NEWS BLACKPOOL 0 Replies  We are pleased to announce that a new Venue for the Blackpool Light Parade has been identified and agreement has been reached with the proprietors on attractive terms. Detailed information will be released on this Website on March 8th, which is when the Venue will be ready to accept bookings. The Organisers are very sorry it’s taken a while to get this far but it has not been easy to find a suitable alternative following the sudden closure of Pontin’s last October, where the Event had been based successfully for some years. However we are confident that this new Venue meets our needs well. A complex Event like the Blackpool Light Parade has elaborate requirements so there are a lot of boxes to tick. The Organisers have considered a variety of options; faced with the closure of the only holiday camp in the Blackpool area, we decided we should try to think laterally and consider all sorts of possibilities, and duly did so. Several potential venues were approached and their suitability was investigated in some detail – only to end up with us having to reject them as unsuitable for one reason or another. Many Blackpool venues close down over the winter period and that didn’t help either, because in some cases we couldn’t contact the proprietors until they came back from their own holiday break, so this held things up too. However we are confident that we have found a really attractive alternative to Pontin’s which in most respects will be a considerable improvement – including in both quality of accommodation and value for money. The new Venue is also well located for purposes of the Parade itself. It ticks almost all the boxes and the compromises we have had to accept are relatively modest and we feel we can overcome them by making adaptations to the way we have done things in the past. Please accept our apologies for being mysterious about precisely where and what the new Venue is at the moment, but it is in everyone’s interests for the proprietor to be ready to accept bookings as soon as the new Venue is announced, not least because Pontin’s never quite managed to achieve that and one of the improvements we have been working towards is a more accessible and reliable booking system. One thing we can tell you straight away is that accommodation at the new Venue will cost only £35 per person per night for dinner, bed and breakfast – and this is for a standard of accommodation which we believe is far better than any Pontin’s Chalet. The same discounted accommodation rate applies for extra nights too and single accommodation will also be available without any supplementary charges. There is accommodation suitable for families too and facilities will be available for non-residents, so the options for Wingers to stay elsewhere or go home to sleep if they live locally have been retained. We’ve even negotiated discounted bar prices for our Event too. There is even a campsite not too far away as well if anyone wishes to use it although with the accommodation rates we’ve negotiated, it’s difficult to see that this will be cost effective. (So there’s a bit of a clue, the new Event Venue is not a campsite.) The 2010 BLP will again be a Federation Event but we are look forward to welcoming GWOCGB Members to our Event as friends and fellow Wingers. Everyone who comes will pay the same, no matter what their Club is – and GoldWing riders don’t need to be members of any club at all to come and join us . All Wingers are welcome. All GoldWing Clubs and GWOCGB Regions are also welcome to display their badges and banners during the Parade and to advertise their own events as they wish – indeed we will help them to do so on request, as we did for the South Wales Wing Ding last year. The BLP is a genuinely friendly, non-political social and fun Event. As in previous years, the Organisers are not aiming to make a profit and any surplus which might be made will be used to make grants to GoldWing clubs or go to charity. For accurate, up to date and reliable information please visit this Website regularly or, if you would like to be notified automatically whenever there is a new announcement, please click here. If you have any questions (other than asking to be told about the new Venue is ahead of schedule!) please use the Contact Form on this Website and we’ll try to respond promptly. It’s going to be a Great Weekend! by supershoe, Tuesday, 02 March 2010 21:14 [ Read all ] NEWS ST MARYS LOCH RUN OUT 0 Replies  Details of the run out below,please list your comments!! PROPOSED RUN OUT TO ST. MARYS LOCH ON 10TH OR 11TH APRIL 2010. Hi to all Scotia Wing Members, At the meeting on Jan 17th, a discussion was held regarding group riding and organising a run out every month if possible. St Mary’s Loch was suggested and the date was to be Sat10th or Sun11th April. (If weather bad on Sat, it could be held over until the Sunday) Jim C. has put this route up for your comments. Meet at Dreghorn services ………………10am A 703 to Penicuik, A701, A702 Peebles, A72, B709, A708 St Mary's Loch. Break at the café, and then back by way of, Unnamed road to Meggat water to Tweedsmuir A701, to West Linton. To Edinburgh. Hoping to be in Edinburgh around 5.00pm. We may go for a bite to eat if anybody wants to. Say goodbye and on our way. Photo stops,fag and tea breaks as required. Bring a flask and packed lunch if you wish If you have no comments to make, please reply: Will go Cannot go Might go by Garry@Pat, Tuesday, 02 March 2010 16:42 [ Read all ] NEWS The Royal British Legion 0 Replies  The Riders Branch are proud to announce that they have raised £100,720 for the Poppy Appeal from 1st March 2009 to 28th February 2010. Congratulations to everyone who helped to raise this massive amount and thank you to everyone who donated time and money to make this possible. We're hoping to plan something extra special for the cheque handover so watch this space. But it doesn't stop here, lets make 2010/11 even bigger. This years events already include: The Legacy Run The RBLR1000 - http://www.rblr1000.co.uk and much much more Keep up the good work. Regards, The Riders Branch. by supershoe, Monday, 01 March 2010 20:55 [ Read all ]