Caravanner of the Year on BBC this April!

So, caravanning confirmed as a pastime for middle aged/elderly white couples. A missed opportunity. What about ethnic minorities, solo caravanners, LGBT caravanners (of which my husband and I are one), young family caravanners etc? If we are serious about extending the CC membership we need to move into the 21st Century.

Even the most cursory look arround a caravan site, would show that most caravaners are White and middle aged, I think that you missed out middle class btw.  And these are exactly categories I fit into.  

If I didn't fit that profile and identified with another group, far from feel excluded, I would feel I had dodged a bullet, because it is hard to believe that any group would be, portrayed in anything other than in cliched sterotypes.  

 

If you read the guidelines etc ,  your post complaining, and  criticizing the club, questioning the community manger, and champions  comments and decision, breaks a number of rules etc  

Be prepared to be  suspended. Hope what ever they suspend you by, it is not to painful 

  

I'd take it on the chin if I had done. I won't hold my breath for a reply of any kind.

Suspended by the chin ,that isbetter then other places, that come to mind 

I've just booked a CC site otherwise I'm in 2 minds whether to tell them to shove it ....... 

I've had a reply .... apparently I've made insulting remarks of a of 'a personal and insulting nature' .... Did anyone see them? I'd really like to know 

So, caravanning confirmed as a pastime for middle aged/elderly white couples. A missed opportunity. What about ethnic minorities, solo caravanners, LGBT caravanners (of which my husband and I are one), young family caravanners etc? If we are serious about extending the CC membership we need to move into the 21st Century.

Did you enter?

I have sadly read every post MM and no, I do not recollect an 'insulting' post by you, ..... well not as insulting as some

Must be a lot of 'yellow' cards being handed out

I think the idea of a Caravanner of the Year is a good idea if executed correctly. Not to include  games, dining, fairy lights racing up inclines etc but, to include hitching up, loading, correct weight distribution, towing , reversing ( with or without a motor mover ) erection of awnings, correct positioning on pitches, levelling etc. I also think Motorhomes should have a separate section with Camper Vans. Caravans of a similar type to compete against each other. This would give two separated sections . So a Motorhomer of the Year also.

But wouldn't that be incredibly boring and of no interest to anyone but a caravan fanatic (or nerd if I'm being honest)? Rather like obscure caravan programmes on obscure TV channels

So, caravanning confirmed as a pastime for middle aged/elderly white couples. A missed opportunity. What about ethnic minorities, solo caravanners, LGBT caravanners (of which my husband and I are one), young family caravanners etc? If we are serious about extending the CC membership we need to move into the 21st Century.

Did you enter?

No, I(we) didn't enter but you miss the point. The point I was making is that if you get prime time on National TV to promote the CC use it to show a modern forward looking club and not a competition which bears little resemblance to modern caravannin. Caravanning is not competitive so why have them driving against a clock etc?

So, caravanning confirmed as a pastime for middle aged/elderly white couples. A missed opportunity. What about ethnic minorities, solo caravanners, LGBT caravanners (of which my husband and I are one), young family caravanners etc? If we are serious about extending the CC membership we need to move into the 21st Century.

LGBT?

OK, I've just found out.

We are surely all people and have no need to identify ourselves by race, religion, sexual orientation, or any other grouping.

Indeed we are all people but the point I was making is that the CC club should appeal to ALL people and not just the stereotype shown in COTY. 

So, caravanning confirmed as a pastime for middle aged/elderly white couples. A missed opportunity. What about ethnic minorities, solo caravanners, LGBT caravanners (of which my husband and I are one), young family caravanners etc? If we are serious about extending the CC membership we need to move into the 21st Century.

Did you enter?

No, I(we) didn't enter but you miss the point. The point I was making is that if you get prime time on National TV to promote the CC use it to show a modern forward looking club and not a competition which bears little resemblance to modern caravannin. Caravanning is not competitive so why have them driving against a clock etc?

I didn't miss the point, I was replying to your statement

So, caravanning confirmed as a pastime for middle aged/elderly white couples. A missed opportunity. What about ethnic minorities, solo caravanners, LGBT caravanners (of which my husband and I are one), young family caravanners etc? 

By entering and who knows, maybe getting through to the dubious final you could have had all the publicity required if you think you are a minority.

It did appeal to all people, its just that you didn't enter and therefore didn't give yourself the chance to be there.

Plenty of people have commented that the Club is ignoring this thread, despite nearly 100 pages of almost universal agreement that serious harm has been done to the Club by running the Caravanner of the Year Competition on BBC TV.  There have been lots of calls for both Chairman and CEO to resign; a pretty big fuss is being made and, surprise surprise, the Club doesn’t seem to be listening.  The Caravan Club is supposed to be owned and operated for the benefit of its members so why aren’t the Club’s hierarchy listening?

