What we’re about
Welcome to this Meetup group, for people who live in Luton, Dunstable and the surrounding areas, who’d like to take part in social activities on a regular basis, meet new friends and lead an active social life.
So just a little bit about us -
The Organiser of the Group is Elena K.
The Co-Organiser is myself, Sandra E. I am responsible for the day to day running of the group.
Our typical members range in age from 20s to 60s, but there are no constraints on age for you to join the group as long as you’re over 18.
We like to discover unique and unusual local activities and events, together with regular, more traditional Meetups like meals, theatre trips, live music and walks. We also have repeat events that members enjoy on a regular basis and it’s great to go to these and form stronger friendships with familiar faces. Our aim is to create a balanced social calendar for everyone.
Most of our events take place in the three counties but sometimes we venture further afield.
Previous Events have included a Mad Hatters Tea Party, a Ukulele Jam, a Butterfly Walk, Trampolining, Adult Fun Night at Meade Open Farm, Eat Fests and a Narrow Boat Cruise and many more.
We’re always looking for new ideas, so please share with us your thoughts for future events.
PROFILE PHOTO
To join this group, you must be easily recognisable from your profile photo otherwise your request to join will be refused. If after joining you take your photo down you will be removed from the group with an open invitation to rejoin if a photo is added. This is both a safety issue and so hosts can recognise you at events so hope this is understandable.
ACCEPTABLE BEHAVIOUR POLICY
This group has an Acceptable Behaviour Policy. Please take a moment to familiarise yourself with it.
The policy can be seen here:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1U_FoXKK3c6PS6kg7-FD1AFr1J_bOYXhIgj9vScGQkPg/edit?usp=sharing
In short, we don’t tolerate harassing behaviour towards other members which include all the Event Organisers and such behaviour may result in your removal from the group.
Also if any member blocks a senior Organiser from the Chat function they may be removed from the Group. I can assure you none of the Organisers will spam you with messages but it is sometimes necessary to private message members rather than post sensitive information on an event so we need to be able to contact you.
ATTENDANCE AT EVENTS
We ask that all members keep in mind that our Event Organisers are hosting their events completely voluntarily, in their own time and receive no payment for doing so. We need Event Organisers to have a successful group and so they have autonomy to decide how to run their own events so they run smoothly.
It is very important for members to keep their RSVP’s up to date. If you RSVP to an event, especially the meals which have limited numbers, please only do so if you are pretty sure you can go. Of course things crop up and if that is the case we just ask that you change your RSVP to “Not Going” at the earliest opportunity or comment on the event to let the Event Organiser know. This is a common courtesy to both the Event Organisers and anyone who may be on a wait list wanting to go.
Any member who is recorded as having 3 No Shows on events (which we can tell from Meet Up) will be given a warning. A 4th No Show may result in removal from the Group.
EVENT COSTS
As members are asked to make a donation towards the costs of the Group fees (please see below) we do not separately charge for attendance at all events.
Occasionally you may see a cost attached to an event. If that is the case it will either be a Ticketed event or a deposit required by the Venue or a deposit on meal events we request to secure a limited space (which will be taken off of the meal purchased at the Venue).
MEMBERSHIP DONATION
This Meet Up Group is a social group and not run for profit. However as you may know the Organiser of any Meet Up Group - in our case Elena - has to pay Meet Up appx £240 per year to run a group. The fees as you may expect go up every year. We find running events is so much easier on Meet Up rather than FB or What’s App - we have tried the free platforms but with large groups it’s just not manageable. However, it is increasingly challenging to cover the costs, so in order to help Elena with this we ask members who have been to at least 2 events or have been in the group 3 months, make a membership contribution once a year of a minimum £5 - more if you wish :-)
This payment can be done in a variety of ways - PayPal to [email protected]
BACS transfer to myself - Co-Organiser Sandra E (please PM me for details)
Cash at an event to an Event Organiser (if you do this please PM me - Co Organiser Sandra E to let me know that you have done this)
Once I am notified you have paid or received the money myself, I will then update your membership record within the Group to reflect this. This is date/time stamped so the record keeping is accurate.
RISK DISCLAIMER
Please note that all members take part in all activities solely at their own risk should any personal loss, accident, illness or physical injury occur during an event.
RECEIVING OUR EVENT NOTIFICATIONS
Please check your Profile settings to ensure you’re opted in to receive emails from our Organiser. We only send occasional emails regarding important communications. Meetup will also email you to notify you when we list new events.
Having problems receiving our emails? Try this:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fZp2y92M86CNW2GVhg10_sllu8Lxc6Krfmq1EElmYE8/edit?usp=sharing
COMPLAINTS
Whilst we do all we can to ensure things run smoothly with a group of this size an issue may arise. I would encourage you to report the matter to me in confidence. To do so, please Private Message me so we can discuss a way forward. I commit to looking into the matter as thoroughly as possible and coming back to you with a result of those enquiries.
Thank you for taking time to read this section to familiarise yourself with the working of the Group.
Having done all the serious stuff we invite you to scroll through our Events and we hope something takes your fancy - be brave and RSVP to join the event as we look forward to meeting you!
Sandra E
Co-Organiser