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2020 Rally delauyed due to Coronavirus.
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2020 Rally delauyed due to Coronavirus.

I don’t know about you but this year, more than ever, we could have done with a road trip and some rally laughs. After the lockdown we were really hoping that things would have returned to a state where the rally was a possibility. I had been optimistically holding out for a positive outcome but have to admit that I’ve been burying my head in the sand.

Tonight is the night we should be sucking up dutch culture; drinking Carlsberg, eating chips with mayonnaise and wearing an orange wig (or something like that) and looking forward to a trip to the Rijksmuseum tomorrow (maybe), but as we’d already discussed with most of you individually, we have to now admit it’s not happened. Our cluemasters had a great route planned too and were looking forward to doing some fun activities and locations this year.

We’re optimistic that bods in Oxford (or ‘Chyna’) will have presented a solution to this pandemic by next year and this is just an annoying delay and that we can take the rally on our planned route, but as a 2021 event.

We know there’s a lot of uncertainty at the moment and if you were signed up this year, we’re happy to refund your deposit and you can sign up again in 2021,  or we can carry the deposit forward, just let us know. All being well, we’ll continue as planned and get to Amsterdam, albeit with a ‘2021’ at the end of the event logo instead. We hope a load of you can join us next year instead!

2018 Rally gets support from CPA Global
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2018 Rally gets support from CPA Global

We’re delighted to announce that CPA Global have come on board as an official sponsor of the 2018 Galleryrally, enabling us to make it an extra special year for participants and attract more people, raising more for our chosen charities.

A new cluemaster
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A new cluemaster

Our long suffering cluemaster is taking an extended sabbatical, focusing on his work as a drug and alcohol rehabilitation counselor. In his place we’ve managed to recruit a familiar face in the form of an ultra competitive rally veteran who combines the dastardly mind of an English teacher, the competitive spirit of an entrepreneur and the petrol-head prowess that many a rural Frenchman has come to fear. We’ve had a quick heads up over the route and concept and look forward to seeing what he has in store this year!

A new year, a new beneficiary
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A new year, a new beneficiary

We’ve been supporting Jersey Hospice Care with each Gallery rally since 2008 and last year we decided to spread the love and add a second, the British Heart Foundation Jersey Branch. This year we’ve done the same again but as we already with with BHF on our Gallery Dodgeball Championships, we’ve selected another companion charity.

As our regular cluemaster and longtime personality of the rally, Chip Somers, is a Therapist and addiction specialist, we have selected a charity close to his cause, Silkworth Lodge. Silkworth Lodge was opened 2002 by The Families in Recovery Trust which is a Jersey registered charity and part of The Silkworth Charity Group. They offer residential rehabilitation for men and women who are affected by drug and alcohol addiction. Chemical dependency is particularly prevalent in Jersey. Alcohol consumption is twice that of the UK and one of the highest in Europe. Excessive use of alcohol and drugs places families and relationships under great stress.

 

2015 will be Paris
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2015 will be Paris

paris-france-5
After a bit of research (ahem….a stag do rally) last year we’ve decided that Paris made the ideal destination city for a rally. We have days of the usual amazing countryside and roads along with the usual clues and challenges but ended up on a Saturday evening experiencing all that France’s capital city has to offer…we even spent an hour in a Paris taxi looking for our scavenger hunt items so get to see about everything!

We’ve also moved the date following the most fantastic weather we experienced. A late September date in northern France was sunny and beautiful so the 23-26th this year will hopefully be the same. Sign up here!

 

 

X R8-ed
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X R8-ed

  • By admin
  • July 24, 2012
  • Q/As

 

Your names:
Simon Webster and Graham Buckle

Your team name:
X R8-ed

Combined age:
82

What makes your team special? :
A combination of steely competitiveness and disarming charm.

How many times have you done the galleryrally?
4

What made you want to take part?
It looked like a good way to waste time having fun and raise money for charity along the way.

What was your highlight of 2012: St Tropez?
The same as every year – amazing scenery; great banter with old friends; meeting new friends and the excellent challenge of the clues and competitions.

What did you do to raise your fundraising target?
We ran our own mini-rally in Jersey in May. We set 15 clues around the North and West of the island, culminating in afternoon tea in St Brelade’s Bay Hotel with a prize ceremony and raffle.We ran a stall at a village fete in the UK, selling smoothies and we have also got sponsorship for running 10ks, half-marathons and marathons!

