The Black Rat Fund
For the Black Rat Bikers' Rideout we have set our ticket price to be £2.00 per person regardless of whether you will be riding a registered bike, or will be a passenger on a registered bike.
However, because we're sure that our Rideout will be a very memorable occasion and a great day out for everyone who attends, we are suggesting an additional voluntary donation of £3.00 each for all registered riders and their passengers, making your total outlay £5.00 per person.
The ticket price to register 1 bike + 1 rider in the Rideout is £2.00.
This will enable you to ride in the Rideout and you will receive 1 Black Rat Wristband when you confirm your arrival on the day.
All information packs and updates about the Black Rat Rideout will be sent to the email address given by the Registered Rider.
The Registered Rider will be responsible for informing all the passengers on their bike of any important information and updates on the event.
Please see our Privacy Policy for details on how we store and use the personal information you provide to us.
The ticket price to register the passengers you intend to carry is £2.00 each.
This will enable them to ride on your registered bike, and they will also receive 1 Black Rat Wristband each.
You do not have to identify each passenger by name, simply select the number of passengers you plan on carrying on your bike on the day.
The wristbands for your passengers will be given to the Registered Rider when he/she confirms their arrival on the day.
What type of vehicle do you wish to ride in the Black Rat Rideout?
Please give your address. You may use a civilian address or a BFPO address (if you are a member of the Armed Forces).
For each passenger you register to carry the ticket price is £2.00.
If your registered passenger(s) is unable to make it on the day you will not be entitled to a refund, but you will still receive the Black Rat Wristband for that registered passenger.
How many passengers do you wish to register to ride on your bike in the Black Rat Rideout?
We know that our Rideout will be a very memorable occasion and a great day out for everyone who attends.
Consequently we are suggesting that you make an additional voluntary donation of £3.00 each for all registered riders and their passengers, making your total outlay £5.00 per person.
All additional Voluntary Donations will be eligible for Gift Aid (so long as you are a UK tax payer, and give us permission to claim it).
The rules about when Gift Aid can be claimed are very clear in respect of tickets or entrance fees to events such as our Rideout.
HMR&C state that "Payments which are required in order to be able to attend an event are not voluntary gifts to charity and do not qualify for Gift Aid."
Therefore, as we have a ticket price of £2.00 to attend the Black Rat Bikers' Rideout, this amount is not eligible for Gift Aid.
As Trustees of the Black Rat Fund we are legally obliged by the Charities Commission to take proper care of our existing charity funds.
In order to put on an event like our Rideout there are a number of costs we must commit to paying for regardless of how many people attend, or how much in donations they may give us either when they register, or on the day.
These costs include things like catering, portaloos & waste/skips, route signs for the ride, public address systems and advertising. It also includes fees that we must pay for First Aid cover, and so on.
If an event loses money then the Trustees would still have to pay these costs from existing funds which is money already given to us by previous donors on the understanding that it would be used to help the soldiers and families of 4th Mechanized Brigade.
If we lost money, and had to spend existing funds to cover the shortfall, this would mean that we have failed in our duty of care. Additionally, in some instances the Trustees would become personally liable for the losses.
To avoid the risk of making a loss we must set a minimum ticket price to enter the Rideout to ensure that our costs for the event are covered.
The money we raise from ticket sales will be offset against the costs of putting on our Rideout. Of course, if we raise more in ticket sales than it does finally cost us, then all the remaining profit from ticket sales for the event will go into the Fund and will be used to support our charitable work.
If we did make the Black Rat Bikers' Rideout a free event where people were simply invited to make a voluntary donation, it would technically mean that any person who registered to attend, whether to ride their bike, or to be a passenger, could do so without having to donate or pay anything at all.
On the plus side, it would mean that all your donations would be eligible for Gift Aid, but on the negative side it would mean that we would have no guarantee that we could cover all our costs from the donations we receive from those registering.
