Help for Heroes Mini Run

Anyone doing this run through Wooten Bassett on July 11?

I shall be there!

I'll look out for you then!

Tell us more about it. Is it minis only.

It's for both old & new mini's, starts from Royal Agricultural College in Cirencester at midday, passing through Wootten Bassett (where a Mini shaped wreath will be laid) & past RAF Lynham & then onto Castle Combe. Entrance is only £2.00 per car.

More info is on Facebook: mini cruise to help our troops/hero’s july 11th 2010
or email gerryminicar@aol.com if you're not on Facebook

That's nice gesture and fun for us in a strange way. We would go but on holiday in Guernsey.

Quoted from Bumble

We would go but on holiday in Guernsey.

Is that for the Guernsey Mini Show?

Quoted from Jack Knightmare

Is that for the Guernsey Mini Show?

No. We did their show for many years, it was small but friendly with a nice atmosphere. It used to be combined as part of the main island show which unearthed some very unusual vehicles. They then did their own smaller show for a few years but this year  back to the main island show.

Our last dog struggled in her last years with travel so Guernsey was out and we had to wait for Domino to grow up a bit. We went last year in Andrew's BMW MINI and he stayed in the car in his crate BUT he was very distressed when we returned to the car 4 hours later. I have sedatives for him this time just got to do a trial run as to how many diazepan to give him. Guernsey is good.....

The show was last sunday. Mags (scoobydoo) usually goes but has gone elsewhere this year.

Thanks for this thread, I'd not heard of this Run until now. I like the cause, so I'll try to get there.

T.

Quoted from Jack Knightmare

Anyone doing this run through Wooten Bassett on July 11?

I'd like to go but not sure if we are moving then?

Come on Richard i'll be there on the 10th as there was camping at an Inn for so many cars, would have been nice if someone was going from the S.E as it's a long journey at 55mph.

Will do my best to get there, Brian. Won't be camping though, as I'll be at a football match on the Saturday afternoon - my local team (where I hold a season ticket) are hosting Portsmouth, the local big team, in a pre-season friendly.

R.

Wanted to do this run but it unfortunatly clashes with The Darling Buds Classic car show which we have already booked  

Hi just got back from Castle Combe. Beautiful weather, good venue, good parking and excellent scenery. Thats the good bits. There were about 220 minis at 12:00 we were told to mount up and we all headed for the exit. 15 minutes later we were still there. They decided to collect entrance fees and sponsorship money as each car left. Imagine doing that as we pull out of Bideford! We were then given written instructions of the route. Great if you had a co-pilot but not so if you were driving alone. Collecting the monies meant that the mini in front was a speck in the distance by the time you got away.
Marshalls were few and those we did see appeared to be confused as to their purpose. Some stopped traffic in the inside lane but allowed car to come past in the outside lane, one even asked the way he should go when the minis stopped at traffic lights. The convoy quickly fragmented into small groups desperatley trying to catch up with the car in front. This meant driving at 50-60 mph just to try and keep up. This pace was noted by an unmarked police car that stopped the leader of our group and we then drove off whilst the officer was distracted. As the convoy was fragmented there were few spectators and as we came through Wootton Bassett what could have been a slow respectful convoy of minis became isolated pockets of two to three cars. When we reached Chippenham the instructions became more and more confusing and at one stage there were more minis driving towards us than actually going the right way. We eventually followed a group of minis that looked like they were going the right way and arrived safe and sound. When we left a number of cars had still not even arrived. Next year they are doing it again, lets hope they get a few tips off Terry, slow things down and collect the money at the start.

Quoted from neon91

Hi just got back from Castle Combe. Beautiful weather, good venue, good parking and excellent scenery. Thats the good bits. There were about 220 minis at 12:00 we were told to mount up and we all headed for the exit. 15 minutes later we were still there. They decided to collect entrance fees and sponsorship money as each car left. Imagine doing that as we pull out of Bideford! We were then given written instructions of the route. Great if you had a co-pilot but not so if you were driving alone. Collecting the monies meant that the mini in front was a speck in the distance by the time you got away.
Marshalls were few and those we did see appeared to be confused as to their purpose. Some stopped traffic in the inside lane but allowed car to come past in the outside lane, one even asked the way he should go when the minis stopped at traffic lights. The convoy quickly fragmented into small groups desperatley trying to catch up with the car in front. This meant driving at 50-60 mph just to try and keep up. This pace was noted by an unmarked police car that stopped the leader of our group and we then drove off whilst the officer was distracted. As the convoy was fragmented there were few spectators and as we came through Wootton Bassett what could have been a slow respectful convoy of minis became isolated pockets of two to three cars. When we reached Chippenham the instructions became more and more confusing and at one stage there were more minis driving towards us than actually going the right way. We eventually followed a group of minis that looked like they were going the right way and arrived safe and sound. When we left a number of cars had still not even arrived. Next year they are doing it again, lets hope they get a few tips off Terry, slow things down and collect the money at the start.

This sums it up perfectly! We saw the unmarked police car with a mini pulled over in a layby/gateway not too far from the start. A little blue/green one with lots of flags? I suspect they were trying to keep up with the car in front.
In my mind if they wanted to collect the money on exit then that's fine but the driveway was long enough to line a load of minis up after paying and let them out in groups so that people could stay together. When we left we had one mini behind us, but after 10 minutes there was not another mini in sight meaning that we drove through Wooton Basset alone! There were a few spectators waving but the minis coming through as just part of the normal traffic and in 'dribs and drabs' really didn't have the effect of us all together or in groups.
I had my video camera mounted on the window and my camera in hand ready to get some great shots of all the minis going through Wooton Basset and all I got is a video of us following a modern car with a few people waving.
The directions from Chippenham onwards were terrible and we ended up turning the sat nav on and cutting through the village of Castle Coombe to get there!
The idea is great and if there is another one next year I will attend again, but in my mind a few things need to be ironed out first.

* When we were at the college we were all parked in nice lines, why not move people line by line to stop the bottle neck of everyone trying to leave at once.
* Maybe collect money on arrival instead of departure or at least let a good quantity of minis out in one go rather than a few here a few there.
* Make directions clearer!
* Make people aware of when the raffle is starting.
* Slow the pace down, I'm sure a speeding ticket spoiled that persons weekend!

Hi Luna It seems only we went. I have sent some comments off to the organisers (expecting to be told not to come next year) but they have thanked me for my comments. They have raised £ 4110 to date.

We was there too, & I think Richard Jackson was there too

I think we are spoilt with how well the LGT is organised but then Terry's had a few years of practice, so bearing in mind they had 280 mini's turn up I don't think it was too bad for a 1st attempt. The lack of a crowd in Wootten Bassett is that a lot of the locals weren't too ethusiastic about the run following the chaos caused by the thousands of bikers a few weeks previous

Just received the details for next years Help for Heroes 8 July 2011. They are certainly keen and hope to do fancy dress, camping, entertainment, disco, bar-b-q, cruise (saturday ) and trade stands auto jumble (Sunday) all over 3 days. with full english breakfast available at £7.50, only £2 per car to join in , camping extra.

So much wanted to attend but a last minute problem stopped me going, sounds like there where a few problems but im sure if there is one next year they will sort them out and I will be there no matter what happens. Had to cancel attending all mini shows this year the only one im doing is the grand tour and im struggling getting the car ready for that.