|
So you want to be a Basher? Well we'd like to help you! If we can make the journey to becoming a Basher a little easier for you, just let us know! Click HERE for some important information for first time Bashers. ABOUT THE BASH The Bash is not a race or a rally but rather a drive in the Outback with a few mates. The most important thing about the Bash is that speed is not important. What really matters is that everyone has an enjoyable time travelling in parts of Australia they would not otherwise see and at the same time raising much needed money to support children in need. WHERE DOES THE MONEY GO Each year Variety receives many appeals from individuals, associations, institutions, hospitals and schools. These appeals range from Sunshine Coaches, special medicals equipment and wheelchairs to prosthetic limbs, playground equipment to name but a few items. All appeals are carefully and thoroughly considered by our volunteer committees. When an appeal is granted, Variety makes payment directly to the supplier of the equipment or service. THE CAR Firstly, you'll need a car. To enter the NSW Variety B to B Bash you'll need a car manufactured prior to or during 1974. You may wish to start fresh with a car you have bought or a family hand-me-down or you may wish to buy a pre built and tested bash car. Whatever, you'll need a reliable, well-built vehicle, which will survive the trip and be noticed so that your sponsors receive some benefit. If you are starting fresh with an un-Bashed car you will need to make some adjustments to the car to make it safe in the Outback. The transmission, engine and engine ancillaries must be as originally specified for the vehicle. Modifications to the brakes, suspension and fuel tanks are allowed for safety but no improvements for extra speed or performance modifications. Modifications to the body shape are permitted where such modifications are designed to enhance the appearance of the vehicle for sponsorship purposes or for fun! Attention-grabbing and unusual decorations make for a great Bash car... the stranger the better. The addition of a CD player, should you wish one, is OK by us! Fuel is always available, but it is advised to carry a jerry can as sometimes it is a long way between stops. For further vehicle requirements, click to open this document This is a comprehensive document written by our Mobile Workshop officials who have had 24 years of Bash experience and know what's required to get your car around the country. Pay attention to their writings now and save yourself a lot of heart break on the event sitting beside a broken down car. If you wish to purchase a Bash car, we have some pre loved models in our CARS FOR SALE section. A word of warning! A "pre loved" car might not have been all that loved in the end. "Buyers beware" should be applied here. Another word of warning - be careful when buying another Bash car that it has come from the Variety stable of events. Some other copy events have different rules and regulations on their cars. If there is any doubt, refer back to the section 'What Is A Bash Car' in the vehicle requirements document. THE ENTRY FEE To enter the 2009 NSW Variety NRMA Insurance Bennelong Pt. to Broken Hill Bash will cost you $8,500. This is for an entry of one car and up to four (4) people. This fee is made up of a non refundable donation of $500 to start your entry, followed by payments up to and beyond the $8,500 which must be paid 2 weeks prior to the Bash start. Any additional crew members over and above the initial four people will require an additional $2,500 per person in donations. The payment schedule is;
$500 Entry Donation by 28th February 2009 To start the paperwork trail you'll need to fill in an entry form and forward it to us with the initial $500 entry fee which is, as is the entire $8,500, tax deductible and you'll be receipted from the Bash Office for same. Click HERE for the entry form. CONDITIONS OF ENTRY All vehicles entered in the Bash must have been manufactured prior to or during 1972. They must be roadworthy, registered and insured as prescribed by State laws. All vehicles must be conventional two wheel drive vehicles with a maximum crew of four people. Motorcycles, buses, coaches, caravans, skateboards or wheelbarrows are not allowed. All vehicles must carry on the front doors the Bash door panels onto which must be fixed the allocated Bash number for that vehicle. The vehicle number must also be clearly visible, using white numbers, on the front and rear windows. All cars must also display the sponsor's stickers, as supplied by the organisers. All vehicles are required to attend at the nominated ChequePoint day prior to the start of the Bash. Any vehicles unable to attend the ChequePoint day need to obtain prior consent from the Bash Committee. Everyone taking part in the Bash in any way must sign an indemnity form issued by Variety, the Children's Charity (NSW). All entrants in the Bash must have paid to Variety, the Children's Charity (NSW) either personally or through donations the sum on the Entry Form at least one month prior to the start of the event. Any meal money, pallecon bookings or extra merchandise MUST be paid prior to the start of the event. At all times all entrants must abide by the rules of the road as prescribed by State laws and statues. As the organisers, we make arrangements for all your meals (on most occasions) and charge you for a 'Meal Ticket'. The meal ticket covers breakfast, lunch and dinner on most days except where stated. As an example, some days we have on the Bash may be called Lay or Free Days where there is no