Tetbury Lions Wacky Races 2017

l a u n n A h t The 6

s n o i L Tetbury Monday 1st

£2

May 2017

INSIDE THIS PROGRAMME: 2017

IT’S IT’S IT’S

Cart Listing and Timings Safety Information MAY ..!

Beneficiary Info RACEY ...!!

Wacky History Tetbury Lions WACKY ....!!!

Joint Main Sponsors CAR CARE (TETBURY) and TETBURY HARDWARE

Safety Information Soapbox cars are not powered but will be moving silently at speed down the course and any collision with pedestrians could be dangerous. Tetbury Lions want to ensure that this does not happen so please:

WARNING

• Do NOT climb over barriers or sit on bales!

CART APPROACHING • Do not smoke anywhere near the bales!

• Stay behind the barriers at all times!

• There are NO points of course access or crossings this year • Stay out of fenced-off areas • Stay completely clear of the start and finish timing zones at all times • Follow course Steward instructions Failure to comply with this information will lead to interruptions to the racing and may mean you are ejected from the race area.

Tetbury Lions thank you for your generous support of this Wacky Races event and look forward to seeing you for more thrills, spills and excitement next year on:-

Monday 7th May 2018 Tetbury Lions would especially like to acknowledge the cooperation and support of the residents of The Chipping, Chipping Street, Gumstool Hill and Cirencester Road who so generously accommodate this event each year.

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Tetbury Lions Club Tetbury Lions are a group of people who primarily enjoy living in Tetbury and who try to support the community in whatever way is appropriate.

We are a large and active club that meets the first Wednesday of every month at the Close Hotel from 8 p.m. followed by drinks at the bar.

We would like to expand the club with both newcomers to Tetbury with new ideas and outlooks and people who have lived in the town for some time and have experience of what is needed. If you’re interested in our community, then come along to a meeting and see what we do. The Tetbury club is just one in the global Lions organization, which has worldwide initiatives, but each club organizes itself as its members choose. “Think global, act local.” is our philosophy.

Just contact the Lion President on president@tetburylions.co.uk or visit our website www.tetburylions.co.uk Registered Charity Number 1152090

Tetbury Lions’ main community activities include: • • • • • • • • • •

Monthly preparation and distribution of the Tetbury Advertiser.

Donations to numerous organisations, clubs and individuals.

Participating in Woolsack day, Summer Show, Classic Car Show.

The Wacky Races Fun Day. Message in a bottle scheme.

Easter and Christmas raffles.

Supporting numerous events in Tetbury and surrounding towns.

Arranging the first night of the Christmas pantomime for senior citizens.

Spectacle recycling.

200 Club prize draw.

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Good Luck to All Competitors in the Tetbury Wacky Races Bank Holiday Monday 2nd May 2016

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Main Beneficiary “It is frightening how one day, one moment, one event can change your life completely” words that have a profound meaning for Avening man Ben Wernham and his family.

On holiday in Cyprus in 2016 with his partner and two daughters, Ben sustained life-changing injuries in a swimming pool accident that resulted in three breaks in his neck and consequently a massive amount of damage to his spinal cord.

Soon after the accident, Ben was transferred between three different hospitals in Cyprus due to the severity of his injury, and had surgery to stabilise the breaks. During the flight back to the UK, they had to make an emergency landing in Germany after Ben went into septic shock caused by pneumonia. He spent 10 days in hospital in Munich recovering during which they fitted a tracheotomy to help him breathe via a ventilator.

All family members have now come to terms with Ben’s life as a tetraplegic (complete or partial loss of use of all limbs and torso).

Once deemed stable enough to travel again, Ben was flown back to the UK via RAF Brize Norton and spent two months in Gloucestershire Royal Hospital ICU. He was then moved to Salisbury Spinal Unit on 23rd May 2016, and after numerous chest infections and months on a ventilator, Ben became able to breathe by himself, which is a major step for somebody with his level of injury. Unfortunately, because Ben’s chest was weak after the infections, his left lung collapsed three times which led to him spending time in Southampton Hospital ICU. After an operation to seal his lung, he went back to Salisbury where he stayed until 27th February 2017. At the beginning of March, Ben left the spinal unit in Salisbury hospital and moved to a care centre in Gloucester, where he will learn to be more independent. Unbelievably, an injury as severe as Ben’s does not automatically mean that you are entitled to a fit-forpurpose wheel chair and he was released from Salisbury with a manual wheel chair that he could not actually move or sit in comfortably as it had no support. Luckily because of the funds Best for Ben have raised, the family were able to get a new chair on order for him, at a cost of £9,500, and although the new chair will not be ready for some time, the company who are manufacturing it for him have been kind enough to lend him a chair so he can continue to get around.

