A rank of her own
As Secretary of the Essex Police HQ Sports and Social Club, Christene Evans has grown the club’s activities from just three events a year to a programme featuring more than 10 overseas holidays annually, as Carrie Drage finds out.
The role of the Secretary of the Essex Police HQ Sports and Social Club was originally to organise the annual charity quiz night, bonfire celebration and children’s Christmas party; however, this all changed when Christene Evans took over the post. She explains, “I’ve worked full-time in the Firearms Licensing department for Essex Police for over 20 years now and about 15 years ago I organised concert tickets for a group of people in my office.” Word soon spread and not long after she was approached by the club’s existing Secretary to take on the role. She says, “Before I took over, there had been the odd coach trip to places like Chessington World of Adventures & Zoo, in Surrey, and occasional shopping day trips to the capital, but it seemed that people were keen to do a lot more.”
Christene’s very first outing as Secretary was to see a show in London and this has since progressed to at least one theatre trip each month. She states, “I use See Tickets, Ticketmaster and Group Line ticketing agents – whoever can offer me the best seats at the best prices!” Only weeks after the group’s first theatre trip, she arranged to take two coachloads of people to Paris, in France, for a two-night break and these overseas breaks now form the core of her programme. She reveals, “In my experience, people are keener to go abroad because they can easily arrange UK breaks for themselves. To go overseas takes a little more planning.” These days, she organises an average of 10 foreign holidays and short breaks a year as well as occasional UK day trips. There’s also the annual quiz night, bonfire night and children’s Christmas party to organise on top of these.
The Essex Police HQ Sports and Social Club currently has in excess of 3,000 members – including retired staff – and members pay a monthly fee, which is used to subsidise the trips. She explains, “Half of the fee is donated to the club and I’m free to decide how much to allocate to each trip. I tend to organise my programme at the beginning of each year when I know how much funding the club will get for the year.” Trips are open to members and their families, all of whom are charged the discounted rate. Friends are also free to join the group although they must pay more for their places.
One man band
In the beginning, Christene was assisted in her organising duties by a colleague, Shirley Turner; however, since Shirley’s retirement two years ago, she has continued operations, more or less, single-handedly. Christene has a committee of eight people who help to organise events such as the bonfire night and children’s Christmas party but the rest of programme is left solely in her hands. Christene remarks, “The treasurer provides a lot of assistance with the holidays, collecting money and the like. She is also happy to take on the responsibility of dealing with any problems that might arise when I’m not able to attend the trip myself. Occasionally, I’ve nominated other members too, in my absence, and I normally offer a small discount on the price as an incentive.”
Christene produces a monthly newsletter for her members, which she emails out with any appropriate flyers attached, and she also manages a website dedicated to the Essex Police Sports Association. She reveals, “There is a facility for members to book directly through the website, which works extremely well.”
Wanderlust
Christene’s programme of overseas holidays and short breaks range from Continental escapes to exotic, long-haul destinations. The majority of the time, a group’s itinerary is finalised prior to leaving the UK; however, on some visits, members are left to their own devices. She explains, “For some destinations, I arrange just the flight and the hotel and leave members to organise their own excursions through the hotel.” The four occasions that the group has visited Las Vegas are good examples of this, as is the Barcelona visit in March this year.
Christene does not shy away from organising long-haul trips and one destination that stands out in her memory is the combined eight-night holiday to the Canadian Rockies and seven-night Alaskan cruise with Sussex-based tour operator, The Travel Adventure, in September this year. She says, “They offer a very personal service and are happy to adapt a holiday to suit your group.” Twenty-seven of Christene’s members enjoyed a glacier experience on the Columbia Icefield on one of the days, which was a particular highlight for Christene. She laughs, “There’s only one way to sum this up – awesome!” The cruise element took place onboard Celebrity Cruises’ ‘Celebrity Mercury’ ship. She says, “At one point, the ship nestled right up close to the Hubbard Glacier, which was a mindblowing experience.”
In a similar vein, the group combined two destinations in one holiday on the three-night Dubai and four-night Hong Kong trip in September 2008. Thirty people signed up for the holiday, which was booked with London-based tour operator, South Quay Travel & Leisure. Christene says, “The company is very competitive price-wise, which is understandably an important factor to consider.” As with most of her holidays, the itinerary was packed with excursions including the chance to dine at the seven-star Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai and to bag a bargain at Stanley Market in Hong Kong. Christene reveals, “One evening, the group had dinner together at the famous Floating Jumbo Restaurant in Hong Kong’s Aberdeen Harbour. The atmosphere here was amazing.” The only downside is that Christene’s group visited during the religious festival of Ramadan, which meant that whilst in Dubai they couldn’t buy any food or drink from shops, restaurants or street vendors before half six in the evening. She comments, “This made it quite difficult, particularly in the 40-degree heat!”
Even though Christene’s members are spoilt for choice when it comes to far-flung destinations, they are just as happy to holiday closer to home. In July 2008, 48 members travelled to Boppard, in Germany, again with The Travel Adventure, for the celebrated Rhine in Flames event. She says, “Some of the members enjoyed a dinner cruise to Rüdesheim and the rest travelled there by coach. The firework display was excellent.” A guided tour of Burg Eltz, a fairytale-like castle in Moselkern, also featured on the four-day itinerary. Christene enthuses, “This really was exquisite!”