organised meals and you are free to do what ever you wish. A meal ticket can be given to another crew member if you are changing teams mid Bash. We, the organisers, must be informed via the Bash Coordinator and a top up to the Meal Ticket price, if you are both in the same town for the same meal, will be required. If told well in advance of the Bash start a new name tag will be made for the incoming crew member. Other items are included in the Meal Ticket price and they are strictly one item per meal ticket. If additional items are required they will need to be paid for. For example, a Bash specific shirt is included in the meal ticket price. If another crew member joins in, there is only one shirt per meal ticket. OTHER COSTS Such as fuel, mechanical repairs, accommodation, refreshments, car shipping and other out-of-pocket expenses are at your own expense. On the Variety Bash we use "Bash Bucks" as our mode of currency. This currency can be used to bribe officials or to purchase certain things along the way. You might have to come with us to find these "things" out but the more Bash Bucks you have the more you get to cheat, pay fines (for cheating) bribe the officials' and so on! Are you up to a bit of corruption???? We need your real money NOW so the wonderful committees that disperse the money by buying the wheelchairs the Sunshine Coaches and the many, many other things we buy for our special needs children, can do just that BUY. They are spending the money, and over $1,000,000 of it a month Australia wide so we want that money in the bank NOW! To encourage you to start sending your sponsors cheques in now we offer a lucrative bonus system and this is how it works. For every dollar you put in - and we have banked - up to the end of March you will get an additional 40% to play with, then a sliding scale of 30% for April, 20% May and 10% June. Now to make that a little clearer, the money that's in before March will get the 40%. The money that comes in during April gets a bonus of 30%. March and April aren't added together to get you an additional 30%. Only the banked money for April and so on till the end. Here's an example:
For fundraising trophies and final totals, only real dollars will count. So on the example above this car would win a Sheridan Trophy for raising in excess of $25,000 but it would not win a Half Cup for raising in excess of $33,000. Now is that as clear as mud to everyone? Call me if you have a problem with it. Bash Bucks will be counted up to and including our final ChequePoint Day in our Rozelle office prior to the Bash start. The Bash Bucks will be handed out at the start line. There are no trophies for speeding or special timed sections as they don't exist on our Bash. The Bash is not a race or a rally but rather a drive in the Outback with a few mates - so if speed is what you're after, then you may need to look for another event! We do however, acknowledge and reward teams for their fundraising abilities. The following fundraising trophies are up for grabs:
$17,000 The Variety Trophy (Individual entry) NOTE: A TEAM is classified as two or more cars that are painted the same and their crews dressed and/or are themed the same throughout the event.
As part of the entry conditions, you will be required to fit door panels, window strips and sponsor identification decals as required. These items will be supplied to you. The door panels, which carry your car's identification number, are 50cm x 32 cm wide (portrait style) and are fitted on the front doors of the car. The numbers for the panels can be purchased at ships chandlery type stores and are to be a minimum of 12cm high in black. A window strip goes on top of the windscreen and doubles as a sun screen with the sponsor identification decals (two per sponsor) going on each side of the car. Once a month we get together to share Bash developments with the entrants. Why do we have Bash Nights? It's great for us to meet you, for you to meet us and for you to fraternise with veteran Bashers who can assist you in many ways with your Bash preparation. It's the opportunity to ask questions of each other and for us to pass on information about our plans for the upcoming Bash. You may seek advice on car preparation or with fundraising. Simply, it's a monthly get together to enjoy each others company and to learn more about the Variety Bash. E-MAIL ADDRESSES A lot of our communication is centred around e-mails. Love them or hate them, it's the communication of choice for the Bash Office. Our monthly Bash Bulletin is now sent out electronically so make sure you and your crew members have their up-to-date e-mail address listed with us so you are kept informed of all things Bashing. The following rules exist for "goods in kind" or "contra" in relation to the entry fee and monies raised. No Bash Entrant/Team is to offer a school, individual or organisation their product as a Bash "gift" and expect the Bash Office or Variety to agree to contra that product's retail cost against their Bash entry. The Bash Office must approve (in advance of the event) the product(s) that the entrant wishes to be considered as contra towards their Bash entry. In addition:
