jamesC
VIP Member
Hi
My name is James Cutler and I consider myself to be an active member of this incredibly useful forum, I own a California Beach purchased in March and rarely go a week without spending at least one night camping in her!!... if you went to COTF you might remember me as the guy with the massive inflatable drive-away awning next to the two yellow Beach's.
I am also a volunteer for Cancer Research UK, and for the last 5 years have been the Logistics Chair for an event called Relay For Life held annually near my home town of Bury St Edmunds. NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH THE OTHER WELL KNOWN CANCER RESEARCH UK EVENT KNOWN AS RACE FOR LIFE.
What is Relay For Life - It's very difficult to describe, visiting a Relay is the only way to actually get it, but here goes....The event itself is rather unique, in that instead of a sponsored or fundraising event in it's own right, it is more a celebration of what our teams (Work Colleagues/Families/Sports Groups/Social Groups normally between 8 and 15 members strong) have raised during a whole year of fundraising, and as such is much less about shaking a collecting goblet and much more about bringing our Teams, Cancer Survivors and Carers together for a fete/festival style family fun weekend.
To give the teams a purpose we ask each group to "Relay", this means that one member from each team walks/runs/skips/whatever our track for the duration of the event which is 21 hours long and goes through the night.
We also invite members of the public in to the free event, and off course our fundraise crazy teams are not slow to organise all sorts of games and stalls to raise a few extra quid for their annual total.
To keep everybody entertained we have a stage with local and national acts from midday to midnight, and then to help keep the walkers motivated through the night we have a near silent disco until 7am and then ramp the volume right up to the end of the event at 9am Sunday morning, we also have festival style food vendors, a bar and even a special Pimms bar on the lawn in front of the house in the centre of our Relay.
Relay for Life is more an experience than an event, and there are around 40 held annually all over the UK, from Peterhead in Scotland to Liskeard in Cornwall raising vital funds to help beat cancer!
Every Relay is different, but our event is held within the stunning National Trust grounds of Ickworth House on the outskirts of Bury St Edmunds. Actually we Relay immediately in front of the house with the incredible and unique Rotunda as our backdrop.
Why am I writing all this on a forum about California's?? - I need a handful of marshals for "on the day" activities, these would include things like directing teams when they arrive, escorting our VIP's and Acts to the stage, manning our info. point, and generally assisting with the smooth running of the event.
I have a small team of 15 volunteers currently, but would ideally prefer another 6 adults to help. We have the local ATC organising our carpark, and also have a voluntary group called RAYNET who provide communications for the event.
In return for a few hours chilled out work you would get to park up and camp within the stunning grounds of Ickworth House for Free from Friday 26th July to Sunday 28th July and enjoy the free event from the inside!!
If you are interested, and can get to Bury St Edmunds that weekend, please let me know below, if you have any questions or experiences of other Relay For Life events, then also feel free to add comments below.
Thanks
James
My name is James Cutler and I consider myself to be an active member of this incredibly useful forum, I own a California Beach purchased in March and rarely go a week without spending at least one night camping in her!!... if you went to COTF you might remember me as the guy with the massive inflatable drive-away awning next to the two yellow Beach's.
I am also a volunteer for Cancer Research UK, and for the last 5 years have been the Logistics Chair for an event called Relay For Life held annually near my home town of Bury St Edmunds. NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH THE OTHER WELL KNOWN CANCER RESEARCH UK EVENT KNOWN AS RACE FOR LIFE.
What is Relay For Life - It's very difficult to describe, visiting a Relay is the only way to actually get it, but here goes....The event itself is rather unique, in that instead of a sponsored or fundraising event in it's own right, it is more a celebration of what our teams (Work Colleagues/Families/Sports Groups/Social Groups normally between 8 and 15 members strong) have raised during a whole year of fundraising, and as such is much less about shaking a collecting goblet and much more about bringing our Teams, Cancer Survivors and Carers together for a fete/festival style family fun weekend.
To give the teams a purpose we ask each group to "Relay", this means that one member from each team walks/runs/skips/whatever our track for the duration of the event which is 21 hours long and goes through the night.
We also invite members of the public in to the free event, and off course our fundraise crazy teams are not slow to organise all sorts of games and stalls to raise a few extra quid for their annual total.
To keep everybody entertained we have a stage with local and national acts from midday to midnight, and then to help keep the walkers motivated through the night we have a near silent disco until 7am and then ramp the volume right up to the end of the event at 9am Sunday morning, we also have festival style food vendors, a bar and even a special Pimms bar on the lawn in front of the house in the centre of our Relay.
Relay for Life is more an experience than an event, and there are around 40 held annually all over the UK, from Peterhead in Scotland to Liskeard in Cornwall raising vital funds to help beat cancer!
Every Relay is different, but our event is held within the stunning National Trust grounds of Ickworth House on the outskirts of Bury St Edmunds. Actually we Relay immediately in front of the house with the incredible and unique Rotunda as our backdrop.
Why am I writing all this on a forum about California's?? - I need a handful of marshals for "on the day" activities, these would include things like directing teams when they arrive, escorting our VIP's and Acts to the stage, manning our info. point, and generally assisting with the smooth running of the event.
I have a small team of 15 volunteers currently, but would ideally prefer another 6 adults to help. We have the local ATC organising our carpark, and also have a voluntary group called RAYNET who provide communications for the event.
In return for a few hours chilled out work you would get to park up and camp within the stunning grounds of Ickworth House for Free from Friday 26th July to Sunday 28th July and enjoy the free event from the inside!!
If you are interested, and can get to Bury St Edmunds that weekend, please let me know below, if you have any questions or experiences of other Relay For Life events, then also feel free to add comments below.
Thanks
James
