APPLICATION FOR MEMBERSHIP OF EASTCOTE BRANCH & CLUB
Telephone
You can join the Royal British Legion and Eastcote Branch (Code BR 0915) in particular by telephoning the Freephone number 0800 307 7773 and pay by debit/credit card. Lines are open 8.00 a.m. – 8.00 p.m. seven days a week.
Online
You can also join by clicking on http://www.britishlegion.org.uk/membership and follow the simple step by step instructions. The online joining system is not compatible with Internet Explorer Version 9 or older. You will need to use IE10, IE11, Chrome or Firefox to complete your online application.
You CANNOT join Eastcote RBL Club via either of these two methods.
If you do apply via either of these two methods, RBL Headquarters Membership Services will send you your National and Eastcote Branch Only membership card. You will then have to come in to Eastcote RBL and ask for the Club Membership Secretary so that you can apply/pay for your initial Eastcote Club membership.
You have to be a National/Branch member before you can apply for Club membership.
Use Of Premises
You can use the Eastcote RBL facilities with immediate effect. If anybody asks about your presence on the premises, please advise that person that you have applied for membership and are awaiting the return of your membership card. There are frequent Branch/Club membership card checks.
The National Membership Fee is £18 as from 1st April 2024.
RENEWAL OF NATIONAL + EASTCOTE BRANCH MEMBERSHIP
1ST OCTOBER 2023
1 GENERAL
1.1 For All Eastcote RBL Members Who Joined Before 1 April 2015. Renewal of National + Eastcote Branch Membership takes place on 1 October every year (Bulk Renewal).
1.2 Anniversary Renewal is for anyone who joined from 1 April 2015. It falls exactly on the date of joining every year.
1.3 Please note that renewal of membership of Eastcote RBL Club cannot be processed via the following procedures. Bring your renewed National + Eastcote Branch card in with payment for the attention of the Eastcote Club Secretary
2 PAYMENT BULK RENEWAL MEMBERS
2.1 The National Membership Fee at 1st October 2023 is £18-00 plus Eastcote Branch Fee £3-00. i.e. £21-00 in total.
3 BULK MAILING PLAN
This year bulk renewal letters go out to 137,588 members.
The mailing started on 10th August 2023. It is staggered as per previous years. Letters to Direct Debit payers and people living overseas are prioritised. Additionally, we sent out email renewal notifications to overseas members whose letters often go missing or arrive too late.
Please note that sending out letters in batches helps us reduce the volume of calls at the contact centre, and as a result helps you to get through to a call adviser more quickly.
4 CONTACTING US
Contact details on the renewal letter contain direct telephone numbers to the Membership Helpline as well as the Membership Services team email address. We strongly advise to use electronic mail for communication – telephone calls incur additional costs. The average phone call waiting times can be extended during our busy periods, so to avoid unnecessary wait, please send us an email with your query and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
Please note that general membership queries can usually be answered by your local Membership Support Officer.
5 MEMBERSHIP HELPLINE
Membership Helpline:
UK: 0800 307 7773 (free from UK landlines and main mobile networks) Republic of Ireland: 1800 911 936 (free) Overseas: +44 (0)207 191 1091 (full rate)
Membership Services email address: membershipservices@britishlegion.org.uk
6 BRANCH TRANSFERS
Branch transfers should be avoided until the payment is cleared. This is to avoid changes to the payment plans which may cause errors in calculating outstanding balances and result in:
-payments being rejected,
-outstanding balances on a member’s record
-a card not being dispatched.
7 PAYMENT PLAN
Payment plan is a breakdown of the total amount to pay; it includes: • Membership fee - £18 from 1st October • Branch fee (if applicable) – a fee set by the branch to support its running costs • General fund donation – a donation used to support the membership activities Benevolent fund donation - a donation used to support our beneficiaries.
It is very important that members who don’t want to continue paying a donation, or wish to change its amount, inform us as soon as possible. This way we can remove the donation from the payment plan. As a result, there won’t be any outstanding balance on a member’s account.
8 DIRECT DEBIT
The DD collection request must be ready for the banks on 1st September and cannot be changed after this date. The collection date this year is Wednesday 9th September.
If DD payers wish to make any changes, they must inform us before August 26th.
Members who wish to change their payment method to Direct Debit must be aware that their collection date will depend on how quickly the mandate can be set up with their bank. The initial set up of a new DD mandate takes longer than using an existing one.
9 CHEQUE PAYMENTS
Members paying by cheque must attach the remittance slip to the cheque. Cheques without remittance slips will not be processed as they cannot be matched to a membership number and therefore will be destroyed. Furthermore membership numbers should be written on the back of each cheque to ensure it can be linked to the correct membership account.
Please do not send cheques to the Branch or to TRBL Head Office on Borough High Street, London, as there is a risk that they will be classed as anonymous donations to the Poppy Appeal and be processed as such.
The address where all the payments (and corresponding documents) must be sent to is:
The Royal British Legion RBL Membership Applications and Payments PO Box 1402 9 The Lakes Northampton NN1 9EX
You can use one cheque to pay for all family members if you wish to do so. It is very important to clearly list all members at the back of the cheque and attach remittance slips for each member to avoid any confusion and misallocation of funds. Please also ensure membership numbers are written on the back of the cheque for easy allocation.
10 WHITE MAIL
We strongly advise branches to refrain from using post as a contact method and avoid sending us paper applications or cheques. New joiners should be directed to the Membership Helpline or online joining portal where they can easily and quickly apply for membership and make the payment. Existing members should be encouraged to pay for their renewal online, over the phone, or to sign up to Direct Debit.
11 CLUB FEES
As in the previous years, Club fees aren’t collected centrally and Clubs must collect their fees themselves. The renewal letters will not contain any Club fees in the payment breakdown.
Members who add the club fee to their membership payment will not be able to request a refund as we treat all additional payments as donations.
In case of the membership card delivery being delayed for whatever reason, members can request a temporary proof of membership from the Membership Services team and use this at their Club to prove that they have paid for TRBL membership.
12 CARD DESPATCH
Every member should receive their card within approx. 10 working days from the payment being cleared e.g. Membership cards will only be sent when the bank confirms the clearance of a cheque, not when we physically receive the cheque.
13 FOLLOW-UP COMMUNICATIONS
Unpaid members will receive a renewal reminder towards the end of November- this will include the lapsing date Please note that as per the Royal Charter, members must pay their fees within 3 months of their renewal date – if no payment is received, they will be removed from the membership lists. This means that all members whose renewal date is 1st October should pay their fees on or before 31st December 2019.
14 END NOTE
We kindly ask branches to help us make this renewal smooth and safe for all our members. If you have any concerns or questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at:
membershipservices@britishlegion.org.uk
Thank you.
Eastcote Royal British Legion
