It's a hit: Softball clubs can offer very good value for money
Has a club or society you belong to been hit by the recession? Investec Bank claims the economic downturn could mean groups around the country lose a total of £362m this year as members cancel and reduce subscriptions in a bid to save money.
It asked 2,000 people about their memberships and found that 7% intended to cancel all of them this year, while a further 6% planned to reduce their outlay, either by moving from full- to part-time membership or cutting the number of societies to which they belong.
The research suggests groups in the East Midlands could be hardest hit, facing a 12.53% fall in the amount raised through subscriptions. In contrast, in the West Midlands payments are expected to fall by just 2.21%.
Investec's Helen Park-Weir says the cancellations would probably be driven by consumers' desire to save money in the wake of the recession. "Families are looking at where they can reduce spending and it is things like entertainment, going to the cinema, going out for dinner and clubs that they are cutting back on."
That is probably true in some cases, but in many instances clubs offer a relatively cheap form of entertainment, and surely some must have seen their memberships rise as people have cottoned on to this. The softball team I play for has a subscription of just £30 a season, which for three-and-a-half-months' entertainment is pretty good value.
According to the CCPR, an umbrella group for 290 sports bodies, average annual memberships for sports clubs cost just £52 for adults and £43 for juniors – which wouldn't pay for many trips to the cinema or the gym.
Although the group warned last year that 6,000 clubs around the UK faced closure, partly as a result of falling memberships, yesterday a spokesman said its latest research showed many had seen memberships rise.
"People are thinking long and hard before making annual financial commitments, but sports clubs represent terrific value and we hope that that will see them through what might otherwise be tough times," he said. "It makes sense that when cash is short people look for cheaper options and the average club membership for a year is the same price as a meal for two in a decent restaurant."
The Pony Club, which has more than 38,000 members around the UK, had predicted it could see one in 10 subscriptions cancelled last year, but said the number had actually fallen by just 4%. "We seemed to weather the financial climate very well with some branches and centres losing members, where others seemed to significantly gain them," spokeswoman Clare Roberts says.
"It is very hard to say whether it was in fact the financial situation that affected our membership, as we naturally have peaks and troughs with batches of older members dropping off the top end, but equally younger members joining."
So is the society you belong to also managing to weather the storm? Or have members been leaving in a bid to save cash?
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