Bolton 2023

[Nick]

IPMS Bolton have a show this year!

Sunday 22 January, 10am-4pm.
University of Bolton Stadium, De Havilland Way BL6 6JW
https://ipmsuk.org/calendar/bolton-scale-model-show-2023/

I'm tempted but it's a long way up and back for just one day.

[Martin H]

OK gang the show is this weekend,

Heres the set up/parking arrangments from the hosts.

Dear All,


I hope this message finds you all well and ready for the first IPMS (UK) Model Show of 2023!


Setup Instructions for Traders and Exhibitors for Bolton Scale Model Show 2023 are as follows, please brief out accordingly:

The show will be held at The Premier Suite, University of Bolton Stadium, De Havilland Way, Bolton BL6 6JW. 

Exit Junction 6 of the M61 (Middlebrook turn off) and follow the red route on the attached image for the nearest parking to the show venue (see important parking information below).

Saturday 21st January

Bolton IPMS will be laying out the Premier Suite the night before the show on the evening of Saturday 21st Jan between 18:30 and 21:00. 

Traders who have requested early setup are invited to join us at the times shown and we will prioritise build-up of those areas which support your stands.

If you have requested/require early setup on the Saturday, please reply to this email with a confirmation to hawksig@gmail.com so we know who to expect.

As with previous years, any stock left on the premises overnight is done so at your own risk.

Sunday 22nd January

Please note, we are operating a staggered set-up on the day of the show and admission will only be permitted in line with the times given below:

Trader set-up is from 07:00 -10:00 (admission with Trader wristbands only).

Exhibitor set-up is from 08:00 – 10:00 (admission with Exhibitor wristbands only).

Wristbands for all Traders and Exhibitors are to be collected on arrival. We have decided to do this due to the difficulties experienced as a result of Royal Mail Strikes and the uncertainty as to whether the wristbands will reach you in good time if posted.

Please check in with the Hall Manager on arrival (Rob in the Yellow Fleece and his glamourous assistants) who will issue your wristbands and direct you to your tables.

The show will be open to the public from 10:00 – 16:00, after which strike down will commence.

IMPORTANT: There is a change to the parking arrangements this year as follows:

Anyone parking in the Stadium or Whites Hotel car parks (Traders/Exhibitors/Visitors) must register their vehicle, or else face a parking fee/fine of £100. There is a tablet by the pay desk entrance in the Premier Suite and the vehicle registration can be entered onto this (please have your vehicle details to hand to prevent queuing). There will also be QR codes in the venue and a smart phone can be used to enter your registration number via these. There are similar facilities in the Whites Hotel reception area. If attending set-up on Saturday and the show on Sunday, your registration will have to be entered for each visit. Please note this is a requirement of the venue owners and is beyond the control of Bolton IPMS.

PLEASE BRIEF YOUR COLLEAGUES/CLUB/SIG ACCORDINGLY AND REGISTER YOUR VEHICLE ON ARRIVAL TO AVOID THE £100 PARKING FEE!

Bolton IPMS will not be held responsible for anyone who incurs a Parking Fee.

As ever, please do not park in the disabled spaces unless you have a disability.

Thank you all for your continued support to our show - it is very much appreciated.

See you in a couple of weeks!

Best Regards,


Rob Monfea - Show Manager - Bolton IPMS

[kitbasher]

All who are going enjoy the show.   

Hope to see pics in due course.

[Weaver]

I'll see how I feel on the day (currently off work ill AGAIN), so for that reason, I probably won't bring anything to display, not that I've got much new anyway...

[The Wooksta!]

I shall be there.

[Howard of Effingham]

Should be there with Richard.

[Nick]

Seeing as I've never been to this show before, and that Hudders/Hali/Leeds has been cancelled.... I'm off to Bolton tomorrow!

Not really up for a 5am start and a 4 hour drive on a Sunday morning followed by a 6 hour drive home.

Got a cheap hotel booked and I've looked up Top Ten Things To Do in Bolton. Six of them are actually outside Bolton but at least the list didn't say 'Get out of Bolton'. 

[kitbasher]

Enjoy (and spend wisely 😉)!

[The Wooksta!]

I'm sure Thorvic can recommend a good curry house.  May well be worth messaging Martin as I think he will be in Bolton for the full weekend.

[Weaver]

I'm not coming.

1. I got breathlessness and minor chest pains just walking around Sainsbury's for an hour this afternoon, so I'm clearly not over whatever this is (tentative diagnosis is myocarditis).

2. I'm on thin ice with work, having already used the one period of sickness I'm allowed before April. I can't afford to catch a random winter bug by spending all day in a closed room with a bunch of people from all over the country, as has happened at many a model show in the past.

Sorry folks.

[NARSES2]

Sensible H, especially re work. Although your employers sickness scheme makes me realise just how lucky I was with mine. Mind you that was a different age.

Take care mate. 

[PR19_Kit]

How can an employer legislate how ill you can be?

They don't live in the real world, and obviously can't remember themselves ever getting ill!   

[Gondor]

Exactly my thoughts. I used to have an employer that didn't beleive in self certification and wanted a sick line for each time I was off sick, they alsi returned a sick line to my doctor as I "Could not be suffereing from stress as there was not a high work load at the time". Needless to say I used to work for them and am very glad I don't even though I have to travel much much further.

Gondor

[NARSES2]

No idea what the rules are now, but you used to be allowed 3 days self certified and then you needed a certificate. How often you could be off was up to your employer but it had to be in your terms of contract and it needed to be "reasonable". If you were consistently off sick and it was for the same reason then your employer could enter discussions with you on what was the right course of action in so far as your well being was concerned.

Having entered into those discussions with a couple of my staff during my time as a MM it was amazing how their health could improve.  On the other hand I've also signed people off for months when I knew they were ill.

[Weaver]

It's a week for self-certification now - I think they changed it during COVID.

There's some standard, who's name I forget, based off some crappy research from the 1960s(?) that many employers still use as the basis for their absenteeism policies. It basically says that if you have more than three periods of illness in one year, then you're likely to be swinging the lead and the company should deal with it via a disciplinary process. They do a long interview with you, decide on a plan of improvement (which is subject to negotiation: you don't have to sign off on it if you don't think it's reasonable, or the union advises you not to), and give you a verbal warning. If you don't stick to the plan then it's a written warning etc...

The stupid thing with this is that it discourages people from coming back to work early to see if they can cope or not, because if they can't and go off again, it's counted as another separate period of illness, even though it's the same thing. I fell foul of this because I came back, after a long absence with shoulder pain, and three weeks later the same shoulder pain kicked off again, worse than ever, and I went off again. That counted as two separate absences, even though it was the same problem.

The plan they presented to me when I came back again was no absences for 8 weeks (upto Christmas, essentially), then only one period of absence between Christmas and April. I took ill with what's now suspected to be myocarditis before Chirstmas, toughed it out for a week, went back after the Christmas break and lasted four days before I couldn't cope and had to go off ill again. Now I'm scared to go back too soon in case I still can't cope, go off again, and thereby set myself up for a written warning. It's totally stupid: the incentive structure they've set up is keeping me off work rather than encouraging me back, which is surely the very opposite of what they want...