Long distance charity run - need a motorhome...

[RunDobieRun]

Hello there,

 

My name is Andrew and i'm a keen motorcaravanner!

 

My Dad bought a brand new 'van last year but sadly he can't be without it for a month, hence my post.

 

To cut a long story short (if you want more info, please ask:)) I am running from Harpenden in hertfordshire to Edinburgh this summer to raise (hopefully a lot) money for The Stroke Association and Action for Children. The route is beautiful but parts of it are very sparsely populated, because of this myself and my support team deicded that a motorhome would be the best way of a) getting the non - runners from Harpenden to Edinburgh and b) giving us all somewhere to stay in the evenings.

 

As I am sure you are all aware, renting a motorhome for a month costs huge amounts. I am a relatively mature student (26), training to be a teacher in Cheltenham and can not afford those kind of prices.

 

In exchange for a manufacturer/coachbuilder/rental company/anyone letting me have a van at a cheaper rate, I would of course give them exposure in print media and local radio as well as on my website (www.rundobierun.co.uk), but I don't really know where to start. I have contacted the editors of MMM to see what they can suggest, but would be delighted to hear your views.

 

Apologies for the length!

 

Andrew Dobie

[Mike88]

I would modify your post slightly and, to be absolutely clear, no disrespect is intended.

 

But there may be a feeling that if your dad can't trust you with his motorhome then why should anyone else.

 

I wish you the best of luck in your venture.

[RunDobieRun]

Thats a valid point, needs to be made clearer. It is not the case at all that he can't trust me with it, more that he can't really be without it for a month and in reality, it is not big enough either.

 

Thanks for your input.

[Guest Tracker]

Maybe one of the local or national dealers would loan you a van in return for the publicity it can bring them?

 

Nothing to be lost by asking them?

 

Have you tried an appeal on the local radio, TV or newspapers?

[PJay]

RunDobieRun - 2009-04-06 3:01 PM

 

Thats a valid point, needs to be made clearer. It is not the case at all that he can't trust me with it, more that he can't really be without it for a month and in reality, it is not big enough either.

 

Thanks for your input.

You don't say what size (no berths ) you are looking for, sounds like you would need a large van ?

[RunDobieRun]

Sorry, very good point.

 

My support team (!) will consist of two people at any one time ( depending on when people can get holiday away from work), so there will be three of us. Ideally, I would say that a 4 berth van would be the minimum as there will be a lot of gear with us as well.

 

In terms of van specification, the bigger it is, the more advertising we can do (hoping to use vinyls to advertise companies and sponsors in return for sponsorship) but conversely, the more expensive it will be to hire. At the moment it is a case of seeing what options I have and going from there.

 

The motorhome is turning out to be one of the most important parts of the run - I will get more corporate sponsorship if I can offer more advertising opportunities other than just my running gear and in terms of a 'vehicle' for a support, accomodation and storage, they are perfect.

 

Thanks :-)

[Guest Tracker]

It gets worse every time you write!

 

So now you want to stick adverts on the van as well eh?

 

I doubt you will find any owner of a half decent van who would be very keen on that idea - and probably less keen on a trio of non van users clomping about all over their pride and joy with bags of 'gear' - specially if the owner is not present?

 

Have you considered the insurance aspects on this loan van?

 

I suggest you hire one and knock seven bells out of a company owned van rather than expect some poor unsuspecting chump to allow you to ruin his prized possession?

 

I drove my van as a support van for a Lands End to John O Groats charity cycle run many years ago and I never did get all the glue from various posters off the van and the many and various knocks and scratches internally also took a bit of covering up and making good - and that was quite an old van at the time - and I was present throughout - so never again for me.

 

Nick at Euroserv (another member on here - look him up in the search facility) would hire you an empty van and you could take sleeping bags, borrow some camping gear and just rough it?

 

 

[RunDobieRun]

I understand your point - I am a motorhome user though, but I sadly do not own my own!

 

I certainly do not expect any private owners to lend me theirs, I was more looking for tips from people who have rented before or those who may have done charity events similar to this and who have experience is begging for things on the cheap.

 

The whole point of this is to raise as much money as possible for the charities and sadly an event of this magnitude is new to me. I'm now going to fire off e-mails to every hire company in the back of MMM and go from there.

 

 

 

[RunDobieRun]

Thanks for that tip - I'm not sure that roughing it would be physically much good for me! I think that motorhome route is the best way to go - we are certain on that - but your concerns are just.

