Would You Or Do You Work Part Time To Pay For Your Marshalling?

[Circuitmarshal]

I do a few hours a week, so that I can go where and when I feel like it.
A friend of mine goes sea fishing, so he does a few hours shelf filling so he has that freedom.
His thinking is the same as mine, that in a way the day has cost you nothing.

[JonJ]

Don't know about marshalling specifically, but I work just to survive! Marshalling is just a plesent escape from the day to day drudgery of work, that i feel isn't a waste of my hard earned pennies!

[Peter Harding]

I am on pension. Thought about working again, not just to pay for marshalling, but also to continue to keep my 6 kids in the manner they expect. That is, despite many having left home, I still seem to feed, fund, act as taxi, Etc.
Have found no time left at end of day to fit any kind of paid work in.
Will just continue to raid my savings until I'm destitute and on the streets.

[John Newman]

[QUOTE=Peter Harding]To keep my 6 kids in the manner they expect.


Busy Boy!!!!!

[John Watson]

I work full time to keep my wife-(expensive), children-(very expensive), and grandchildren-extremely expensive). Apart from the wife and one son the rest do not live with us!!!!! So why not take my marshalling expenses out of what little is left!

I expect to pay for my hobby/pastime which just happens to be marshalling motor sport. Sane people with other hobbies/pastimes have to pay for their interests.

What do I get out of my financial committment to marshalling? Pure pleasure and enjoyment of the sport and the company of like minded people. I did not get any financial assistance when I started marshalling about 25 years ago and I do not expect it now!! But I am grateful for what ever a club donates to my well being, be it a can of drink or a fiver.

[Circuitmarshal]

Just over a year ago got a proper job after being self employed for years, at the same time got into circuit marshalling.
Been a rally marshal for years but not every weekend, I guess now I've found circuits I need to catch up.
So with my little job I can do every weekend, which must be good news for events.
And do it knowing it's not hard earned cash that should have gone somewhere else!

[Mark Mitchell]

Like John J, I work to pay the bills and support a family.
2004 was a **** year for me personally - finding out what is like to be unemployed.....not nice.

I work seven days a week at present and this is only a temporary contract until the end of March, so after that I may be back on the rock n roll.

[mazda59]

Yes i do , but its not to fund my marshalling hobby....Its to keep my car on the road !!. But i couldn't live without my poor little clapped - out metro & the freedom it gives me . Be that a run out in the hills to walk my dogs or point it towards Oulton & say 'go ' on a saturday morning !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
But it still costs me less on a saturday when i am marshalling , than a mother / daughter bonding session ' shopping ' :-))

[Asp]

Work? What's that?

[Hepatic]

Originally Posted by Asp

Work? What's that?

damn students...

It's what you've got to do to be able to PAY BACK that mammoth loan you abuse to go drinking with . 6 years on and i'm still paying mine off.

Anyways, no i don't have a 2nd job to pay for my "habbit", but then again i'm extremely lucky to have a well paid job and no family to support. That probably puts me in a minority group of marshals, but even if i was struggling to afford it, i'd still do it 'cos it gets me in the fresh air, gives me exercise (honest!) and means i have something to look forward to each week.

[chezza]

I work part time at the moment this is to supplement my student loan which doesn't cover an awful lot! Marshalling is my hobby and I do as much as I can, therefore I suppose my job does pay for my marshalling slightly!

[Clive]

Like most of the above I marshal because I want to and I enjoy it (most of the time) and any remuneration towards expenses is gratefully received as it is expensive to live, as we all know, especially with a daughter at Uni and a teenage son at home. If I worked to pay for my marshalling I wouldn't have the time to do it anyway. So I keep going and hope overall it works out in the end (ish)

[Avalarf]

Well in a way we must all 'work' to fund our marshaling, we don't get paid to do it, so how else would we fund it, if we hadn't or didn't work?

Must admit though, that when my car was off the road in 2003, the firm did let me have a van at weekends at no cost, and we went wherever we wanted. So for those weekends although not being paid as such, we were not paying out either.

