History

The Caravan Writers’ Guild was conceived during a visit to the Newmarket factory of Caravans International, at the time the leading manufacturers of touring caravans. A group of caravan journalists who had spent the morning at a preview of some new models were sitting round the table with the Cl management team after a working lunch. The suggestion that the Guild be formed came from the Cl Group Chairman, the legendary Sam Alper, as a means of improving communication between the industry and the specialist media. The rest, as they say, is history.

The inaugural meeting was held at the Strand Place Hotel in June 1982 at which officers were elected and some twenty writers, specialist magazine staff and knowledgeable freelances, formed the initial membership.The first full meeting of the Guild was held on 14th September 1982 at The Lawns Trade Show, where the Constitution and subscription rate were discussed.

The industry soon realised the value of a good working relationship with an often critical Press, and invited the then Chairman, Tony Bradford, to sit on the National Caravan Council working party drafting the Caravan Code, along with representatives from the major Clubs and the Department of Transport.

On the premise that Guild members should be seen to be active caravanners, the social side was developed with rallies and seminars being organized several times a year including two or three on the Continent to encourage the smooth flow of information, the Guild set up awards for industry public relations and has successfully campaigned for better user handbooks. The high standing the Guild has achieved over its 40+ years can be judged by the presence in 2002 of the then Secretary of State for the environment, the Rt Hon Margaret Beckett, at a Guild function dinner. She returned in 2010 having served as the UK’s first woman Foreign Secretary in 2006 and 2007.