• Anyone who brings a spouse or immediate family relative (parent, child, sibling) to volunteer, both at London and another control, for at least three full days
Make no mistake .. anyone claiming a place through this route .. will not receive a brevet card or a refund of their entry fee .. if the volunteer does not actually appear at Registration Day with the rider and their proof of identity.
And .. should the volunteer fail to complete the agreed 3 days of support then the ride will not be validated.
This is not going to be a sneaky way of getting a place, if the agreement is then not honoured .
If someone is volunteering in Edinburgh or one of the northern controls you’re going to make them come all the way to London to registration with their othe half who is riding. Doesn’t sound very reasonable for the volunteer really.
You're either missunderstanding or missconstruing what has been said.
In the case of a riders family member being a volunteer what generally happens is that they accompany the rider to the start & if assisting at another control make their own way there, or get free transport in one of the Bag Drop vans. That's certainly what happened in 2017.
I've no doubt alternative arrangements could be made in the scenario you describe, but I'm with FB on this, most people are honest, but there will always be one or two who will prepared to try and subvert the system, e.g. by claiming a volunteer is a relative when they are not in order to gaurantee entry.
I think it's enterily reasonable for the Team to have checks in place. I'm sure in the situation you described the checks could be managed differently.
I should add I volunteered in 2017 - it was hard work, but a fantastic experience & something I would highly recomend if you're not entering LEL.