BGP 2104

[Shelagh]

Originally Posted by Richard Duvall

I'll have to give it a look as I am on Becketts!

I hope they're still there! It was circa 2000 so no promises!

Fried egg and fried onions: my mouth is watering as I type!

[gachjoel]

Originally Posted by turbo-ww

Indeed, pork pies lovely but healthy

Looking for something that does not use bread as a carrier. According to the link I posted it's smoothie or strawberries.

Shame the voucher is not valid in the paddock diner as the do lovely breakfast pots (fruit and yoghurt) and salads for lunch.

Healthy all the way from our doorstep, esp the Home made Pork Pie, ditch the pastry and use lean bacon as the outer, been a great hit this year.
If that fails you could eat the voucher, not many calories in ink & paper I believe.
As for the vouchers, we will be doing our own cooking and using the voucher for a tray of chips to go with Tea and a few non alcoholic drinks for the next day.
if there are any vouchers are left, they don't get used, no great hardship as I still get to Marshal the BGP regardless.
I marshal for the love of it, not for hand outs, if there is that offer I will say Thank You and carry on with my Duties, there are a lot of guys & gals who would not moan and would kindly take the call to Marshal the BGP.

There we go, feel better now

[Woolley]

Originally Posted by Shelagh

What happened to the good old packed lunch taken with you in the morning?

Food therefore sorted and the voucher then used to fill it out with "rubbish" - crisps, chocolate, biscuits etc, or fresh fruit if you're that way inclined. (Apologies to all Veggies out there, I'm just an old fashioned gal who survives on the former!)

Well, yes, it's what most of us do, but it makes the voucher even more useless. If they actually provided lunch that would be more worthwhile.

[Shelagh]

Chris, you are being too serious and too cynical. Nobody does the GP (or any other event) for the "handouts" - as well stated in a different post.

And getting two tickets for the event has to be worth far more than a "lunch"!

Just slept through the Canadian GP (body clock is on the blink) but will make sure that you all look well fed at Silverstone - via the TV!

[Clive]

You been asleep for two weeks then Shelagh.

[Shelagh]

I realised too late I should have said "Austrian"! But it just about sums it all up....!

(And this the girl who has actually been to what was then the Osterreichring back in the '80s.)

[pauln]

I was at Becketts (Outside) two years ago. The food van there was friendly and what they served up was tasty. Probably not Weightwatchers approved, but very tasty.

[rhawkins]

Originally Posted by Richard Duvall

I'll have to give it a look as I am on Becketts!

It was there last year as I was on post 24 becketts out...

[SouthportFC Fan]

Or have the full range of married life duties been taking it out of you ????

[Mark Noble]

Surely everyone going to the GP is doing so because they love their motorsport and have the chance of marshalling at F1?

Any cash handout/voucher/freebie is a bonus and should be gratefully received.

Not seen the free admission tickets and the best seats in the house been branded as useless...

Rant complete

[deadsquirrel]

Originally Posted by Mark Noble

Surely everyone going to the GP is doing so because they love their motorsport and have the chance of marshalling at F1?

Any cash handout/voucher/freebie is a bonus and should be gratefully received.

Not seen the free admission tickets and the best seats in the house been branded as useless...

Rant complete

Ranting helps no-one, neither does whinging.

What would shut us all up is a clear statement showing that £x is provided per marshal at the event, and that this amount is broken down into:

£a for campsite
£b for 'party'
£c for bus service to post
£d for 'other services'

Now I'm not naive enough to think this will ever happen, but without it, I think many of us think there is £d going into someones pocket, and they are therefore benefitting from our volunteering.

Being cynical, work out an estimate of what %age of vouchers will be used, of those vouchers, what %age of the £10 will be used each day. Compare this to giving us each £15. If Silverstone have 'sold' the vendors on 500 marshals having £10 to spend each day at their establishments, maybe Silverstone only pay a %age of the face value (maybe they'll pay vendor £8 for a £10 claim).

I'm not bitter and twisted for thinking of this.....

[Clive]

What 'other services' are there? Didn't think it was that sort of event!!

[pauln]

Come on folks, there's a huge amount of unnecessary cynicism here. The complaint for years has been that the "grand prix fiver" hasn't increased. Here's a simple way of ensuring that it doubles from last year to this.

The catering options round the circuit have improved massively since I first went as a spectator in '06. It's not just grotburgers any more. From memory, at Village last year we had access to units selling noodles (with veggie option), pizza (with veggie option), roast pork rolls (admittedly not with veggie option), as well as the more usual sausage/burger merchants - which have been a better quality than that the first visit of mine for some years now.

Most posts will have access to an area that has at least some choice. For those that don't, which includes me at Vale Out, there's the option of doubling up with a mate to buy each other breakfast in the campsite first thing and something on the way back at the end of the day.

[SouthportFC Fan]

I totally agree with Paul that, if you have access/time to get to the major catering points, then there are a significant number of choices.

However, if you have to watch what you eat because of a condition like type 2 diabetes, for example, then will the fact that you've been given £30 in vouchers rather than £15 cash make such a huge difference to what you get out of the meeting as a whole ? I much prefer to take my own food on post and be able to eat whenand what I want rather than stand in a queue wasting my stand down time.