The building work to the house consists of two extensions; one at the side of the property to accommodate Ben’s bedroom, a wet room and another bedroom for a live-in carer. Above Ben’s room will be an office with a through floor lift so Ben will be able to come up to the second floor again. The rear extension (one room, two floors) will allow for the whole house to be re-configured enabling Ben to get into every room and move around freely. The best news received just recently is that the BBC one television programme DIY SOS has agreed to help with the build and modifications to the house, fantastic news as it means Ben has a date on which he can return home.

It is only possible for DIY SOS to build the side extension for Ben so the money raised through Best for Ben has enabled the family to cover the costs for the groundworks for both

extensions and to build the rear extension ready for DIY SOS to come and knock through and get the rest of the house opened up and decorated. The ramp at the front of the house is kindly being done for free at weekends by Lines Construction who are doing the groundworks out the back (plus some very lovely volunteers from the community).

The initial estimate for the building work was in the region of £240,000 a figure that seemed at the time to be unachievable.

However, with a dedicated committee several fundraising events were planned and offers of help came in thick and fast, both with events and labour for the build such that the total raised has just gone over the £100,000 mark. The groundworks and footings for both extensions are already well underway with almost all outside space being dug up or disturbed in some form or another. Groundworks alone were estimated at between £50-70,000.

Fundraising will continue for the foreseeable future to cover the building work costs, and to provide the necessary equipment and care that Ben needs going forward. Another unbelievable fact is that Ben is now only being offered one physiotherapy session every six months so funding private physiotherapy sessions will be a priority.

Tetbury Lions will be donating the net surplus from this event to help Ben and his family adapt to this life changing event. You too can help by donating to the Bring Ben Home campaign; please visit www.gogetfunding.com/best4ben or donate through facebook.com/best4ben

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Wacky Race Details The course will start from Chipping Street Car Park down Cirencester Road, turning right before the Royal Oak via the sharp ‘hairpin’ down towards the Millennium Green and the finish line.

There will be a 10 foot ‘push zone’ at the start of the course – a 10 second penalty will be attracted if this zone is not adhered to by those assisting the start. It should be noted the course is quite steep, and in places participants can expect to reach 20-30mph. Starting at approximately 10.30am soapboxes will be given the opportunity in the morning session of one qualifying run. Racing will start at around 1.00 pm with each competitor required to complete two timed runs; the average time of the two runs will be accepted as the finish time.

After the final run, all soapboxes and drivers will remain in the finish area for a grand parade and the award of medals to all competitors, together with the presentation of the winners shield in both the adult and junior categories and a shield for the wackiest team.

The purpose of the event is to have fun, but the safety of the team, supporters and spectators is paramount throughout the day – see the inside front cover.

Sponsors / Supporters ADB Fire Solutions Andrew James Quality Travel Artique Ashcroft Veterinary Surgery Car Care (Tetbury) Clark and Maslin Cotswold Surveyors Duchy Home Farm Eagle Plant Great Tythe Barn Hobbs House Bakery IT Group Jessie Smith Butcher John Latter 8

Mortgage Advice Bureau Perry Bishop & Chambers Priory Gym R&J Pearce Ltd Rockford Super Scoops Ice Creams Tetbury Audi Tetbury Hardware Tetbury Rugby Club Tetbury Town Council The Feoffees The Royal Oak Wheatley Printers Westonbirt Arboretum

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2016 Results

2017

Average Time (s)

Team Name

Driver

33.840 33.940 35.510 35.985 36.640 37.090 37.400 37.605 38.680 38.900 39.510 39.845 40.235 40.850 42.355 42.770 44.060 45.085 45.585 48.130 48.320 50.295 77.690 0.000 DNF

C12 Acceleramus Car Care Grease Monkeys 1 Car Care Grease Monkeys 2 Roys Rollers Dukes of Hazzard 2 Downhill Drifters 2 Dukes of Hazzard 1 Downhill Drifters 1 Tom Long’s Revenge Clarity 2 (IT Group) Trumpton Soap Box Square Pants Car Care King Team Bat-Man Clarity 1 (IT Group) The Parry Clan Youth Eggplorers Berkeley Vale Motors 2 Pigging Awesome Berkeley Vale Motors 1 Speed Demon Tallis Amos Group Public Hazard

