CLAS Affiliated Groups in the UK and Eire

List of groups

Listed below are some of the groups affiliated to CLAS. If you are interested in joining a local group near you, then please make contact with the appropriate person.

Becoming a CLAS Affiliated Group

The Benefits which Affiliation brings to Local Groups

• Public Liability Insurance (PLI) for UK local groups, obtained at an attractive annual premium (Type A only)
• Three copies of each issue of The Edge, the Society’s magazine
• Free inclusion in the Diary Dates section of The Edge for your major activities
• A free copy of the Tutors and Talkers booklet to assist in planning your group’s programme
• Preferential allocation of table-space at CLAS Regional Events

Members of a CLAS Affiliated Group
who are not fully paid up individual members of CLAS do not have any voting rights at CLAS Annual or Extraordinary General Meetings. They may attend such meetings as guests of a fully paid up individual member but may not take part in the business of the meetings. An Affiliated Group may appoint a Group committee member to attend such meetings, to participate in the business of the meeting and to exercise one vote on behalf of the Group.

The Current Fees
A) to include all the above benefits:
£81, with a reduction to £71 if 50% or more of your members are also members of
CLAS.
B) to include the above benefits with the exception of the Public Liability Insurance:
£36.

These fees cover the period 1st October to 30th September. For Groups affiliating between April and September the fees for A) and B) are £63 (£58) and £18 respectively. Renewal, at the then current full fees, will be due in October.

The Public Liability Insurance premium is an annual premium and also a minimum premium and so there is no reduction in this part of the affiliation fee if your group joins part way through the period.

Why your Group should have Public Liability Insurance Cover
An accident occurring at a meeting of a local group could result in an action for damages arising with crippling financial implications. Supposing a member, or a guest, tripped over a mains cable feeding a slide projector and banged his/her head against a chair, possible damaging an eye. That person could well sue the group for damages, whose magnitude would be related to the degree of injury. Some time ago, a legal officer in a large insurance company advised that, in court, it would be at the judge’s discretion as to who was held responsible. It could well be the officers of the group, the Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer (or maybe the member who set-up the projector). In this event, if the plaintiff won his/her case, the officers (or member) would be required to pay the damages set by the court. You will be able to think
of other circumstances which could give rise to a claim for damages, a situation which is becoming much more common in this country.

Public Liability Insurance will protect a group, including its officers, from the possibility of such a horrifying predicament. The policies typically “indemnify the insured against legal liability to pay compensation and claimants costs and expenses in respect of

a) accidental injury to any person
b) loss of or damage to material property.”

The cover will operate in the UK at any venue that the group uses. The “material property” referred to is not that which belongs to the group but, for example, that of the meeting place eg furniture and fittings. (Many halls now include a clause in their hiring Terms and Conditions stating that the hirer must have their own Public Liability Insurance. The hall’s own insurance does not provide cover for the hirers.) To cover the group’s property, a separate policy would be required, with a high minimum premium. However, items used at meetings are often members’ property and may be covered by the owner’s all risks policy.

CLAS already has Public Liability Insurance which provides cover at all CLAS events in the UK. £1M cover has been arranged for affiliated UK Local Groups at a premium per group which is considerably less than the minimum premium for an individual group. To take advantage of this opportunity, your group needs to affiliate to CLAS. Even if your group already has cover, the CLAS offer should be cheaper, not withstanding the additional features which affiliation provides. So please don’t delay. Consider obtaining this protection as well as receiving the other benefits which affiliation will bring and join with the 49 local UK groups who are currently affiliated to CLAS with PLI cover.

To obtain an application form for your Local UK Group to become affiliated to CLAS
Please e-mail David Lloyd at giving

• the name of your Local UK Group
• the name, position and address of the contact for affiliation matters
• and whether your group requires Affiliation Type A or B.
  

Groups applying for Type A affiliation will be sent the insurance company’s proposal form for completion and return.