 

In terms of the vinyl issue, maybe trying to contact manufacturers/coachbuilders may be better - they'll have demonstrator vehicles.

[Mel B]

Does it really need to be a motorhome? What about a van or minibus and a caravan? You can then place the caravan on sites along the route, so you can take advantage of the facilities (and you'll certainly need the showers etc to soothe away the aches and pains - keeping topped up with water in a motorhome would be difficult unless you use sites). This would leave the van or minibus free to support you on your walk and be able to swiftly take you back to your awaiting caravan, already set up for you just to crash out. You would more than likely be able to obtain a 'donated' caravan and only then have to worry about the tow vehicle, again by using a standard van or minibus, you will then be able to 'tap' on a few more company doors than the very few, by comparison, motorhome companies. It would seem to be the simplest solution ... to me in any case. 8-)

[RunDobieRun]

Hi Mel,

 

many thanks for the reply.

 

I had considered a caravan as another option, but as you say, stopping at sites would be necessary. Because of the route i am taking, this would be difficult. Whereas there are numerous lay-bys and parking areas that I can legally park a motorhome for a night along the route, logistically doing the same with a caravan would be harder, especially considering none of us have experience towing vehicles.

 

I want to try and avoid having to move too far from where I finish running to have a nights accomodation as I am running at first light every day and this would mean all of us having to be awake and ready to move at this time whereas the bonus of having a motorhome is that the others can catch me up later more easily from wherever we parked the night before.

 

I sent e-mails to every company I could find in MMM and online and have had a couple of positive responses, however the cost stil lcomes out at £1500+ before consumables like gas and petrol. Whilst I am aprreciative of the discoutns offered (50% in some cases) I can't strect that far as £1500 is around a quarter of what i am trying to raise.

 

As it stands, i'm going to have to run continuously for two and a half days to avoid the accomodation issues :D

 

Thanks for your input though Mel, if it hadn't been for already planning a route, planning one whcih took in camp sites would have been a good option.

 

Andrew

[Rapido-lass]

Hi Andrew

 

I think all the points already made are very valid.

 

If you manage to get a motorhome at a reasonable cost, you are going to have to adapt your route for sites or at least a few, as it is all very well saying you'll stay in laybys but where are you going to get fresh water, empty waste water and your toilet especially if there are 3 of you using it. If we were abroad and you could use Aires then fine, but the UK?

 

Have you really looked into the practicallities of not using a site to recharge batteries etc. You maybe able to heat water by gas for a shower, but you'll need power to work the pump.

 

I think the caravan/minibus is a better solution as you can set up for several days in one place with full facilities - maybe the sites will sponser you and not charge so that will save money? and use the minibus to ferry you about.

 

Even a motorhome dealer would be unlikely to want the motorhome covered in adverts - unless it was his, however, nothing ventured nothing gained so ask around the dealerships. A minibus you could stick sponsership names on the windows and hence no damage.

 

Anyway good luck with the run and raising money for the charity, and sorry if we are putting what might seem a dampner on your seeking help, but many of us have saved for years to get our pride and joy, and maybe a motorhome isn't the right choice- in theory yes, but practically not.

[Mel B]

Hi Andrew

 

Another thought on the 'sites' problem, in the Caravan Club and Camping & Caravanning Club there are 'mini' sites, called Certified Locations (CL) or Certified Sites (CS) respectively. These are privately owned sites, lots of which are actually in people's own gardens/land, such as farms, small holdings, large gardens and the like, although some are also run alongside a commercial business, such as pubs, fisheries etc. They are restricted by planning rules to only being allowed to have a total of 5 vans (caravans/motorhomes) on site each night. They range from basic, with just water and waste disposal, to some that rival top commercial sites, with showers, toilets etc. There are many more of these types of sites than those that you would refer to as a standard campsite, catering for a lot more motorhomes/caravans. In addition, the cost of these smaller CL and CS type sites is usually a lot less than using main campsites, for example, on a main site you usually pay a pitch fee plus a fee per person, on CL and CS sites you only pay one fee which covers it all.

 

With this in mind, you should be able to find a CL or CS at or nearby most places you intend to stop for the night. Why don't you contact the Caravan Club and Camping & Caravanning Club and see if they would be willing to give you free membership for the duration of your walk to allow you to use these sites, which are only available to members of each of the clubs. You may also, then, find that once you contact some of these smaller sites, they may be willing to allow you to stay more cheaply or for free once they hear of your charity run. Indeed, the clubs themselves may give you free stops on their main sites too - it's worth a try.