.
Whilst our Rally Secretaries are responsible for organising venues and making all the arrangements for a rally to take place, on the days of a rally, the marshalās job is to set up the rally and generally look after the members while they are on site.
Marshal are ordinary centre members who may run just one rally a year, this can also be done as a group (we can have up to 4 marshals for a rally). Rally Marshals receive a reduction on the fee for the weekend. Any small purchase (prizes, etc) you might need to make will be re-funded from the centre.
There is plenty of help, advice and experience to draw on so please have fun and make your rally your own.
So the tasks for the Marshals are:
Recce the site before the rally and (with help of the Rally Sec) and get an idea of what the site has to offer. Chose what sort of rally you want to run. There may be facilities on site that can be used, or you might think about entertainment (quizzes, etc) or you might want to run a quiet, relaxing rally, maybe just a walk round the local countryside. The choice is entirely yours and there are no pressures to run it any particular way. The centre also has a collection of games, etc, that can be called on. (A note about any prizes: these are kept to token items only e.g. small bags of sweets).
The great majority of site will have been used before so we will have lots of information to call on. Choose where units will be placed. If the rally is on commercial site then locations for units will be dictated by the site owners, otherwise there is a standard spacing we use. Check on availability and locations of things like chemical disposal points, fresh water taps, and grey water disposal points.
Decide if you want to use the centreās marquees or shelters. Ask for help for these to be brought to site and erected as they are stored in Arreton.
With the Rally Sec, complete a risk assessment (there are plenty of examples available and most sites will have already been done). The Centre retains all Risk Assessment forms from previous rallies. Make sure you have a list of emergency contacts on hand at the rally.
Set up on site before the rally opens, there are direction signs and notices to be put up, these are all available in the āRally Boxā.
Welcome the ralliers to site, guide them to their locations and provide any information they might need for the weekend.
Keep a register of members attending and any guests they may wish to bring. The list will have been prepared in advance by our treasurer who monitors the payments for the rallies.
Over the weekend just be around for the members, run any events you may have organised and generally enjoy yourselves.
At the closure of the rally (usually the morning of the last day) get everyone together for āflagā where the chair or a member of the committee may present āfirst timeā ralliers with plaques, and may have announcements to make.
At the end make sure everything is tided up. Members will always help with putting down marquees, or any other tasks. Donāt forget to thank the site owner if possible.
So thatās it!