Clicky Club rallies

Thats why we stopped going,they seem to "expect " you to be a regular to be accepted,  whereas we could only do a few a year ,to places we wanted to visit also,,we did a Holiday rally and all the "regulars" were in their own little groups,  

Thankfully not experienced too many nasty people  Oh dear, what a nightmare. We have not been rallying regularly this year either and did find a difference when we did manage to get to one but the main difference for me was I found my own intolerance levels have changed (due to our own circumstances changing) and I really did not feel able to enjoy myself as I once did. Yes obviously it feels clicky if you are not a regular and sadly some centres perhaps could do a little more to make newcomers/returners feel welcome, but this is dependent on who is actually there of course. If you choose a small rally you are more likely to find they are a group of friends who rally together often and perhaps may not be welcoming to people they don't know as well?  I have said many times, every rally and every centre is different, don't give up completely if you like the idea of rallying, just try a different group and see if that is any better. All members are welcome at all rallies, you don't have to join a centre and stick with it (you don't have to be a centre member at all if you don't want to)

It is down to you to find your own friends at the end of the day.

Alison

Sorry to hear about your rally experience GW. We've sampled a few rallies, each one has been different. We turned down a socialising offer on one of them as we felt they all knew each other and we were outsiders. On following rallies we recognised some of the same people and started to chat with them. I think it takes quiet a while to mix in with any new group of people, whether it's a rally, a club or any type of new group. I certainly have never met anyone nasty on a CC rally, that must have been really bad luck.

We're going to try and rally more next year with both clubs.

Not all CC rallys are cliquey.  But many are.  I know because I was a member of a clique in our centre.. Our clique  met up at all our weekend rallies -------we were  three couples who enjoyed socialising in one of our  vans in the evening. . We BBQd  together and enjoyed the fun on the rally field.  This was replicated by many cliques in the centre. 

We are all retired now and dont rally any more , preferring CLs

Looking back on our rallying days perhaps it was a bit unfair to enjoy ourselves without a thought for others who were not clique members.  But that's how it was for most on rallies.

Hope you find a Rally Centre which suits your needs.

Cheers ..........K

Perhaps the answer is to be prepared to be one's own clique (Not "click" - that has a totally different meaning in the social context around here!)

Sorry to hear that you have had some bad experiences of rallies. I can assure you that they are not all like that. Personally I have not encountered any "nasty" people on any rallies that I have attended (over 500 to date) although I have been on some where there have been groups that appear a bit cliquey. This appearance can sometimes, but admittedly not always, be just that as it can be very difficult to know how to behave towards new ralliers. Whilst the new member may feel that they don't want to buttin to other peoples gatherings of friends, those groups may also feel that they don't want to force themselves onto a new member if they wish to keep themselves to themselves.
We always try to ensure that any new rallier is included in conversations and is invited to sit with someone when they arrive at a social event and so are not left to their own devices too much and don't feel excluded.
As others have suggested, try some different rallies or a different centre, they are all different. I completely disagree with FD with regards to small rallies as I have always found the small ones more inclusive and friendly than the large ones.

We have only just joined the CC last year having been with the CCC for the past 33years. We attended our first rally last month in Bath and were made very welcome.  On the second night we received a tap on the door it was the rally officer checking all was ok. We were booked in as non center members and there was no pressure to join the center.  We are at this moment on our second rally with the same center at Longleat.

As others have suggested, try some different rallies or a different centre, they are all different. I completely disagree with FD with regards to small rallies as I have always found the small ones more inclusive and friendly than the large ones.

Hi Andy, big or small, we both agree all rallies are different, they are run by volunteers and different groups run each rally with varying ideas of how they want to spend their time. I certainly didn't mean all small rallies are likely to be cliquey/clicky and I certainly know that it is also possible to be lonely in a large crowd too. At the end of the day, it is lucky if you hit it off with someone on your first outing whatever the context, so surely it is worth trying a few outings to see if you find what you are looking for. Many centres have a large membership so they will inevitably not all get together at each rally and it can take a few before you would even see the same people again.

Alison

For one reason or another we haven't managed to get into the swing of rallying.  Our very first rally was a big Christmas event and we mentioned when booking in that it was our first. We had a personal welcome from the centre Chairman but didn't get to speak to anyone else.  We felt a bit uncomfortable at the evening social as we were sitting alone  while all tables around us were full, so took ourselves off to the site's clubhouse.

We then tried a small rally with a different where everybody included us at the socials, On the second rally with the same centre we were again welcomed into the fold.  Occasionally we wanted to be by ourselves and the group respected that - we didn't ever feel that we should join in everything.

Hopefully we get can get back to rallying next and will try the first centre again, but perhaps on a field rally.

I think that when you book in and are told what's going on over the weekend its a good idea to let the rally officers know if you're inclined to join in or not, then they know where they stand with you.

Our first rally in 53 years of Caravanning was this year and quite by accident. We dived into a campsite in France this summer to visit a friend who lives nearby - but found we were in the middle of a British overseas rally. They couldn't have been nicer - the Marshall said come and pitch by the lake with us, will you come to our quiz tonight, here's the code for the wi-fi, the lady in the nearest Motorhome came right on over to chat, and so on.  But it was another Club!