Friends of the Centre

The character of the Friends is kept informal and we encourage active links between Friends, volunteers and staff within the Centre. Friends are kept up-to-date with the Centre's activities via our twice-yearly Journal, Everyone's War and membership also entitles Friends to receipt of newsletters and exclusive invitations to events. Membership costs just £20 per annum in the UK or £30 from abroad. Individuals can choose to pay their subscription under Gift Aid as detailed below. We currently have approximately 1,000 Friends who support our work in this way.

The following gives an indication of the level of costs involved in our work to rescue Second World War testimony and demonstrates how important a donation of as little as £20 can be:

• £20 funds the rescue of one person's memories of the Second World War
• £100 enables us to rescue, catalogue, archive and conserve one person's memorabilia for posterity
• £200 funds our core rescue work for one day

To join the Friends, fill in the membership application form and send it to the Centre with the appropriate payment to cover your membership. Friends can also pay by standing order and if you would prefer to do so, simply complete the standing order on the application form and return to the Centre with your completed membership application form. Contributions of any amount are, of course, most welcome and the membership application form can also be used for one-off donations. Due to changes in tax legislation we can now reclaim tax on all donations we receive, provided the donor is a tax-payer (either income tax or capital gains tax). All that you need to do is ensure that you sign the Gift Aid Declaration at the bottom of the membership application form and this will cover any donation, single or regular, large or small. A donation of £100, for instance, if made under the Gift Aid scheme is worth £128 to the Centre, at no extra cost to you. Indeed, if you are a higher rate tax-payer you can even claim a tax rebate as well. For further information, contact cath.pugh@war-experience.org

Company Sponsorship

We also welcome support from companies large and small. An annual donation of £50 enables a company to become a member of the Friends and this - and any other donation - can be entirely offset against a company's tax liability. There are other opportunities for involvement which include: sponsorship of our Leeds-based annual Golf Day; sponsorship of our Annual Autumn Lecture Series; placing an article in our Journal or becoming a sponsor of one particular edition. We are happy to develop tailor-made packages for individual companies on request.