The eagle eyed amongst you will have spotted the cost of membership and meetings has gone up.
Sadly, the world has changed since the society started and the days of Free wine, free speakers etc. are well and truly gone. And prices have gone UP.
A simple example: We used to get quite a few speakers, often wine shop owners or big suppliers who'd come along for free, as publicity, the only cost being the wine. So (at todays prices) you'd have say 24 bottles @£10 = £240 spread over 40 members - £6 per head. Happy days. Even some evenings where the wine was supplied FOC as part of their marketting budget.
Now, they charge. Money is tight. People have to make a living.
Now, it is much more like: Speaker charges £200 to come + wine, so £440 - £11 per head. And if you work out the time involved in putting together a tasting + travel time + fuel, £200 is quite modest, and is often more.
And of course, £10 for wine is an OK price point, but fairly run of the mill. If you want something a little more upmarket - £15. So its easy to see how that £240 has become £440 and can easily be £600. 40 x £15 = £600 so £15 per head, not £6!
So the committee have taken the tough decision to up the meeting charge the £15, the membership fee likewise.
It's tough out there.
