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This is not an event that you can sign up for.
It is my way of announcing some important Friendly Faces news...

Many people assume that Meetup is free for all. The reality is that group owners are required to pay a chunky fee to the Meetup organisation every six months for their group to survive.
We've all seen groups disappear in the past, and that's simply because the organiser stops paying the fee, whereupon Meetup duly deletes the group permanently.

The disappointing news is that midway through 2024, Meetup added an incredible 50% increase to this already-sizeable fee, and smaller half-yearly increases were added in 2025.
Summing up the Friendly Faces group costs now (organiser fees, group insurance, etc) the total amount needed to keep it running is just over £500 a year.
Since the Friendly Faces group launched back in June 2022 through to the end of 2024 I paid all this out of my own pocket, and some of you had been nagging me to ask members for help with paying this.
So with the arrival of the big increase in 2024 I would very much appreciate your help to keep things going.

I concluded that the simplest solution is to apply a half-yearly membership fee, currently £10 per person. (a per month amount of £1.66)
With this paid, you’ll be free to attend any number of events you wish during the six months after your payment goes through. (e.g. A payment made on January 20th will give you membership until July 20th)
To put this into perspective - the Friendly Faces group held an average of 5 events per month over the last 18 months, so a half-year membership period should provide around 30 events to smash through as you wish.
I'm sure you would agree that £10 is a bargain for so many opportunities to (1) get out of the house and discover new places, (2) network and meet new people, and (3) make friends and acquaintances that you’ll want to see again.
Some members insisted that this membership is worth more than £10 and chose to pay a bit more for their half-year membership. Paying extra is of course appreciated, but it is each individuals decision to do so and is not compulsory.

Each half-yearly membership fee paid will be a hugely appreciated contribution to help keep those super-social Friendly Faces events rolling for us all to enjoy. So on behalf of all the group members, heart-felt thanks for your understanding and support of the Friendly Faces group and for helping it to continue.

Get on-board by wiring your £10 across online using the bank details below, and then you can hop over to the events page and enjoy the freedom to pick whichever events you'd like to attend.
Important Note: When you're done, please send me a message to let me know. Some banks don't add a name to the transaction, so I don't know who to credit the payment to.

Bank Details :
11-06-53 / 00175136 - Halifax
(my surname is James if needed)

All of us (first-timers and regulars) are looking forward to seeing you at an event soon. 🙂

Dean.
3rd Jan 2025.
(Updated 2nd Jan 2026)

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