Steve Thomas Richard Burton Luke Miller Lee Wright Roy Sizmore Briony Lee Mark Holmes James Norris Jamie Dawe David Smokcum Chris Raske Andrew Howell Kristin Anderson Kyle Wright Jack Ticehurst Jason Coyne Jerry Parry/ Hayden Parry Lewis Pople Cameron Jackson Seb Chiffers/ Mark Hawkins Harvey Goard Jimme Bonestroo Stuart Gallop/Liam Alley Laurie Lawrence/George Baxendine

Key: Men in Black, Women in

Fastest so far Course record - 2015 29.58

C12

Steve Thomas

34.11

Jamaican Bobsleigh 1

Briony Lee

34.33

Jamaican Bobsleigh 2

James Norris

Fastest Woman - 2015 Fastest Junior - 2015

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Entrants 2017

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Race Order

n Green. Juniors in Red

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23

Team Name

Driver

Bluebottle Buzzing Badsey Bug Dead Last Car Care Kids K-oSS Roy’s Rollers 1 Zider Drinkers Tarmac Crewe Acceleramus 1 Tallis Amos Group Free Fall Ferrari Westy Racers Trumpton Keep on Rolling!

Green Machine The Parry Clan Car Care Roy’s Rollers 2 ITG “Clarity” ITG “Bullet Bill” Westonbirt Wizzbangs Acceleramus 2 C12

Denzil Brunning David Webster Craig Lacey Kyle Wright Jen Launchbury Simon Gunnell Ben Parnell Seb Chiffers/ Mark Hawkins Richard Burton Stuart Gallop/Liam Alley Mike Newman Abigail Clarke/ Lily Davies-Potter Andrew Howell Andrew Williams/ Mark Doorne Tom Griffiths Jerry Parry/ Hayden Parry Lee Wright Jason Sizmore Callum Hogan/ Tony Sykes Chris Raske/ Jason Coyne Seth Bird Katie Burton Steve Thomas

Approximate Timetable of events 09.30 10.30 12.00 12.30 13.00 15.30

Start of cart scrutineering Start of qualifying runs Break for lunch Rev Poppy Hughes blesses the course Racing begins - average of two timed runs Prize giving on Millennium Green

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Spectator Information First Aid The first aid station is in the vicinity of Millennium Green.

Lost or Missing Children Members of the public are advised to report any lost/ missing child, young person or vulnerable adult to a race steward. Upon receiving such a report the steward shall advise their immediate line manager who in turn will advise the race control oďŹƒcer. The public address system will be engaged to help resolve the situation. If a child, young person or vulnerable adult has become separated from a parent or guardian in the Chipping, a steward should escort the child to the Lions stand and follow the same procedure. If a child, young person or vulnerable adult has become separated from a parent or guardian in the vicinity of the Millennium Green, a steward should escort the child to the race control gazebo and follow the same procedure.

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Toilets Public toilets in the Chipping are open and include a disabled facility. Additional toilet facilities are located in the Goods Shed, portable toilets, including a Disable unit, are also available in the grounds of the Goods Shed.

Lost Property Any property found by a steward, or given to a steward by a member of the public, will be handed into the race control gazebo on Millennium Green and will be logged.

Any member of the public looking for lost property should approach a steward who will contact race control, if the item has been logged, they will be escorted by a steward to collect.

Catering

Jesse Smith Big Pan Pepper Jacks American Diner Eat Street Noodles Etc. Brooker Mobile Bar Peter Booton Ranch Grill Sienna Pizza Company Coffee 2 Go - Barista Super Scoops Ice Cream

Family Area

Stalls & Trade Stands Colin Dymond - Childrens Entertainer DJ Sweet Lightening - Candy Floss, Popcorn Mad Hattie - Face Painter Tetbury Lions - Tombola Gloucestershire Wildlife Jesse Smith Big Pan Royal Oak - Bar Smoothies and Shakes Soft Scoops Ice Cream Bouncy Castle

Spe

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s

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Wacky Races Tetbury - a potted history.

And just how did the Soap Box Wacky Races get started in Tetbury? Well you may be surprised to know that it dates to the seventeenth century.

To impress their girlfriends, the young Tetbury sheep farmers used to take the boxes that the sheep fleeces were delivered in and slide down Gumstool Hill in them, between the Crown Inn and the Royal Oak. Over time, the entrants soon realised that putting on wheels aided the process, and so the event as it is now came into being.

(Believable? No, I didn’t think so.)

OK then – the truth is that the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee of 2012 presented lots of opportunities for Tetbury Lions to do “something new.” A new Lion of the time, Keith Leaver, had recently seen the Goodwood Festivals “Wacky Races” and liked the idea of a soapbox version, using Tetbury’s town-centre hills which were specially built for wool cart racing, back in the seventeenth century. (Sorry. There’s that lie again.)

