| Dear Michael Cameron Richardson,
A Message from Martin:
When earlier this year we began planning for RTTW 2021 we hoped that by October the country would be “back to normal” and we could reunite together in our usual way to pay our respects.
A roadmap has been set out by the Government for the gradual lifting of restrictions and we all hope that this means that events can take place later in the year. However, individual venues have a duty and responsibility to carry out risk assessments specific to their circumstances and many places will still need to restrict capacity and maintain rules on social distancing. This is entirely right and proper as we come out of the pandemic as none of us wants to see a return to the dark days of lockdown and accompanying deaths from this terrible virus.
With this in mind, there has been a lot of dialogue between RTTW and the National Memorial Arboretum, leading to a joint decision that at the moment the service this year will be a hybrid event, with a mix of physical and virtual attendees. As we all know, things can change at short notice but by taking a cautious approach we hope that we can offer greater certainty of what can be delivered while being hopeful that we always do more if circumstances permit.
When we launch pre-registration at 19.00 hrs on 30th April there will be an initial release for 4,000 participants – this is a total for riders and pillions. We hope that we may be able to release additional capacity later in the year and we will review this in mid-July at the earliest. While this will no doubt come as a disappointment to many, I believe this is the fairest way to do it, taking into account the uncertain times we find ourselves still in. Those who are unable to join us in person will be able to watch the service online and we are exploring ways that this virtual audience can be integrated into physical proceedings.
In 2020, 4,621 people pre-registered and in 2019 5,913 people pre-registered, so 4,000 pre-registrations is a good place to start and with a fair wind and fingers crossed we hope to be able to increase this after a review in mid-July.
RTTW 2021 will only be accessible by pre-registered riders to allow our marshals and the Arboretum team to provide a safe environment for all attendees. Wrist bands will be checked to gain access to the main Arboretum site and a headlamp sticker will be supplied to each bike/car, granting access to Croxall Road. We will be keeping to our organised start points where Marshals will also be checking headlamp stickers. I do not doubt that you will assist with the smooth running of RTTW 2021 by following the rules about pre-registration and making it easy for us to identify registered attendees.
I am sure you understand why these measures are required and we hope that RTTW can take place in its traditional form as soon as it is permitted, safe and sensible. I look forward to being able to ride with you all as we remember those who can no longer ride by our side.
Martin Dickinson, Founder, Ride To The Wall.
Footnote:
Once the 4000 registrations have been reached you will still be able to register. At that stage we will allocate a year bar but we will not send it out until the end of August. Prior to the end of August if numbers are increased you will be sent your year bar along with a wristband and headlamp sticker. This will be done in order of registrations on the ‘reserve’ list. |
