Terms and Conditions of Individual Associate Membership

1. Associate Membership Applications
  1. Applications for associate membership will be considered by the BWRC who have the right to refuse applications.
  2. By submitting an application form by email, the Associate Member is deemed to have signed the application form.
  3. All information provided by you to us must be true and accurate at the point of applying. In the event of a change of circumstances such as moving jobs, change of contact details you must notify the BWRC by phone, email or in writing so that our records are up to date.
2. Membership Payments, Renewals and Cancellations
  1. Associate Membership is £15 per person per calendar year starting on 1st April. Associate Membership will be activated at point of approval of the application but payment must be received within 30 days of application.
  2. Payment can be made by cheque, BACS or Standing Order. If Associate Membership payment remains outstanding we will notify you by telephone, email or letter.
  3. It is the member’s responsibility to advise the BWRC of their intention not to renew. Subscription payments not received within one month of becoming due will result in the membership being considered lapsed and all services or benefits may be suspended pending payment. However, Associate Membership charges will continue to accrue, until resignation is received in writing, subject to the cancellation procedure outlined below. To cancel your membership you will need to notify us in writing stating a reason which will be recorded for internal use only. Refunds will not be given for cancelled memberships.
Individual Associate Membership rights and responsibilities.
  1. Associate individual non-voting membership of the BWRC does not count as membership for legal purposes; therefore Associate Members do not have any voting rights, legal obligations to act in the interests of the BWRC, or any liability to contribute to the assets of the BWRC on dissolution.
  2. Associate membership belongs to the individual and not to the organisation regardless of who pays for the membership. Any dispute arising from this must be resolved by the member and their organisation. You will be issued with a membership number which you should use when calling us to help identify you quickly.
  3. It is the Associate Member’s responsibility to keep their membership number confidential. The BWRC reserves the right to withdraw Membership or to prevent any Member from renewing if the Member is misusing the membership benefits (for example, allowing someone else to use the benefits of their membership package).
4. Associate Membership Benefits
  1. Associate Member benefits are only available if subscription payments are up to date.
  2. Associate Member benefits may change without notice.
  3. Associate Members are permitted to use the BWRC Associate Member logo (not the Associate Organisation logo) for the purposes of self-promotion, but not for the promotion of a wider organisation.
  4. If an Associate Member is found to have contravened the terms and conditions stated in 4.3 membership may be terminated by the BWRC without prior warning.
5. Terminating Membership
  1. The BWRC reserves the right to withdraw membership or to prevent any Associate Member from renewing membership if the Member brings the BWRC into disrepute.
  2. The BWRC reserves the right to withdraw membership if the Associate Member is deemed to have misused the membership privileges.
6. Variation of Terms & Conditions
  1. These terms and conditions may be revised from time to time. If they are revised, we will post or email the revised version to you. It will be your responsibility to keep up-to date with all such changes and your continued membership shall be deemed acceptance of any changes to these terms and conditions.