Club Together is clearly regarded by Club Management as a safe place to allow Members to let off steam but nothing of any other significance.  No one outside the Club reads it (nowhere has the national media taken any interest in this Members’ Revolution) so it can be simply ignored.  All the Club Management have done this time, and all they have ever done in the past, is release an anodyne statement which gives no indication at all that they will listen or learn, let alone change anything unless it suits them.   Their statement saying “we think it was OK” amounts to rejection and denial.  There is no evidence at all that the Club’s management hierarchy have any intention at all of listening to the Members on this issue.

The Caravan Club might be a member-controlled club on paper but in practice, these days, it is controlled entirely by its establishment and the members simply don’t have any real voice or clout at all.  Even if all those who have expressed strong views on this thread turned up at the next AGM to demand a vote of no confidence, it simply wouldn’t happen.  Members cannot propose a motion at the AGM unless the Club Council, part of the Club’s establishment, has approved the motion in advance.

To propose any motion to an AGM you need to get together quite a large number of other Members to support you before your motion can go forward at all.  And you aren’t allowed to use Club Together to exchange personal information, so you can’t use that to form up your rebel group.  There is no facility to gather any sort of revolutionary movement together.  Forcing the Club’s establishment to accept change against its wishes might not be impossible but it is a mammoth task and will requires some pretty clever and sustained political activity.  There might be other ways of forcing the Chairman or CEO out, such as open rebellion to get the attention of the press, but I wouldn’t count on it succeeding.

So let steam off on here if you wish, that seems to be allowed – unless of course it ever starts to look like you are achieving anything, in which case your postings might quietly disappear.  I wonder if this posting of mine will survive for long?

As it happens I doubt if much harm has been done by the Club’s participation in this TV programme, except perhaps temporarily to Chairman Grenville’s hitherto unshakeable self-confidence.  Long before Jeremy Clarkson had a go at ridiculing us, the general public had already learned to hate us for cluttering up the roads so why kid yourself that you could ever persuade them otherwise.  And do we really want to recruit more people to our hobby in this over-crowded Country?  Let them think we’re all eccentric fools, I don’t mind at all.

Write your comments here...  Use a Facebook closed group. We would then control what happened and what was said. However, in reality, even if possible, it is not feasible nor practical to get rid of "the establishment" en mass. There would be a great vacuum (of a physical presence rather than the apparent mental vacuum) which would require filling. And let's face it, we need the club to continue to function. I would like to think that those responsible for this fiasco have learnt a serious lesson.....possibly at our expense, but will be thinking long and hard before they consider such actions in future. Furthermore, they may take time to read these posts (??) in which case they may form a better understanding of how most of us feel.

I live in hope!!

Write your comments here...I think you are kidding yourself that Club Management will read this sort of thread for any purpose other than clipping the wings of those who, as they would regard it, "break the Guidelines", to mitigate its impact.  In my experience they use a wide interpretation of the written Guidelines whenever it suits them.

The idea of having a forum or facebook page which is outside the control of the Club's establlishment might be a useful thing but it would be bound to attract an awful lot of garbage postings and impose a big burden of moderation on someone - and realsitically who is going to volunteer to do all that work?

I'm not sure this thread, or this forum as a whole, shows any concerted or common feelings of discontent.  Is there even a commen perception of the sort of caravanning which should reflect what CC is about?

I enjoyed the second episode - mainly because the contestants all came across as decent and likeable people - and good luck to them if they have ways of enjoying their caravan or motorhome which aren't the same as mine.  Caravanning is about the freedom to enjoy your way of doing things isn't it?

Chairman Granville's controlling personality didn't come across quite so much this second time but he's still not coming across as my cup of tea as a companion caravanner.  Too much of a politician on a mission. 

Moderator edit: Personal insults removed from this post.

I think the idea of a Caravanner of the Year is a good idea if executed correctly. Not to include  games, dining, fairy lights racing up inclines etc but, to include hitching up, loading, correct weight distribution, towing , reversing ( with or without a motor mover ) erection of awnings, correct positioning on pitches, levelling etc. I also think Motorhomes should have a separate section with Camper Vans. Caravans of a similar type to compete against each other. This would give two separated sections . So a Motorhomer of the Year also.

 

But wouldn't that be incredibly boring and of no interest to anyone but a caravan fanatic (or nerd if I'm being honest)? Rather like obscure caravan programmes on obscure TV channels

 No I don't think it would be incredibly boring, and why would it ONLY be of interest to a caravan fanatic. I think anyone just coming into caravanning young or older it could be of help and interest to them . Not only nerds and fanatics watched " The Caravanner of the Year " even Gogglebox watched and enjoyed.