Membership

CHANGE TO MEMBERSHIP: For 2006 LHVeg will have no formal membership. The success of vegetarianism and the ease in which veggie food can now be bought in shops and restaurants, has seen local groups becoming increasingly unpopular, time restraints on everyone and a rural location has seen a reluctance in group members to meet up on a regularly basis; for this reason LHVeg is being run only via its web site. Hopefully vegetarians out there will still join in the campaign and help by membership of the Vegetarian Society and offering their support by fund/awareness raising.

A Bit of History: Past membership - reason for initial five pound charge:

WHY JOIN? WHERE DOES THE MONEY GO?

I thought you might like to know why, having you as a member, is so important to us. Below is an extract from Network News by Bronwen Humphreys the Vegetarian Society’s Local Contacts Organiser. Network News is the newsletter Local Contacts and group organisers receive quarterly to keep us abreast of The Society’s Educational Campaigns.

Fundraising in 2003 by Bron,
”This is the time of year that finds me bent over my calculator while I try to extract a summary of the year's fundraising efforts from my various record sheets. This year's grand total is 2,330.10. This is not as good as 2002's figure which was over three thousand pounds but better than 1999, 2000 and
2001 where the totals didn't reach even two thousand, so well done to everyone who took part.

I feel I do have to give the Lewes & Hastings Group a special vote of thanks at this point because they raised a substantial proportion of our total this year - 900 pounds. But this doesn't mean we don't appreciate our smaller fundraisers. We do understand that circumstances differ and as much effort may have gone into an activity that raises 20 as one that raises 200. It all adds up…”

LHVeg simply could not have done this without our membership support. Our Catering side helps us to raise funds but your membership fee of £5.00 per annum is also vital for us; it covers the costs of our newsletter, flyers and event posters. Any remaining membership money goes towards promoting vegetarianism i.e. putting on a free veggie food ‘taster’ event, sending out flyers and information to libraries and schools and on info stands. Your continued support helps us to encourage more people to move towards a ‘cruelty free lifestyle’.