Terms and Conditions of Individual Associate Membership

1. Associate Organisation Membership (AOM) Applications
  1. Applications for AOM will be considered by the BWRC who have the right to refuse applications.
  2. By submitting an application form by email, the AOM is deemed to have signed the application form.
  3. All information provided by you to us must be true and accurate at the point of applying. In the event of a change of circumstances the AOM must notify the BWRC by phone, email or in writing so that our records are up to date.
  4. Associate Organisations are required to provide evidence of engagement in external staff and/or volunteer development relevant to wildlife rehabilitation (this must be external to the associate organisation but does not have to be a BWRC event). BWRC reserves the right to withhold/ withdraw membership in the absence of adequate evidence of CPD (a minimum of one event every two years).
2. Associate Organisation Membership Payments, Renewals and Cancellations
  1. Associate Organisation Membership costs £75 per organisation per calendar year starting on 1st April. Membership will be activated once the application has been approved and the first payment has been received.
  2. Payment can be made by cheque, BACS or Standing Order. If Associate Membership payment remains outstanding we will notify you by telephone, email or letter.
  3. It is the AOM’s responsibility to advise the BWRC of their intention not to renew. Subscription payments not received within one month of becoming due will result in the membership being considered lapsed and all services or benefits may be suspended pending payment. However, AOM charges will continue to accrue, until resignation is received in writing, subject to the cancellation procedure outlined below. To cancel your membership you will need to notify us in writing stating a reason which will be recorded for internal use only. Refunds will not be given for cancelled memberships.
3. Associate Membership Rights
  1. AOM of the BWRC does not count as membership for legal purposes; therefore Associate Organisations do not have any voting rights, legal obligations to act in the interests of the BWRC, or any liability to contribute to the assets of the BWRC on dissolution.
  2. AOM belongs to the organisation regardless of who pays for the membership. Any dispute arising from this must be resolved within the Associate Organisation. The Organisation will be issued with a membership number which you should use when calling us to help identify you quickly.
  3. It is the Associate Organisation’s responsibility to keep their membership number confidential. The BWRC reserves the right to withdraw Membership or to prevent any Member from renewing if the Member is misusing the membership benefits (for example, allowing someone from outside of the organisation to use the benefits of their membership package).
4. Associate Membership Benefits
  1. Associate Organisations are permitted to use the BWRC Associate Organisation logo for the purposes of self-promotion on any of their organisational materials, including website.
  2. Associate Organisations are entitled to purchase an unlimited number of tickets for BWRC events at the membership price, providing that those tickets are for the exclusive use of paid staff or regular volunteers for the Associate Organisation
  3. BWRC will provide e-mail notifications to up to 10 e-mail addresses within the associate organisation. The associate organisation is then free to circulate BWRC notifications to other staff and volunteer members of the associate organisation.
  4. BWRC may agree to promote events organised by the Associate Organisation if asked to do so, at the discretion of the BWRC board of trustees
  5. AOM benefits are only available if subscription payments are up to date.
  6. AOM benefits may change without notice.
5. Terminating Membership
  1. The BWRC reserves the right to withdraw membership or to prevent any Associate Organisation from renewing membership if the Associate Organisation risks bringing the BWRC into disrepute.
  2. The BWRC reserves the right to withdraw membership if the Associate Organisation is deemed to have misused the membership privileges.
  3. If an Associate Organisation is found to have contravened the terms and conditions stated in 5.1 and 5.2, above membership may be terminated by the BWRC without prior warning.
1. Variation of Terms & Conditions
  1. These terms and conditions may be revised from time to time. If they are revised, we will post or email the revised version to you. It will be your responsibility to keep up-to date with all such changes and your continued membership shall be deemed acceptance of any changes to these terms and conditions.

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History of BWRC

How it all started

In 1986 an article was published in BBC Wildlife Magazine entitled “How to play God right”. Written by Stefan Ormrod, who had worked for the anti-fur campaign Lynx, the article questioned the skills of people rescuing UK wildlife. Stefan was invited to be a guest on Radio 4’s Women’s Hour opposite Les Stocker who had launched his Wildlife Hospitals Trust (St Tiggywinkle’s) three years earlier. Stefan and Les quickly found that they had more in common than expected, and that shared concern for the welfare of wild animals led to the birth of the British Wildlife Rehabilitation Council and its inaugural symposium, held at London Zoo, the following year.

The BWRC today

The British Wildlife Rehabilitation Council became a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) in 2014. It has always been run by a board of volunteer trustees who are also the voting members. We have no paid staff, receive no government or other external funding, and only receive travel and other expenses funded by our associate membership and small profits from events. The charitable object of BWRC is “to advance the education of the public in respect of the care and welfare of sick, injured and abandoned wild animals”. BWRC remains the only organisation in the UK dedicated to improving native wildlife casualty welfare through the support and education of workers in the field. As such we are often approached as stakeholders to represent the views of the wildlife rehabilitation community, and regular engagement with our associate members enables us to keep in touch with their views.

BWRC activities

BWRC still runs an annual symposium for topics related to wildlife rehabilitation where rehabilitators, veterinary practitioners and researchers are encouraged to share their expertise. We also organise other conferences and workshops and publish advice and guidelines for practicing rehabilitators and related professions. Associate members receive newsletters and updates, discounts on tickets for BWRC events and may use our membership logos to display their commitment to continuing professional development in wildlife rescue and rehabilitation.