The London Appreciation Society [Founded in 1932 by Dr H.L. Bryant Peers] Secretary: John Mann, 109 Chatsworth Road London NW2 4BH Website: www.las.org.uk * The Society is a secular, non-political and non profit-making organization for adults interested in the past, present and future of London * President: The Rt. Hon. The Viscount Norwich, CVO Vice Presidents Roger Cline Valerie Colin-Russ The Ven. Peter Delaney Gerald R. Charles Dickens Committee Chairman: Christopher Claxton Stevens Deputy Chairman: John Mann Secretary: John Mann Registrar: Clive Page Treasurer: John Tritton Assistant Treasurer: Mary Moore Shelagh Blackham MBE Don Buchanan Arthur Fordham Patricia Howard Anne Oxenham MBE Officers Membership Secretary: Christine Bevan Committee Secretary: Roger Cline Honorary Life Members John Barrett Roger Cline Valerie Colin-Russ Daphne Hart 1 Programme Organisers Shelagh Blackham Liz Harwood & Robin Key James Nadarajah Rosemary Bolingbroke Carole Lee Anne Oxenham Arthur Fordham Joy & Mike Lever Anne Ramon Julia Foyle [IT support] Margaret & John Mann Chris & Daphne Steele Simon Gillingham Gayna Martine & Simon Masterton Smith Judith & Richard West Tour Leaders Pat Howard [Co-Ordinator] John Ackroyd Julie Crouch Rhoda Lewis Jacqueline Anda John Dodwell John Mann Rosemary Bolingbroke Geoff Donald Mary Moore Christopher Claxton Stevens Paul Dye Chris Redfern Roger Cline Keith & Mary Evans Hilary Taylor Valerie Colin-Russ Simon Gillingham John Tritton Contacts If you have a query, please email or write to the relevant Officer, enclosing a stamped, addressed envelope if you need a reply by post. Printing services or non-receipt of Blue Book Colin Watson, 22 Leonard Avenue, Morden, SM4 6DW Email: [email protected] Non-receipt of booking confirmation Dr Clive Page, 1 Durler Gardens, Luton LU1 3TA Email: [email protected] General Enquiries and Information Don Buchanan John Tritton Email [email protected] Email: [email protected] Membership enquiries or change of address or email Christine Bevan, 52 Greenwich Park Street, Greenwich, London SE10 9LT Email; [email protected] Correspondence to the Committee and Queries about Paper Booking Forms Roger Cline, Flat 13, 13 Tavistock Place London WC1H 9SH Email: [email protected] Suggestions for future events The Secretary at the address on page 1 Email: [email protected] 2 Essential Information about LAS Membership Subscriptions: The annual subscription of £10 must be paid by the preceding 31 December. Details of how to pay your subscription will be sent with the next Blue Book. Change of Address: Please notify the Membership Secretary if your postal or email address changes and when you reach Senior Citizen status. Annual Programme: Cancelled Events Full details of the Society’s Programme are published twice a year in the Blue Book. LAS will do all it can to stick to the advertised programme but neither the Society nor its officers can be held responsible for alterations or cancellations. Events will not be cancelled by LAS because of transport strikes. If for this or any other reason the hosts cancel an event the Society will try to re-arrange it later. If an event is cancelled members will be credited automatically with the full amount against the cost of their next booking. Booking Arrangements Most members now book on line. There were some concerns at first but many have said how remarkably straightforward our Registrar’s system is. All you have to do is start at the LAS website, www.las.org.uk and follow the obvious links. If you book on line you must also agree to pay by direct debit. If you have set one up already this will still be active. Those who are new to on line booking will be prompted to set up a direct debit in favour of LAS when they book events. Please use the online booking system if you possibly can. Those who used paper forms last time should find paper booking forms enclosed with this Blue Book. To book using a paper form, please use your own envelope to send the form with SAE and cheque to Roger Cline, at Flat 13, 13 Tavistock Place, London WC1H 9SH (and not to the Registrar as formerly). There will be a £2 handling charge per paper booking form. Apply to Roger if you need a form and one is not enclosed. Any two members may book on the same form whether they have the same address or not. An event requested by both will be allocated to both or neither. The total fee may be paid by the direct debit of either or both; if there are two direct debits registered the total will be divided appropriately between them. You may apply for places for guests when the Blue Book says so, but applications for guests will not be successful if an event is fully booked by members. Shortly after the booking deadline the Registrar will merge requests made on line with those made on paper and run the usual booking allocation programme. The aim is to return on-line requests by email within a few days; booking confirmations which have to be posted may take up to two weeks. Whenever tickets are needed for an event such as a concert the Tour Leader will hand them out on the day at the designated meeting place. 3 What to do if you cannot use a place you have been offered and have paid for • Most events are oversubscribed and if at all possible LAS would like another member to take your place • If you have joined the email swap system your booking confirmation form will include the email addresses of unsuccessful applicants for the events for which you have a place. If you cannot use your place please try to find a replacement from among those on the waiting list. If you succeed you and your exchange partner should agree on how he or she should reimburse you. • If you are not in the email swap scheme and would like to join, email the Registrar. • If you are not in the email swap system please leave a message for the Secretary saying you cannot attend. He may be able to find someone to take your place and if successful he will discuss how you should be reimbursed • Whenever a swap is arranged, on arriving at the meeting place your replacement should tell the Tour Leader that he or she is taking your place. • A few hosts insist on having in advance the names of every member of any visiting group. These events are asterisked in the Blue Book and if you have to drop out LAS will not be able to replace you. But please tell the Secretary that you have had to drop out so that he can advise the Tour leader not to expect you. There are no asterisked events in this Blue Book. Dietary Requirements. When you book an event which includes a meal for which we have to pre-order we will send you details of any choices available. Insurance against Injury or Loss LAS tries to ensure that all the venues we visit and all the guides we use are fully insured, and LAS also has its own Public Liability Insurance. But the Society and its officers cannot be held responsible for death or injury to members or loss or damage to property at any time or however caused. General Data Protection Regulations These Regulations came into force on 25 May 2018. They require LAS to tell you what data about you LAS holds, and how we use it. The only data we hold is what you provided on your membership application form and booking forms: ie title, names, postal address, telephone numbers, email address, and whether entitled to senior discounts, have any dietary or access needs, are a member of the email swap scheme, which events you applied for and booked, whether you book on line or on paper, and any Society office or committee membership held. The data is stored on paper or on the personal computers of the Membership Secretary, the Registrar and where necessary other members helping to run the Society. LAS also stores some data externally: • on line booking data is stored on an external server temporarily until each booking deadline, • names and email addresses are stored by an external service provider so that LAS can send emails to all members, and 4 • the secure servers of Go Cardless store the bank account information you provided but your bank account details cannot be accessed by the LAS Only those who help to run LAS have access to your data. It is not shared with any other organization. Attending Events • The Blue Book is prepared some months before events take place so it is in your interest to check the details, of travel arrangements before you set out. For National Rail; Telephone 03457 484950, website www.nationalrail.co.uk : for Transport for London: telephone 0343 222 1234, website www.tfl.gov.uk . • Unless the Blue Book mentions car parking explicitly, assume there is none. • Please give your name to the Tour Leader when you arrive at the meeting place. • Always meet, please, at the designated meeting place and not at the venue if this is different. If some members go directly to the venue this may be inconvenient for the hosts as well as causing problems for the Tour Leader who is expecting to assemble the whole group at the meeting place before proceeding to the venue. • Please have your Booking Confirmation Form with you. It may be needed. • Please try not to arrive more than 30 minutes before the advertised time. • Events start at the advertised time.