Area Society: Shropshire

'Local groups usually meet once a month, slowing down in the alpine off-season at the height of summer. So if you’re a gardener of a different stripe, alpines are a fun way to extend your gardening season! Group meetings often involve a talk from a plant expert, a raffle and a plant sale. Groups also arrange trips out to gardens and places of interest throughout the year.'

'Exists to promote and enhance the welfare, conservation and protection of badgers, their setts, and their habitats. We are the leading voice for badgers in England and Wales, with a network of around 60 local voluntary badger groups, and supported by thousands of supporters and followers ... They are a great way to get involved, meet other badger enthusiasts and make a difference to your local badgers.'

At BCS, we’re on a mission to ensure everyone’s experience with technology is positive. It’s something we’ve been committed to since 1957 ... We're over 60,000 members in 150 countries, and a wider community of business leaders, educators, practitioners and policy-makers all committed to our mission ... Whichever your area of interest, our wide-ranging specialist and regional groups offer you a professional and friendly platform to share knowledge and experiences, debate ideas, grow your network and raise your profile.' Apart from the significant number of Events 'open to all' organized by the various BCS Groups, there are also the annual Karen Spärck Jones Lecture, Lovelace Lecture, Roger Needham Lecture, and Turing Talk.

'The BSBI is for everyone who cares about the wild plants of Britain and Ireland. Since 1836, we've been promoting the study, understanding and enjoyment of British and Irish botany ... BSBI depends on a dedicated network of volunteer County Recorders who co-ordinate botanical survey work and organise local events ... Unless otherwise stated, our non-residential meetings are free to attend and you don't usually need to be a BSBI member, although if there are more applicants than spaces available, we reserve the right to prioritise our members.'

'Exists to promote the study, practice and teaching of western calligraphy in all its forms, and to generate awareness and appreciation among the wider public ... We offer both individual and group memberships.'

'The Society was founded in 1982 when cottage garden plants were becoming "unfashionable". Those starting the Society wanted to protect this vanishing planting style. They were concerned that, in the move to easily maintained gardens, hard landscaping was becoming more important than the plants ... The Society has around 35 regional groups, some with as few as seven members and some with over 200. Most groups meet monthly and have talks in winter and visits to gardens and plant sales in spring and summer.'

'Our charity brings together thousands of people who share a common belief - that organic growing is essential for a healthy and sustainable world. Through campaigning, advice, community work and research, our aim is to get everyone growing ‘"the organic way" ... Across the UK, there are a large number of fantastic organic gardening groups, clubs, organisations and gardens supporting local residents with their organic growing.'

'We love hardy perennials for their variety, colours, shapes, sizes and longevity. We help each other to grow them better, to try different species and we exchange and spread information about them ... Local Group membership is open to all members of the national HPS. Most groups charge a small additional subscription. Groups welcome new members and visitors; they are a great way for those of all ages and levels of experience to share their enthusiasm for plants and gardening ... Most Groups offer ... talks by experts with the opportunity to ask questions and talk to them.'

'We are the IET and we inspire, inform and influence the global engineering community to engineer a better world. As a diverse home across engineering and technology, we share knowledge that helps make better sense of the world in order to solve the challenges that matter. It’s why we are uniquely placed to champion engineering ... Local Networks are groups of members that come together to deliver a series of activities designed to promote the importance of science, engineering and technology to the general public, encourage young people to enter the profession and provide opportunities for engineers to share and develop knowledge and network with each other.''

'Through its meetings and its advice and information service, IFN, with its member bodies, helps make better known and understood the teachings, traditions and practices of the different faith communities in the UK and the pattern of their inter faith work and builds good relations between people of different faiths in the UK.'

'Local Nature Partnerships (LNPs) are partnerships of a broad range of local organisations, businesses and people who aim to help bring about improvements in their local natural environment.' (NOTE There does not seem to be a readily accessible official list with Website Links of current English Partnerships. However, I have prepared Records within the relevant Localities for the 'live' English Partnership Websites I have discovered so far.)

'One in four of our native mammals is threatened with extinction, and many others are in decline. With Britain now recognised as one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world, urgent action is needed. We are working to give our wildlife a better future ... Local mammal Groups bring together people with a shared enthusiasm for the local environment and the mammals within it. They work to share knowledge and raise awareness, survey and monitor local mammals, provide local expertise and training in field skills, hold talks and events, and support the work of the Mammal Society.'

'We are the only national charity to ensure the cultivated plants we grow now will be available to future generations for cultural, medical, culinary and aesthetic use. We do this through the National Plant Collection scheme, our Plant Guardians and our local group network ... Plant Heritage has Local Groups who run activities and events for members across the country.'

'In the belief that many features of the traditional accounts of the character and career of Richard III are neither supported by sufficient evidence nor reasonably tenable, the Society aims to promote, in every possible way, research into the life and times of Richard III, and to secure a reassessment of the material relating to this period, and of the role of this monarch in history ... The Richard III Society functions at a local level, both within the United Kingdom and in other parts of the world, through its regionally organised Branches and Groups ... The activities usually combine a programme of meetings and talks and, in the UK and Europe, visits to Ricardian sites.'

'The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB) believes old buildings have a future. From cottages to castles and from churches to cathedrals we are here to help buildings and the people who care for them. Through our unique training schemes, courses, advice and research we help people put our expertise into practice ... Held every spring and autumn, the SPAB's popular lecture series offers three or four informal talks linked to an engaging historic building or conservation theme ... One of the benefits of being a member of the SPAB is access to our Regional Groups, who arrange visits, events, and meetings across the country.'

'The Wildlife Trusts is a grassroots movement of people from a wide range of backgrounds and all walks of life, on a mission to restore a third of the UK's land and seas for nature by 2030. We believe everyone, everywhere, should have access to nature and the joy and health benefits it brings. No matter where you are in the UK, there is a Wildlife Trust inspiring people about nature and standing up for wildlife and wild places. Each Wildlife Trust is an independent charity formed by people getting together to make a positive difference to wildlife, climate and future generations. Together we have more than 850,000 members, over 42,500 volunteers, 2,000 staff and 600 trustees.'