24 hour skate on the Top Gear track

[Speedy Dave]

That what i'm saying and Jim has an old licence anyway, so doesn't matter.

That's why i'm not sorting travel out anymore, to much hassle.

[Jim]

IMPORTANT INFO FROM EVENT ORGANISER!

Hi guys!

I know that the sign up procedure is a little bit complex but that is because we frankly didn't expect such a huge turn out from the skate community! It's been awesome. The situation is every skater needs to have donated at least £20 to the Skaiti JustGiving page before midnight on the 4th April in order to be on the final list to skate on the track. So far was have 131 skaters who have donated or who have been sponsored (or both!) on JustGiving and those 131 skaters have raised £4936.02 for Shelterbox. Like I said... AWESOME!

We have 250 skaters who have registered their intention to join in which is the maximum we can have on the track, so if you are one of them but you haven't donated yet... get on it! If you haven't yet e-mailed your intention to join us, it's still worth dropping me a message at skaiti24@yahoo.co.uk because we do have a few people who cancel for various reasons.

I hope that clears things up (it's as clear as mud to me! )

Please get your compulsory £20 minimum contribution in asap. The complete list of skaters taking part will be put up on the website on 5th April. We cannot accept any sign-ups on the day. Sponsorship contributions to JustGiving after the event will be very welcome of course, the site should be live for about a month, but we do need those £20 'sign-up fees' asap.
Jo xxx
http://www.skaiti.webs.com
http://www.justgiving.com/Skaiti24
http://www.actionforce.eu/skaitee

[Frodo]

Rosa and I will be representing the South West
See you there!

[Katie]

I've finally had a reply from the cheapest company I could find and they've quoted £140. I don't think this is going to work though. They've sent me the terms and conditions which weren't stated on the website:

"• Age 30 to 70 with 5 years driving experience on a full licence
• For vehicles 10 seats or above a D1 licence is required this is automatically gained if you passed your test before 1.1.1997"

This means Jim couldn't drive. All other companies seem to be charging a lot more than this, I'm beginning to wonder whether it would just be cheaper/easier to hire a minibus with a driver.

I've enquired about the SU minibus too, just waiting to hear back from them.

[Jim]

I've finally had a reply from the cheapest company I could find and they've quoted £140. I don't think this is going to work though. They've sent me the terms and conditions which weren't stated on the website:

"• Age 30 to 70 with 5 years driving experience on a full licence
• For vehicles 10 seats or above a D1 licence is required this is automatically gained if you passed your test before 1.1.1997"

This means Jim couldn't drive. All other companies seem to be charging a lot more than this, I'm beginning to wonder whether it would just be cheaper/easier to hire a minibus with a driver.

I've enquired about the SU minibus too, just waiting to hear back from them.

In all the years we, the skaters of Nottingham, have been hiring minibuses for trips we have never hired a driver as well. What's the second cheapest, before this lot, above?

[Jim]

Something else to think about it collection and return of the minibus. Not only has it got to be a time that suits me, there's also the fact that both Katrin and I would need to be available. We would have to drive there in my car, then I drive the minibus back and Katrin my car. (Vice-versa on the return).

<edit> Having done a brief search, I suggest booking with East Midlands Van Hire, as the depot is walking distance from my house. (Solving the above problem). Collection Friday night and return Monday morning is £259 for a 15-seater, which seems reasonable to me. </edit>

[Jim]

Have submitted a booking request to EMVH.

[domsablos]

sorry Jim, we did try... We don't intentionally make you organize everything... you just happen to be really good at it while the rest of us suck. No offence Katie... (and I'm obviously excluding Dave here.)

[Katie]

SU minibus is definitely a no go, all passengers need to be students or associated members. This would have worked out the cheapest option by far. Oh well.

Something else to think about it collection and return of the minibus. Not only has it got to be a time that suits me, there's also the fact that both Katrin and I would need to be available

I did think about that, that's why I limited my search to companies within a reasonable distance.

I've looked at EMVH, as it's one of the companies the SU recommend. That price doesn't include fuel or insurance though. For seven of us and using Dave's estimate of £100 fuel for the journey, that would be over £51 each.....you see now why I'm struggling to find something within our price range. I don't know about everyone else but that's too expensive for me. I've already had a quote for hire with driver of £280.

No offence Katie...

Non taken Pete, any help is much appreciated. I challenge anyone else to find something that's reasonably priced!

[domsablos]

Actually I thought you were doing a great job Katie, exactly what i'd have done. It just seems like Jim has a magic wand he can wave and things get done.

£50 does seem a little steep. But still better than the train and I get the opportunity to torture you all with my attempts at humor in a confined space.