Members News

Items for the Members News section

Bookings now open for the Burns Night Rally

On behalf of the marshals

Bookings are now open for the Burns Night Rally ‘with a difference’ the first one of 2026!

From 22nd to 26th January at Silverhill Woodland Retreats, Teversal, Nottinghamshire. See Autumn Going Places (and the 2026 Rally Venues Book, when available) for full details.

This was a very popular rally last year, so early booking advised.

David Lovett, Marshal

The Autumn 2025 edition of Going Places is now online.

The Autumn 2025 bumper edition of our magazine Going Places is now online to view and/or download. Access is by clicking on the magazine image on the General Info page.

As postal deliveries vary so much across the country, if you haven’t received your hard copy yet please allow a few days before contacting the Membership Officer. Until then you will find the online copy very handy to have at hand wherever you are. Many years of back issues are also available on the General Info page.

The Rally Secretary’s Message contains rally updates and for those who are not sure, clarifies the booking rules for holiday rallies and early UK rallies.

Webmaster

Roy Hancock

In the early hours of Saturday morning I received a message from Julia Hancock informing me that Roy had sadly passed away suddenly on October 11th. His funeral is tomorrow (Oct 21st) so unfortunately we are unable to attend at such short notice.
They were no longer members of the club as due to medical restrictions they purchased another make of motorhome several years ago. We last saw them at the NEC show last year.
They attended many UK rallies and were very friendly to chat to and always had life stories to tell. They attended many Continental rallies too. I particularly recall them attending Sweden, Provence and Switzerland rallies.
Our thoughts are with Julia and her sons Andrew, James & Robert and their families at this sad time.
She said in her message that Roy always still felt very attached to the SOC.
If any of you would like to send her a card (which I’m sure she will appreciate) then I can let you have her address.
RIP Roy.

Val Brailsford

ACCEO Lounge @ NEC Show

ACCEO post

 

Val Brailsford<val@thebrailsfords.com>

 

 

 

Would you like to sit down at the NEC Motorhome & Caravan show this week with a free cup of tea/coffee and a biscuit for a chat with likeminded people for a few minutes?
As the Swift Owners Club is a member of ACCEO then all our members are welcome into their lounge. It is located behind their stand in hall 10 (stand 10.02).
You will receive a friendly welcome from their volunteers including our own member Val Rowe.
Val Brailsford

Donkey Creek rally in March 2026

I have now been contacted by several people about attending the Donkey Creek rally in March 2026 where Neil Stanley will be celebrating his 80th birthday.

Obviously this is an ordinary 5 night rally so bookings cannot be taken until 5th January 2026.

However to give me an idea of potential numbers I will now start an “interested” list. This will be helpful so that I can inform the site owners of our possible numbers as early as possible. They have provisionally allocated us additional pitches for a limited time before they open them up to their regular customers.

Please remember THIS DOES NOT GUARANTEE YOU A PLACE ON THE RALLY. Only members who book from the official opening date of 5th January will be accepted and not before.

If the rally looks like it is likely to fill all their pitches then I may set an opening time on the 5th January to make it fair to everyone.

So please check here and/or Facebook later in the year.

Please email rallies@thebrailsfords.com if you would like to be put on the interested list. Please put the subject title as Donkey Creek Interested.

Thank you, Val Brailsford

Drax New Year Rally

The New Year Rally at Drax is now full. A waiting list has been created for any members that are still wanting to celebrate New Year with their Swift Friends. If you would like to be put on the waiting list then please contact Dianne Roberts by email at dianner85@gmail.com as the marshal details in the Rally Book have changed.

Dianne & Gareth Roberts, Marshals

Maidenhead New Year Rally

The marshalling team of the Maidenhead New Year rally have had to make the very difficult decision to cancel the rally.
Unfortunately, the number of ralliers wanting to attend was not a viable number and some ralliers had already cancelled due to increased costs.
The school had put up their prices significantly this year which placed the marshals with no alternative but to increase the costs to ralliers and ultimately resulting in the cancellation.

The Marshalling Team.

Coming Soon: Burns Night Rally ‘with a difference’

Coming Soon: Burns Night Rally ‘with a difference’ the first one of 2026! From 22nd to 26th January at Silverhill Woodland Retreats, Teversal, Nottinghamshire. Booking will open on 11th November – see Autumn Going Places (and the 2026 Rally Book) for full details. This was a popular rally last year, so early booking advised.

David & Yvonne Lovett, Marshals