The Caravan Club
| Formation | June 14, 1907 |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | East Grinstead House |
| Location |
|
|
Region served
|
British Isles |
|
Official language
|
English |
|
President
|
Viscount Coke |
|
Main organ
|
The Club Council |
| Affiliations | FIA |
|
Staff
|
900 |
| Website | www.caravanclub.co.uk |
The Caravan and Motorhome Club is an organisation representing caravan and motorhome users in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It was founded in 1907 and now represents nearly 1 million members.
The Club was founded in 1907 as The Caravan Club of Great Britain and Ireland. Its aim was to "... bring together those interested in van life as a pastime...to improve and supply suitable vans and other appliances...to develop the pastime by collecting, publishing and supplying to members, books and periodicals and lists of camp sites etc... to arrange camping grounds...".
The Club was renamed as The Caravan Club in 1959 and celebrated its centenary on 14 June 2007. The club's current name, the Caravan and Motorhome Club was adopted in February 2017.
The Caravan Club is a membership organisation. The Club is led by the Executive Committee, which airs policy issues with the Club Council. The council in turn is supported by the 10 Regional Councils. Their aim of the Regional Councils is to coordinate communications throughout The Club membership. Regional Councils provide a forum to discuss Club issues and to solve local and regional problems. Club members may also vote at the Annual Members Meeting.
The Club is a member of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), an organisation that represents the interests of motoring organisations and motor car users.
The Club has over 900 staff and an annual turnover of around £100 million.
The Club operates around 200 main Caravan Club sites and 2,500 smaller certificated "five-van" sites, known as CLs (Certificated Locations).
A Certificated Location (or 'CL') is an informal privately owned caravan site for up to 5 caravans in the United Kingdom. Visitors with caravans pay a small fee to the CL owner in order to pitch overnight. This is usually cheaper than larger commercial caravan sites. There are about 2500 CLs in the UK and are for exclusive use by Caravan Club members. Each year the Caravan Club issues a Certificate to those sites that continue to meet their standards, hence 'Certificated Locations'. Caravan Club members vote annually for the best Certificated Location in the 'CL of the Year' competition.
Most CLs are in the countryside, they are individually owned and can be on a farm or smallholding, on spare land next to a pub, golf course or hotel or on land attached to the owner's house. CLs need no site licence or formal planning permission, but are covered by two Acts of Parliament:
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