C) Consideration will be given to contra goods only and NOT services. Then, and only then, will a contra arrangement count towards funds raised against your car. If you are entering as a team, then before contra dollars are added to your total you must have paid in real dollars the $8,500 entry fee multiplied by the cars in your team, i.e. a two car team needs to have banked $17,000 before any contra dollars are added. For the supplier of a final night auction item, 50% of the knockdown price will be added to your following year's entry fee once the minimum entry fee (for that new year) has been paid for in real cash i.e., the current entry fee of $8,500. If you purchase an item at a Bash function, the purchase price or any percentage, WILL NOT go towards your current or following year(s) entry fee. PURCHASING AUCTION ITEMS Before purchasing an item you think you may use as a future auction/fundraising/raffle item yourself, please check there are no restrictions on the item. Some companies do not allow for the on selling of their gift/prize(s). LOGOS AND WORDING ON PRINTED ARTICLES Variety, the Children's Charity protects its own logo and does not allow it to be used for promoting your entry into the Bash. It must not be used in any printed material, be it flyers or raffle tickets etc. You can use the Bash logo with your fundraising literature but you CANNOT use Variety's logo with the Heart and Hat. The Bash logo is available from the Bash Office and should be used in all fundraising promotions and on all printing and advertising material (raffle tickets included). It is imperative that your car number is the main feature of the title. Then, and only then, should you mention that Variety is the beneficiary of your particular fundraising activity. Here are some examples you can use;
CAR NO. 999
CAR NO. 999
CAR NO. 999
CAR NO. 999 If in any doubt about this please do not hesitate to contact me at the office as it's extremely important we play to the rules of the land regarding charities. And please don't change its shape either! ROUTE INSTRUCTIONS The Bash organising team do several surveys of the event prior to the official start to set the route and make all the arrangements. Part of the planning process, is to provide you with daily route instructions. You'll receive this certainly every morning at the start line and mostly at the luncheon venue as well. Some days you will receive (but not always) a lunch pack in the morning and you can choose your own lunch location. On those particular days the route instructions are from start to finish on that day. They are simple, easy to read distant measurements with an instruction such as SO (straight on) or TR (turn right) to get you through the set run for the day. LEAVING THE BASH ROUTE Never leave the Bash route without telling someone, preferably an official. The Bash is well serviced with officials who check you out at the start and in at the completion of a section. If you don't come through the finishing ChequePoint (spelt that way because we are hoping to pick up some more money from you there!) and our "Sweep" (last official in) has not seen you, then we put in a search and rescue plan. If you choose to go and visit someone in another location not set on the Bash route and we don't know, we won't be too happy!!! ROAD RULES The Bash is allowed to run across Australia because we adhere to the road rules of the given states we travel though. We have no dispensation to break any existing road rule set by the Police or the state's ruling body, i.e., Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA) in NSW. SUPPORT VEHICLES For those would-be Bashers who can't tell an upper control arm from an interior light switch - fear not! Travelling with the Bash are Mobile Workshops (MW) crewed by qualified and experienced mechanics, engineers and technicians whose job it is to look after all Bash vehicles. If you were to break down on a Bash route one of our MWs will carry out a minor repair to keep you going. In previous years, cars that looked as though they are beyond repair have been transformed by the mobile workshops into miracles of motion and have been shepherded into the next town. It is then your responsibility to have the car fully repaired and made roadworthy again. We guarantee, if we can't get you going, we'll get you to the closest town where you can make your own arrangements to get the car repaired or transported to another location. Individual support vehicles are not allowed on the Bash, however, space can be hired to carry spare parts on the official baggage truck which travels the entire Bash route. ACCOMMODATION Accommodation on the Bash can range from 5 star to 5 million star (i.e. swagging under the stars) and will depend on the Bash route. Each Basher must organise his/her own sleeping arrangements. Accommodation is extremely scarce in some places - and in other places there is none! In places where camping is the only option, Bash organisers will do their best to organise enough showers and toilets to accommodate the Bash so that you can wash away some of that dust. It is a good idea to organise your accommodation well ahead, preferably as soon as you have officially entered the Bash. Insist on paying a deposit when you book, that way when you are still out on the road after dark waiting on a workshop you are sure of not losing your room to someone else. Mobile phones are fairly useless in the outback and motels are usually hesitant to hold rooms after 6 or 7pm if they have not received a deposit and are confronted by a tired and dirty Basher waving a credit card in front of their nose.
Where accommodation is concerned, ingenuity is the name of the game. In small towns the post office or general store tends to be the epicentre of town knowledge and is often the best source of information regarding accommodation. They may know of people willing to take billets, or whether the local hospital or community centre has space available. Always take a sleeping bag or swag and a tent if you have room.
|
