Who would have thought when Stuart Sutcliffe gathered together a few of his Rotarian friends in the summer of 1967 to take his caravan to the Rotary International Convention in Nice, France, that 56 years later you would still have a band of Rotarians, under the banner the International Caravanning Fellowship of Rotarians (ICFR).
Indeed, in the summer of 2017 to celebrate 50 years of ICFR, members arranged a similar rally to Nice.
Today, the fellowship is in good order with over 500 members from across the UK, regularly getting together on both sides of the Channel, enjoying well organised rallies in different locations.
Similar groups have been established all over the globe including France, the Netherlands, Germany, North America, New Zealand and Australia.
With different continents, different languages, the fellowship revolves around one very simple concept, as ICFR President, Derek Rogers says: “A great opportunity to visit new places, whilst enjoying one’s caravanning passion – and sharing the full friendship and fellowship of like-minded Rotarians.”
Membership of ICFR is open to Rotarians and their partners, to family members of Rotarians and to alumni of Rotary programmes.
Recently, we registered 2,896 unit-nights on our rallies and since most units contain two people that amounts to over 5,500 person-nights, which is not bad as a measure of member participation.
Today the fellowship has over 500 members from across the UK.”
All you need is a caravan or a motorhome/campervan plus the enthusiasm for meeting new people and visiting new places.
A subscription of £10 gives you the opportunity to go on ICFR rallies, receive a copy of our twice-yearly online magazine ‘News & Views’ and much more, especially fun and fellowship on wheels!
‘News & Views’ editor, Maggie Ambrose, is always open to receiving stories of Rotary interests, slanted naturally towards the caravan world and, of course, towards encouraging more Rotarians to join us.
The rally year of 2023 has been very successful, recovering from the effects of the pandemic. Two European rallies were completed in France in the Loire and in Northern and Central Spain.
A total of 20 rallies have been completed across the UK mainland, from Lake Coniston in Cumbria to Devon; Northumberland to Sussex; Suffolk to Llangollen in Snowdonia – all with full programmes and all a great success.
Looking ahead to 2024 plans are already in hand for more rallies for ICFR members to join and participate in, including Northern Ireland and the Orkneys. The booking procedure is well organised, with a high percentage completed online.
We are trying to get our message across to Rotarians who own a caravan or a motorhome to understand how great ICFR is and encourage them to join us.
In September 2023, we had a stand in the exhibition at the Rotary Action Summit in Manchester where many of our promotional leaflets were distributed. We hope that Rotary magazine readers will follow up and make enquiries. We will be delighted to talk to you.
To find out more, visit the ICFR website, or email ICFRmember@outlook.com
