Membership

Where does the money go?

We ask for membership which ends at the close of each year's AGM.  We don't do reduced rates for part year membership, as we currently only ask for £5.oo per member.  This covers all members for public events and employers liability insurance.  We have to pay employers liability, even although we are all volunteers.  This is a quirk of the insurance system - if a volunteer does any activity under direction (please pick up that thread, smooth out the backing, would you put the kettle on), and has an accident, then the person doing the asking is the employer. 

Public events include all our workshops, and if we do a talk on behalf of the group, we need to be insured to carry equipment to and from the event.

As a result of a £5000.00 lottery grant, we have equipment for use by the members.  This needs stored, insured and maintained, and these costs can't be covered by lottery money.  Posters, newsletters, leaflets etc, are heavily subsidised by the local Volunteer Services base, but postage and envelopes must be bought.

Our workshops are intended to be self-financing through entrance fees and tabletop sales, but we like to have a few pennies spare, just in case.

We also like to be able to give fabric to some of the volunteers who are not able to purchase their own, particularly as we can buy bulk and get a discount that way.  It is a sad fact that those who may have lots of time to quilt may also be those who don’t have much to spend.

We have equipment at The Studio, and members may use this by prior arrangement.  If making a quilt for Comfort Quilts we want to be able to pay for electricity, heating etc from the group funds, again allowing those with the time to participate as fully as possible.  If using equipment for your own quilt, you can still use this at the Studio, but will have to pay a small fee for use and electricity. 

I want to help - what do I do next?

Make contact with one of the committee, click here for committee contacts, and let us know what you want to do – make quilts or other items, help in the organisation, donate fabric or funds, join as a member, or anything else you think we should be doing that you can help with!

Come along to an event and bring as many friends as you can, letting us know in advance for catering purposes.

We are always looking for skills, such as bakers (yum, yum!), fundraisers, organisers, secretarial support, and anyone that can promote the group to a wider audience than we are reaching just now.  Do you know someone in the limelight that might be a good sponsor or patron?  Do you know of a company that might donate funds, prizes or perhaps sponsor an event?  Anything, no matter how small, might be useful to the group.