PS You can always add the cost of your scanner batteries to your food fund, because, unless you have a portable digital scanner, your analogue devices won't be able to tune in to the Emergency Services frequency because Silverstone 'went digital' a couple of weeks ago.

[Woolley]

Originally Posted by Shelagh

Chris, you are being too serious and too cynical. Nobody does the GP (or any other event) for the "handouts" - as well stated in a different post.

I agree - up to a point. This headline event involves volunteer marshals in some expense and days off work and most people involved in it earn in the millions, especially a certain organiser.

The £5 per day was in place when I first went to the GP in the paddock in the 90s. It's been considerably devalued in that time, while costs - petrol, food, etc have gone up considerably.

So on the face of it, doubling the value is well overdue. But to change it to a voucher is, in my opinion, a little mean and not necessarily practical for marshals on post who may struggle to spend it - spectator queues, high cost of food at this event, suitability of that food... For many, the £5 increase may well actually equate to removal of the contribution altogether since they simply cannot use it. If they're going to move away from cash, even at that pitifully low value, then surely providing fresh food on post would be a better move?

The value of the ticket is also a moot point. The marshal's ticket has no value as it simply allows entry to do a job (and a good one they all do at that). When I did the meeting the spare ticket was used by my wife, mainly to get in to come and visit me during the 'stand down on post' times. She actually spent the race, in which she had no interest, sitting by the caravan with a book and a glass of something! So that ticket also had effectively no value as it was simply a means of her not being left alone at home for several days.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating payment of marshals, and particularly not just for one big event, but if midland hill climbs can thank their volunteers with £10 cash per day towards the not inconsiderable cost of fuel, overalls, etc, surely the GP should be able to do the same? I don't think that's a cynical point of view (and I can't deny some of my comments are!), more a practical one.

[pauln]

Steve - fair points. Particularly about dietary needs. I foresee a healthy market in vouchers.

Woolley - I think you've put fairly what others are being cynical and whinging about. The big problem is that the people providing the benefits are not those who earn the millions. Those who profit aren't bothered about such issues and will not be prepared to put their hands in their pockets in the same way that the competitors at hillclimbs are - or those at last weekend's MGCC meeting when it was also £10 cash, plus a barbecue on the Saturday night*. There's a reason that a certain organiser is a very rich man and a lot of it comes down to not paying out for anything unless he absolutely has to!


* Which again not everyone attended. I wasn't the only person who ended up with more than one voucher for that.

[The Fat Clerk]

My observation for what it's worth is that we do it because we like it, not for what we get, however when you marshal an overseas Grand Prix, the organisers give the officals a lot more, things like breakfast in the signing on marquee, cool boxes on post filled with water bottles, an event polo shirt, food and drink at night etc, etc.

[Clive]

stolen my thunder!

[socko]

Originally Posted by The Fat Clerk

My observation for what it's worth is that we do it because we like it, not for what we get, however when you marshal an overseas Grand Prix, the organisers give the officals a lot more, things like breakfast in the signing on marquee, cool boxes on post filled with water bottles, an event polo shirt, food and drink at night etc, etc.

I might be being thick here, so is that down to the circuit when providing this sort of thing?

If so then is the gripe rather with Silverstone than the F1 itself?

[The Fat Clerk]

No its down to the organisers in this case International Motorsports also known as the MSA.

[socko]

Thanks for that, wasn't sure who was responsible for it.

[White flag man]

Originally Posted by The Fat Clerk

My observation for what it's worth is that we do it because we like it, not for what we get, however when you marshal an overseas Grand Prix, the organisers give the officals a lot more, things like breakfast in the signing on marquee, cool boxes on post filled with water bottles, an event polo shirt, food and drink at night etc, etc.

Could be because a lot of Overseas Grand Prix may have more trouble in getting marshals, just remember what we were given at Abu Dhabi. Maybe, because Britain has so many marshals and the event is always over subscribed, that the organisers do not feel the need to spend too much on incentives.

[aland]

i really cant understand why folk are moaning, last year I was on club out and ended up providing fire cover on the grid. Me on the grid at the british GP, stands full, amazing atmosphere. It was living the dream and made all the long wet days at knockhill worthwhile. yes it was a long drive down but the weather was okay, the camping field not the worst and the grub not that much more expensive than the vans at knockie. So i have applied and been accepted for this year

yes it is going to be 360 miles or thereabouts each way, i have had to spend £300 on my caravan but it is my summer holiday, so nice easy drive south on the wednesday, go shopping for food and beer at aldi towcester on thursday before getting signed on, we get a programme, cap and badge and now they have doubled the lunch allowance so getting a half decent bit of food at lunch. now if I was a speccy the petrol to drive there and home would be the same, the food at aldi the same only i would have to pay for tickets for me and a mate, pay for camping and buy programme etc. I reckon we do alright, okay we have to do a bit of graft but nothing compared to at a clubbie and I am getting to see the gp from in front of the BRDC stand at brooklands and my mate will get to see it from somewhere decent too.i am not complaining

[Greem]

I've only just realised that the subject of this thread is a Grand Prix in 90 years time...

Now considering we got a fiver a day in 2013, ten quid on food in 2104 really is taking the Michael!

[Richard Duvall]

Originally Posted by Greem

I've only just realised that the subject of this thread is a Grand Prix in 90 years time...

OK, don't rub it in! My fingers didn't work in the right order. If anyone knows how to edit the title please let me know!