Dear Member
A page for entries from September to the end of 2023 is now live – plants will be added as they are received, so please check periodically for updates.
Thanks to those members who have submitted plants so far.
Please remind yourself of the submission guidelines and email your entries to tableshow@osgb.org.uk
FROM THE TREASURER
Subscriptions – With this issue of the Journal, you will receive a Membership
Renewal Form for 2024 (unless you pay by Standing Order – please see below).
Subscriptions have remained unchanged for many years but now, unfortunately, have
to be increased. As can be seen in the Accounts for 2022 (published in May’s
Journal), the Society spent £5,000 more in 2022 than in the previous year, leaving no
surplus. Some of this was due to increased hall hire costs, which remain high; but almost
half the amount was due to increased Journal costs, both printing and, particularly,
postage which will continue to increase. Because of this we will, almost certainly,
incur a deficit in the Accounts for 2023 and, so that the deficit does not increase year
on year, a subscription increase is required. Hence, the subscription rates for 2024 are
as follows:-
Single UK: £25
Single Europe: £25 + £10 postage = £35
Single Rest of World: £25 + £15 postage = £40
In each case, please add £5 for each additional member living at the same address
For a young person’s single membership (aged 21 or under), please deduct £5 from
the cost
We hope that you continue to consider membership in the O.S.G.B. to be a very good
value for money, and would appreciate it if you could send your subscription to the
Membership Secretary before the end of the year, so that your membership card can
be sent with the next issue of the Journal.
Standing Orders – Please change your standing order to reflect the new subscription
rate before 1st January 2024. Remember, it is you who has to change the standing
order, the O.S.G.B. cannot do this for you.
Colour Fund – This fund was started many years ago to provide money for colour
pictures in the Journal. If you would like to help your Society to continue to produce
our high-quality, all-colour Journal, please consider sending a contribution to the
Colour Fund.
Gift Aid – If you are eligible for the Gift Aid scheme, please tick the box on your
Renewal Form and help your Society to reclaim tax from subscription money. In
2022, the O.S.G.B. received a Gift Aid refund of £2,809 from HMRC so, if you
haven’t already done so, please do tick the Gift Aid box. Please print your name in
full at the top of your Renewal Form and make sure that you include your house
number (or name) and your postcode as the Gift Aid scheme requires this.
PayPal – The Society has a PayPal account accessible through the Website. This is a
convenient way to pay your Subscription if you have access to the internet, so please
consider paying by this means rather than with a credit or debit card. The O.S.G.B.
pays a lower transaction fee for PayPal than it does for credit and debit cards.
Correspondence – We would appreciate it if members would include an e-mail
address, or a stamped addressed envelope, if they require a reply from any
correspondence that they send to the Treasurer or Membership Secretary.
Thank-you
Sally Mill
THE ANNUAL AUCTION IS COMING SOON!
The annual Auction will be held on Saturday, January 6th at our Cole Court venue; put the date in
your diaries and help us make this a highlight of the year! The Auction is a very entertaining meeting
with lots of banter, enjoyed by all. It is also a good reason for getting out on, what can be a cold and,
otherwise, uninspiring day. For those who are new to this, here are a few notes on how the Auction
works:
The doors will open for the meeting at 1:00 pm; plants arriving for auctioning will be registered and
allocated a number. Members can bring up to 8 lots, and joint members up to 12. The plants are then
placed on the auction tables. Members who come to buy, rather than to sell, will register and be
handed a personal number; any plants they buy will be assigned to that number.
The Auction will start at 2.00 pm with the plants being auctioned at random. Each plant will be held
up for all to see and have a little information given about it; also, a very reasonable starting price
suggested. After the sale of the final plant, a lot of arithmetic will be carried out (by myself) to total
up each purchaser’s spend and to ascertain each seller’s takings, not forgetting that 10% of each
plant sale goes to the O.S.G.B. Everyone else gets a tea break at this point! The sellers expect to go
home with their takings, so we try to run a cash auction as far as possible; please visit a cash point if
you can before you come to the Auction. However, we will also be able to take credit/debit card
payments by Zettle if you have been unable to get hold of any cash, or have brought insufficient with
you!
The Auction is a fantastic means for O.S.G.B. members to ‘swap’ plants. If you can’t grow an orchid
as well as it should be grown, bring it to the Auction; you can bet that someone else would like to
give it a go. You might also be surprised at how much your plant is sold for; the average sale price
per lot at the last auction was £18. If you come to the Auction, you are sure to pick up a bargain or
two; lot prices can start as low as £2. Most of the plants auctioned in 2023 would have cost over £20
to purchase commercially, many of them much more. Also, several of the orchids seen in the 2023
Auctions are now not commercially available; so, coming to the Auction gives you the chance to pick
up a rarity that you may not otherwise be able to obtain.
See you there!