The Goodwood version uses vehicles based on cars, and is quite close to the original Hanna-Barbera cartoon concept, with Penelope Pitstop, Dick Dastardly, Peter Perfect and the whole crew in evidence. The idea of “Wacky Racing” then, was to mirror the HB cartoons, in soap boxes.

The initial idea met with some resistance: “You won’t find bales of straw at that time of year!”, and “It will never catch on!” said the objectors, but the early adopters - Messrs Prosser, Maslin, Farrow, Sykes and Smith saw enough in the idea to get behind it.

The first year, 2012, was damp, badly attended, utterly dangerous, and the competition consisted of eight carts of mostly very make-shift appearance, although the Parry Clan lifted the “Wacky” standard hugely (as they have for many years since) entering their “Mario Cart” and arriving suitably dressed.

The stand-out professional-looking entry was C12. In “Dick Dastardly” guise and with Steve Thomas driving, it won comfortably in 34.44 seconds. The other entrants took note – and vowed to come back stronger. The first year had several highlights though – with lovely pit girls holding race banners and braving the rain, “The Stig” making an appearance, and Ben Perkins showing up to provide “The Voice of The Races,” a position we’re very pleased he still occupies. We thought we were onto something…..

2013 saw an expansion to fifteen carts, junior race entrants and the first ladies to take to the track. The competition and the standard of carts improved and C12 dropped the single-run best time to 33.25. Had to!

With the Westonbirt Whizzbangs snapping at his heels, it was the beginning of a close rivalry for “fastest on the hill” bragging rights between the two.

With faster times came more risk and more competitiveness – and some salutary lessons. Fast cornering speeds mean high lateral forces. Problems with the wheels famously ensued.

And “Buffy the Bus” from Andrew James Quality Travel arrived as our portable grandstand on the “Druids Hill Bend.” She came to be a feature of not only that year, but all years since. Now, we cannot imagine the Wacky Races without her. If you get the chance go see a race from up there….

2014 and with 24 entrants, the races got into their stride. The barriers improved, the facilities improved, the crowds improved – and C12 won again. At an average time of 31.49! It was also obvious that a change in the rules – to allow a push start – had also made a difference. Start-line antics, Red-Bull-style came into fashion, but other competitors helped Steve and C12 with a push. So did the Starter.

We wonder whether that amicable spirit between competitors will continue? It seems to…

This was the year when an entry from “Sound Bet” appeared. Barrie Smith from Amplified Sound has been timing the event since the start, and indeed famously slept in his van overnight one year, to make sure he was available for the morning tests, so it was a surprise when “his” team entered.

Amazingly and against all expectation his team didn’t win, though! (It must have been a problem with the timing, we think.)

2015 saw 29 entrants - and C12 won. We were surprised! Richard Townsend driving the Whizzbang was snapping right on the heels of Steve Thomas – and the course record had to be improved to 29.58 for him to continue to reign supreme. Rumours of snipers being paid to line Chipping Street were started…

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The Youth Eggsplorers won the “Wackiest Cart” entry with their wonderful creation, a Cadbury cart.

2016 – and before the deluge of the mid-afternoon, 35 entrants vied for positions and a crowd of thousands competed for the space to watch them. It was big, populous and just slightly scary!

Can you perhaps guess who won? Yes, C12. Although a beautiful cart called “Acceleramus” came ultraclose. Let’s see what 2017 brings.

And what of the future? There’s a big screen at the top of the course this year. It should help cut down on the spectator movements we hope, and of course it’s a great place to advertise, boast about the Lions and talk people into parting with money for charity (which is the real reason for the races, of course.) We hope this will be a fixture in years to come.

We re-learned some lessons last year, and learned some new ones. We’re hoping that those recent lessons make this year’s racing safer for both entrants and spectators alike, but still as exciting, vibrant and perhaps just slightly dangerous, as ever. We don’t see why not.

What else would we like? A Dunlop bridge, a chicane, a big TV at the bottom of the course as well, more volunteers, more parking, more features – lots!

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GREEN – Areas and lines denote pedestrian access feature areas.

DOTTED GREEN – Shows the pedestrian routes around the course and the alternative route to the Millennium Green.

YELLOW – Areas denote COURSE areas which are not accessible this year and may NOT be crossed at any point.

BLUE – Area is where cart retrieval is accomplished. USE all due caution in this area!

RED, GREY and LIGHT GREEN lines show barriers and bales. Please respect the integrity of the course !