This is considered to be bad fundraising practice by the Charity Commissioners, and is not a responsible way to run a charity.
Of course, common sense would say that it is more than likely we would get donations from the majority of people who registered, and that we would raise enough money to cover our costs. But common sense is not enough when it comes to Charity law!
As a charity the Black Rat Fund strives to claim as much Gift Aid as possible since it costs you, the donor nothing, and can mean that we receive as much as £2.80 from HM Revenue & Customs for every £10 that you donate to us. This makes a massive difference to how effectively we can support the Black Rats and how much we can give in welfare and compassionate grants to those in need and distress.
We can only claim Gift Aid on your donations if you have completed a declaration (either on paper or online) confirming that you are a UK tax payer, and wish us to claim. In our online Rideout Registration Form you just have to select the appropriate option.
For the Black Rat Bikers' Rideout we have set our minimum ticket price to be £2.00 per person regardless of whether you will be riding a registered bike, or will be a passenger on a registered bike. This money will not be eligible for Gift Aid.
Any additional voluntary donation that we receive from you, over and above the £2.00 ticket price, will be eligible for Gift Aid therefore if you donate a further £3.00, the Black Rat Fund can claim up to £0.84 from the government!
So you can see how much extra we could receive for your donations weve put together the table below:
* This value is made up of 25% Gift Aid and 3% Transitional Relief rates correct from 6 April 2008 until 5 April 2011.
You can authorise the Black Rat Fund to claim Gift Aid on your donation if the amount of Income Tax and/or Capital Gains Tax you've paid in the tax year (6 April one year to 5 April the next) in which you make your donation is at least equal to the amount of basic rate tax we are reclaiming on your gift.
If you make a number of Gift Aid donations to either one, or a number of different charities, you will need to consider the tax you've paid on each donation on an accumulative basis.
You don't necessarily have to be working to be paying tax. Apart from tax on income from a job or self-employment, the tax you've paid could include:
But only UK tax counts, so if you only pay tax outside the UK you won't be able to authorise us to claim any Gift Aid on your donations.
If you would like to make an additional voluntary donation over and above the £2.00 ticket price for yourself and each of your passengers, please indicate below the additional donation you would like to make to the Black Rat Fund.
Gift Aid is a scheme that allows The Black Rat Fund to reclaim tax on every gift you make to us. So for every £1 you donate, we can claim back 28p from the government at no extra cost to you!
Please remember to notify us of any changes in your personal circumstances, including changes to your name or address. If you are unsure whether your donations qualify for Gift Aid tax relief, then please contact HMRC on their Gift Aid help line 0845 302 0203 or consult their website http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/individuals/
If you pay tax at the higher rate you may also be entitled to claim further tax relief in your annual Self-Assessment tax return, details available from your local tax office.
You can cancel the declaration at any time by notifying us either by phone on 01748 872247, by e-mail to fundenquiries@blackratfund.org or in writing to the address given on our Contact Us page.
In order to avoid total chaos with everyone arriving all at once, we have set up a system to allow you to choose the time you would prefer to set off on your Rideout Circuit.
Please read the information below carefully before selecting your preferred ride slot.
The organisers want you to enjoy the Rideout as much as possible, and part of this is ensuring that all ride groups depart on time (or as close to it as reasonably possible).
We cannot cope with everyone arriving at the same time, therefore we have divided the Rideout into 5 Ride Slot timings.
These are:
When you complete your Registration Form you must pick one ride slot to indicate (within approximately 1 hour) when you will wish to depart to ride the Rideout Circuit.
Remember that the Rideout Circuit will take approximately 45 minutes to complete.
Please note that there are a limited number of places (2,500) in each slot. When all the places in any particular slot are full, you will no longer be able to select that particular slot option.
In order to allow you time to enjoy the event - get yourself a drink, have something to eat, have a chance to meet up with friends and enjoy the atmosphere of the day - and give our stewards and marshals enough time to register all the riders, direct them to their particular group, and brief them, we will require you to arrive at Marne Barracks within a specified timeframe.