As others have said it's a hobby, so we just bugdet it in with everything else that has to be paid, and that includes about 30 nights away from home last year, a lot of them in our caravan.
We treat events away from home as a holiday, not interesred in going abroad, so any away events we make into a long week end, Cornwall, Wales or wherever. So instead of 2 weeks in one go some where we have lots of holidays.

Having said that, it must be our holiday fund that funds our marshaling!!

46 rallies in the diary for this year so far, YIPPIEEEE loadsa holidays.
Dave.

[Dave Brand]

This poses an interesting question:

Those of you who would or do work part time to pay for your marshalling, which way did you vote in the 'Do you want to be paid for marshalling' poll?

[Circuitmarshal]

I voted NOT to be paid.
Doing my little job is my choice, getting paid is not an option!
I could marshal with out my little job, but it means I don't have to chose events, I can do all I want to.

[TDM850]

A hobby is a hobby, and we do as we must to fund it. Sometimes no doubt, with availability sorted at the year's beginning, when the meeting comes around, we might find that fuel money or whatever is tight. In that instance, as each other aspect of our lives, we'd deal with it or not attend. I don't know that chief's would take a dim view just because we couldn't afford to make the trip.
By way of comparison, I also like to do a little fishing. On a good day, my bait bill will be £20, frequently more. This is in addition to the costs of tackle, and I kid you not, I ahve 6 rods for different disciplines, all of which retail for upwards of £150. 4 reels which are over £100 each, line at a tenner for each reel. Sundries would normally be on average 10 to 15 quid a trip. That is on top of £60 for an umbrella, £100 for various bits of luggage. And the list goes on.
Taken in context with this, I think marshalling is fairly good value. I realise that Probans aren't cheap, but they should last a few years, expansion excepted. The rest of our kit is reasonably long lasting, and who doesn't frequent their closest circuit slightly more than the others?
Of course not everyone can afford to do as much as they'd like, I know I can't, but what we do do is by our own choice, and we are free to come and go as we please. If finances are exceptionally stretched, then we are at liberty to have a year off, if that helps.
So enjoy what you do, and let's try to keep the costs of ancillaries down by supporting the club in whatever way we can.

[Clive]

Whilst I agree most hobbies incur costs, but one of the arguments here is that the organising club and/or circuit make money out of the events we marshal at, sometimes for free, and they give nothing in return. Some clubs and circuits are exceptions and they have been mentioned already. So we are not advocating a profit share (although that might be nice!) but consideration from those who make money out of us by effectively subsidising their money making ventures to contribute at least to the expense of getting there and maybe providing a free lunch or breakfast. Note that several smaller clubs 'pay' more than the GP!!

[Gridlock]

I cant vote in this thread as I am retired living on my pension. I wish I could work part time for wages but in the times not involved with marshalling I work full time as an unpaid volunteer for several organisations associated with International Humanitarian Aid and endeavouring to provide educational items for developing countries. Currently involved with aid work for the Tsunami in S.E. Asia and sending educational equipment to Africa.
One thing is certain for those facing retirement there is no reason to get bored.

[Clive]

Nice one Les, that's the attitude. keep busy and chase those lawnmowers! Thinking about that, cutting lawns usually pays doesn't it??

[Gridlock]

Cutting my lawn dosent pay. But it all keeps you young????

[alfa_centuri]

As has been said i work just to survive but going marshaling does break the momotony of working within the NHS, im not worried about the expenses of getting to the curcuit as i really love being there with firends. However if i wasnt working full time i most probably would work part time so i could go marshaling but this is my choice and doesn't have any impact on the previous polls of do i wish to get paid for marshaling.

[Woolley]

I work to finance my leisure (after paying th bills, of course) and marshalling is one of my hobbies. I'd rather not have to work to do that, but no-one else seems to want to give me money!

[Clive]

Yeah! amazing he has the time AND energy to go marshalling, isn't it!