WHAT'S NEW
INDIAN CHARITY
Firstly, a BIG THANK YOU to Jan Forrester of Matlock AC who is giving up a month to volunteer as a teach at the Bethel School in Kovalam from 5 January 2012. I know that the School is really looking forward to meeting and working with her and I am sure that she will return to the UK and to teaching with some wonderful experiences and memories. THANKS again, Jan
My wife and I shall be there for the 2nd half of January with Jan.
On 18 September 2011, two days after arriving back to India, I had a regular meeting with some of the families we support and attached are some photos (click here).
The first part of the meeting was the distribution of the monthly allowance and taking photos of the families, or those members who could be present - reasons for non-attendance included the death of a husband, going to church, attending vital school tuition classes (on a Sunday afternoon, note!!).
The family by family, I was told of the current situation; some families were coping very well and others had major problems. As a result of these personal talks, we increased the monthly allowance of several families and provided urgently needed medical grants to at least half a dozen very poorly family members.
This could not be done without the very generous support we get from many of you and from the use of surpluses from some of my sporting events. Thanks to you for reading this and please remember that the problem is on-going and every single penny is used wisely, I can assure you.
ENTRY CANCELLATIONS
A new trait seems to have crept into our wonderful sport in the last 2 years and that is the demand for refunds when an entrant decides, for whatever reason, that they wish to withdraw their entry from an event......not just mine but other organisers have mentioned this.
What the entrant does not seem to recognise is that inevitable event and administrative costs have been incurred up to the point of their cancellation and so a proportion of the entry fee has to be taken to balance these costs.
As a result of giving the matter some thought, I shall not be able to refund any of the entry fee if the cancellation is within 7 days of the event and if cancelled within a longer period, I shall negotiate with the person(s) concerned. It will NOT be possible to defer the entry to another race as this leads to some complications.
ENTERING MY EVENTS 'ON THE DAY'
Throughout this website, mention is made of entering on the day being slightly more expensive than pre-entering. I have to remind you that the 'enter on the day' only applies where there are places left....the most common over subscribed events being the Ronhill Surrey Classic Races and the New Years Eve Duathlon....but please check on the appropriate event page
One event that is only enter on the day are the Derby Midweek Events run from September to April...but it is very helpful if you e-mail me to let me know that you will be there.
EVENTS FOR JUNIORS
By changing the HQ for the 3 fell races in Shining Cliff Woods in Derbyshire, it is now possible to include good, safe but slightly challenging events for under 8's, 10's, 12's, 14's and 16's.....all of which are FREE. Why not try to encourage youngsters that you know to come and take part? Other junior fell races throughout the summer are listed on the Fell-Derbys page on the EVENT page
FREE ENTRY FOR UNDER 16's
As a way of encouraging more youngsters to take part in sport, from now on, in individual races I organise, there will be no charge for those under 16 on the day of the race.