Important Note: If you fail to turn up on time to ride within your allocated slot we will not be able to guarantee that you can complete your circuit.
Within each slot, riders will be allocated to one of 5 ride groups by the Rideout Marshals. Each group will consist of approximately 500 bikes each.
Each of the 5 groups in each Ride Slot will depart in 15 minute intervals, as follows:
Departure times for subsequent slots follow the same pattern, i.e.:
The last slot departure times will be such that the very last ride group of the day should depart at 4.00pm, and will complete their circuit by approximately 4.45pm.
Please be aware because of the nature of this event all departure timings are approximate. If a group is delayed because riders are not ready on time that will affect subsequent slots and group departure times.
When you arrive at the Rideout you will be directed to the parking area for your allocated Ride Group. There will be boards posted at this location giving you details of your groups scheduled departure time. Once you are parked you can then go and register your arrival with the Rideout Stewards.
It is important that you return to your bike and allocated ride Group 20 minutes before your scheduled departure time. This will allow our Rideout Marshals and Stewards time to give you a final briefing which will include any updates about conditions on the roads and any particular problems or congestion points which have arisen on the day.
We then ask that you remain near to your group area so that you can make sure you are ready to go 10 minutes before your scheduled departure time.
Then it will be ............. start your engines, and enjoy the Ride!
If you can help us to keep to our schedule by being on time it will mean that the Black Rat Bikers' Rideout will run smoothly, and make it an enjoyable day for us all.
During registration you elected to ride in a group in Slot 1, your day could go something like:
I would like to ride in a group within the following ride slot:
If you are not sure whether you wish to purchase additional wristbands or tee shirts now, you can complete the Registration process without placing an order. If you then later decide to purchase any of our Black Rat merchandise you can do so through our Black Rat Shop.
We have a wide range of merchandise available including hoodies, sweatshirts, biker patches, flags, mugs and much more! You can also buy Black Rat merchandise which is not specific to the Rideout event.
If you would like additional wristbands for other friends and family who are not attending the Rideout, please indicate the quantity below and you will be able to collect them when you collect your own and your registered passengers' wristbands on your arrival at the Rideout.
Please note that you will be required to bring a printed copy of your order/registration acknowledgement email with you on the day as proof of purchase for any additional wristbands you order. No proof of purchase no wristbands! Simples!
Our wristbands are available for sale at a cost of £0.50 each, but we do suggest that you add to this a voluntary donation of £1.50, making the total amount payable £2.00.
We are also producing Commemorative Black Rat Rideout Tee Shirts which you can order now and pay for as part of your Registration.
Orders received before 19th August 2010 will be guaranteed to arrive in time for you to wear them on the day of the Rideout.
We will attempt to make sure orders placed after that date are despatched in time, but we cannot guarantee that they will be delivered before the 19th of September and in time for you to wear at the Rideout.
Delivery lead time will generally be 21 days from receipt of order.
If you would like your commemorative tee shirts sent to a different address to that given above, please give the full delivery address below:
Our postage & packing costs are calculated based on the total value of your order. Donations are excluded from this calculation and do not incur any delivery charge.
For UK Mainland Delivery Addresses
The postage and packing rates detailed above will apply to all orders which are destined for delivery addresses in the UK Mainland only. Parcels will be sent by standard first class post/standard parcel post as applicable. Please allow 28 days for delivery.
For Overseas Delivery Addresses
For any items ordered which are to be sent abroad we will levy an initial postage and packing charge which is based upon the value of your order as if it were to be sent to a UK Mainland address. We will then contact you once we have received your order and payment and will advise you of any additional postage and packing charges that may apply. Please note that in some instances your goods will be despatched to you without further communication from us as no additional postage charges may be due. For overseas orders please generally allow 28 days for delivery, but understand that there may be circumstances beyond our control which mean your parcel may take longer than this to reach you.