What advise would you give to someone thinking of doing a galleryrally?
Go for it! You can have a lovely driving holiday through France, make new friends, challenge yourself intellectually (and physically!) and raise lots of money for two very worthy causes in the process. What could be better?

Close Encounter
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Close Encounter

  • By admin
  • July 24, 2012
  • Q/As

 

Your names:
Adam Dawson and Chris Smith

Your team name:
Close Encounter (see what we did there?!)

Combined age:
90!

What makes your team special?
As relative novices we are keen to learn from the more experienced rallyers, so what we did was got a really fast car and then followed people a lot! Seriously however, Chris and I were at school together, we know each other really well, know what each others strengths and weaknesses are and can get along without it ending in tears (btw it was Chris’ design skills that built that paper concorde that won us the prize this year

How many times have you done the galleryrally?
Twice – but we are definitely up for more!

What made you want to take part?
Meeting new people (I am relatively new to Jersey), having fun, driving fast (well not too fast obviously!) and seeing some of France’s countryside

What was your highlight of 2012: St Tropez? 
There were a number of highlights, The Hotel in St Tropez, the two Bens swimming in the middle of the night, Driving up Mont Ventoux would be our top 3

What did you do to raise your fundraising target?
We used our corporate contact to get sponsorship and we also have people in the Close office doing various fundraising activities, dress downs, sponsored slimming etc!

What advise would you give to someone thinking of doing a galleryrally?
Do it! You will have great fun and meet some great people. Get organised early, the fundraising target is very achievable if you don’t leave it all to the last minute.

The Mad Natters
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The Mad Natters

  • By admin
  • July 24, 2012
  • Q/As

Your names:
Karl Moss / Neil Boughton

Your team name:
The Mad Natters

Combined age:
72

What makes your team special?
Umm, us? :-)

How many times have you done the galleryrally?
First time

What made you want to take part?
Karl’s wife Natalie sadly passed away earlier this year. Natalie spent her final weeks with Jersey Hospice and we wanted to do something to remember her and recognise the amazing support they provided.

What was your highlight of 2012: St Tropez?
So many memories, meeting great people, awesome food, a few cheeky drinks and a lot of laughs.

What did you do to raise your fundraising target? 
Offered advertising space on the Camper Van in exchange for lots of money!

What advise would you give to someone thinking of doing a galleryrally?
You don’t need a super car to do it and stay an extra day at the last hotel, you’ll need it!

admin

Smokey and the Bendits

  • By admin
  • July 24, 2012
  • Q/As

Your name: 
Smokey Ben Hickingbotham Bandit

Your team name: 
Smokey and the Bendits, Yeeee Haaa!

What makes your team special? 
Comradery, Constant persistence, a mild affair with every bar enroute and the fresh smell of diesel in the morning.

How many times have you done the galleryrally? 
I was a virgin, this was my first Rally but I consider myself well and truly broken in now.

What made you want to take part?
A Phone call from Ben one week before.

What was your highlight of 2012: St Tropez? 
The driving rants, the culture, the beauty of France, the biblical sunsets, the challenge, the bar, the comradery, the bonding, the late nights, the early mornings, the sights, the smells, the vistas, the getting lost, the late night drunken swimming, the blocking of super cars on a mountain road, the paper plane lobbing and oh yeah, the Win!

What did you do to raise your fundraising target?
To be continued…

What advise would you give to someone thinking of doing a galleryrally? 
Every man, woman and beast should throw themselves in the deep end of a rally at some point. If you’re pondering the 2013 Rally stop pondering and sign up now I will personally guarantee that the Rally will enrich your life.

Molly
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Molly

  • By admin
  • July 24, 2012
  • Q/As

 

What was your team name?
Molly

What is your combined age?
99yrs

What made you team special?
It had been a long time since we had time away together.

How many times have your done the galleryrally?
This was our first rally.

What made you want to take part?
Supporting focus 12 and a chance to get the car out of moth balls.

What was your highlight of the rally?
Spent 3 days in st Tropez at the end of the rally.

Fundraising?
Still on-going

Any advice?
You need a good sense of humour