The Carpet of Flowers in Brussels is another event that went down a storm with the group. In August, 48 people journeyed to the Belgian capital for three days with Success Tours based in Wiltshire. She reveals, "I do a lot with Success Tours and their organisation and paperwork is always faultless. Before the trip, each individual is presented with a wallet containing all details relating to it, from tickets and hotel information to a list of events taking place at your chosen destination. It’s great because it means there’s less for me to do.” The group stayed at the Beford hotel, which is located a short walk from Brussels’ Grand Place where the event took place. She explains, “Every other year, the people of Ghent lay down one million begonias in the main square. It’s absolutely stunning.”
Unlike some groups who tend to wind down activities over the winter months, Christene has a programme that continues right through to the New Year. For instance, European Christmas markets are always a big draw for her members and, in recent years, the group has visited destinations such as Bonn and Berlin, in Germany, and Lake Wolfgang in Austria. By far her favourite city for Christmas markets is Cologne in Germany, where her group is set to return to in December. She says, “There are five large markets, a lovely cathedral and a big ice rink. Cologne is also right on the river so people can go on boat trips if they wish.” Most of Christene’s Christmas market breaks are booked through The Travel Adventure, Success Tours and JAG Travel based in Surrey. She remarks, “JAG Travel manage to get the best hotels at the cheapest rates. This year, as in previous years, we will be staying at the Barceló Cologne City Center hotel for three nights, which is excellent."
Santaworld in Sweden is another popular winter destination and a small group are set to return here next month. The club’s first visit was in December last year when a group of 20 members made the trip with South Quay Travel & Leisure. As part of the experience, the group visited the Dala Horse factory where they saw wooden horses being made and painted and, of course, got to meet ‘Santa Claus’ himself. She remembers, "We had a singalong with ‘Santa’ and his elves, which made me cry. It was magical!”
Christene is experimental with her programme and is happy to venture off the beaten track; however, she is careful about how she advertises these trips. For example, in October 2008, Success Tours organised a four-day visit to Ceský Krumlov in the Czech Republic for 48 of her members. Christene advertised this as ‘Castles and Bears’, the latter referring to the bears kept at Ceský Krumlov Castle, because she knew most people wouldn’t have heard of the place; it sold out in just 10 days. She says, “Old Ceský Krumlov is a World Heritage Site. Its cobbled streets and narrow alleyways are fun to explore and there’s plenty of nice shops and restaurants hidden away."
A spotlight on Britain
Although theatre outings are a staple on Christene’s programme, UK day trips and short breaks are rarer. Having said this, one trip in particular had such a good reaction from her members that many are calling for it to be repeated. This was the two-night London New Year’s Eve break in 2008 for 50 of her members. Booked through South Quay Travel & Leisure, it incorporated a cruise on the River Thames, complete with dinner and disco. Christene says, “Just before midnight, the boat moored up and we all went out on deck to watch the fireworks display over the London Eye. It was the best New Year I’ve ever had."
With Essex and London in such close proximity, it hardly comes as a surprise that many of the day trips Christene does organise take in attractions in the capital. Christene usually books transport for these with local firm, Lodge Coaches, based in Chelmsford. She says, “We use them all the time for our theatre outings and they’ve proved to be very reliable.” One company that Christene has used on more than a handful of occasions for guided tours is London Discovery Tours, most recently in October this year when 48 of her members enjoyed a London Pub Walk. She says, “Their tours are always really good fun. I’ve organised Jack the Ripper Walks through them too, which have all gone down well with my group."
Tickets to watch the Wimbledon Championships also sell particularly well amongst Christene’s members. In July this year, she organised tickets
for 50 people through Newmarket Travel Service, based in Surrey, and she has confirmed next year’s tickets with them too. She reveals, "We had front row seats for No. 1 Court, which was fantastic. The package was an overnighter too so we had a full day in Windsor included in the price. It turned out to be very good value.”
Another event that the group has enjoyed in recent years is the Edinburgh Tattoo in August this year, which was a five-day break organised with Greatdays Travel Group in Cheshire. She comments, "I’d not used them before but I was pleased that they managed to get my members good seats for the tattoo.” The 46-strong group enjoyed a good number of excursions during the break including a visit to The Royal Yacht Britannia in Edinburgh, which Christene organised directly with the attraction. She says, “It’s certainly one of the best places to visit in the area.”
Meanwhile, at the complete opposite end of the country, 15 members attended a three-night break on the Isle of Wight in January with Uxbridge-based tour operator, GN Holidays. Christene remarks, “I chose to use the company based on the package they were offering but I was pleased with the service they provided.” Based at Warner Leisure Hotels’ Bembridge Coast Hotel, the break included dance instruction from professional ballroom dancers from BBC1’s ‘Strictly Come Dancing’. Christene says, “Bembridge Coast is a lovely resort and all drinks were inclusive in the price so it was a pretty good deal all in all.”
Next in line
Christene enjoys the challenge of being a group organiser and knowing that people have made a lot of new friends as a result of her hard work. She says, “There’s a core of 100 members who come on the trips and, for them, it’s a good way to experience travel with like-minded people.” She believes that the only way to become a successful organiser is to do your homework and ensure you know exactly what’s included, and will only deal with bonded companies. She comments, “It’s important to do business with reputable companies with a good record of stability.”
Coming up, Christene has trips planned to Berlin’s Christmas markets for four days in December with The Travel Adventure, a one-night Murder Mystery Weekend at the Barceló Hinckley Island Hotel in Leicestershire, in March, with Newmarket Travel Service, and a 15-day holiday to China in September, again with The Travel Adventure.
Christene is looking to retire from the Essex Police in a couple of years time and is currently seeking someone to train as her replacement. She says, “A lot of people aren’t willing to volunteer their time for nothing so it’s proving to be quite a difficult search. I do, however, hope to stay involved with the club in some capacity after my retirement because I have so many good memories from my time as Secretary.”