Terms of Membership

Please read these terms which form part of your ongoing membership of London City Voices. They are updated on an occasional basis and we will notify all current members when changes occur.

This policy was updated on 11 Feb 2024

Introduction

These Terms apply to all members on any membership plan, whether free or paid.

They cover the agreement between you, the “Member”, and LONDON CITY VOICES Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales (company registration number 10069596), whose registered office is at 

27 Old Gloucester Street, London, United Kingdom, WC1N 3AX

By following the joining process of signing up through our website or at a rehearsal and selecting a Membership Plan of London City Voices, you are accepting the terms and conditions in this Membership Agreement. 

New members should only sign up and join if they are willing to accept these terms.

This membership policy is to be read and understood in conjunction with the following policies:

Existing members should only continue to participate in the activities and experiences and learning resources that we offer if they continue to agree with these terms and the above policies.

These terms may be updated from time to time, to include additional clarifications, or clauses relating to new products and services.  

Every time we update our membership terms we will communicate changes to members.

Only you, the person named in the online joining process, can benefit from this Agreement. If any of the terms of this Agreement are found to be invalid, unenforceable or illegal, the remaining terms can still be enforced.  

This Agreement is governed by the law of England and Wales.  

You should print a copy of this Agreement for future reference.  

Payment methods  

The membership fees payable are inclusive of VAT at the rate applicable at the current time. 

We may use a range of third-party payment providers that provide secure online payments, and we do not store anyone’s credit card details.

Members always maintain control of their payment details so can cancel payments at any time. 

It is the responsibility of a Member to ensure their payment method is set up correctly, there are sufficient funds in their bank account to cover the membership subs, and their fees are being paid/collected successfully. While we or our payment system providers may inform you of any issues or errors that can occur from time to time, any overdue amounts will be payable in full. 

Membership Plans

We have different levels of membership, which are advertised on our website, and subject to future change.

Each offers a core set of membership benefits.

Annual Membership
A single yearly payment which gives access to all rehearsals (both in-person and online). You may attend multiple rehearsals per week. This provides a saving of approximately £80 compared to the Monthly Membership.

Monthly Membership
This is the most popular option, and allows access to all rehearsals (both in-person and online). You may attend multiple rehearsals per week.

Out-Of-Town (OOT) Membership
Suitable for members who do not live or work in London, including international members. Access to online rehearsals and events, plus a maximum of four in-person rehearsals per term at a reduced rate per rehearsal. Extra in-person rehearsals over and above the four already mentioned will be charged at the Occasional rate per session.

Occasional Membership
This is the most expensive option and offers the least value for money, however it may suit some members who are unable to attend on a regular basis. NOTE: This plan requires extra payment to attend rehearsals.
The monthly retainer allows you access to the Occasional rate per rehearsal. You will have to pay this when you arrive at rehearsal. It does not give access to the online rehearsals.

 

Obligations as a Member

You agree to receive and read Members' communications and updates, and where required, (eg to confirm attendance at performances), to respond to requests in a timely manner.

If you choose to take part in activities laid on for members, you agree to do so with the community spirit as laid out in our policy.

You agree to not be disruptive to the Choir Leader or other members in rehearsals.

You agree that in your actions at any or all of our rehearsals, events, performances, social gatherings or on any other occasion, you will not bring London City Voices into disrepute. 

Code of conduct

We've borrowed the Code of Conduct from the Canadian group Choir! Choir! Choir!, because we agree with it all. However, we've taken the expletives out. If you want to read the original, click here.

1. Don’t hit on anyone if they’re clearly not into it.

2. Don’t be unkind to people.

3. If you are singing the wrong part, listen, ask for help, and start singing the right part.

4. If you hear someone singing the wrong part, don’t be unkind. Be nice about it. In other words refer to #2.

5. Don’t use physical force in any way. Keep your scowls on the inside.

6. Don’t sneak in without paying.

7. Don’t be rude to any bar staff.

8. Don’t just get drunk and rowdy with your friends – we all want to have fun but don’t mess it up for those who actually want to sing.

9. As our Facebook and Telegram groups are an online extension of our community, be cool there, too, and don’t creep on other members.

10. Since we’re talking about FB and Telegram, don’t join the groups and immediately start posting about an event or personal project – do that on your own page. This is not another online stop on your marketing tour. Read the  room; get into the culture.

Failure to comply with the above may result in being immediately removed from the Facebook and/or Telegram groups, no longer being welcome at our weekly events and receiving a talking to from any number of London City Voices enforcers.

London City Voices is a close-knit community of friends who look after one another. If you are perceived as exhibiting predatory behaviour, you can expect to be called out on this and, if you continue to offend, ultimately expelled from the choir.

If you have been flagged as a person who has exhibited inappropriate behaviour to a member or indeed anyone outside LCV (for example, inappropriate or predatory behaviour in another choir), we will speak to you about this and decide on an appropriate course of action. Richard Swan's decision is final on this.

To be clear, London City Voices reserves the right to ban anyone who does not comply with the above code of conduct.

Payments by Members

Members agree to maintain timely payment through the various online payment systems we set up to collect payment.

Where applicable, you agree to maintain a direct debit instruction with your bank for the monthly Membership amount. You also agree to keep sufficient funds in the account in order that the monthly fee may be taken out. 

If we collect payment by credit or debit card, you agree to keep these card details up to date throughout the term of your membership.

Please note: if there are not sufficient funds in your account to cover the direct debit, the payment will fail. We get charged for these failed payments by GoCardless. If this happens more than once, you will be charged an admin fee of £10, which you will have to pay on or before your next rehearsal.

Payments during term breaks

The monthly membership fee takes holidays into account. Members agree not to pause their payments at the end of a term in order to save money. Anyone who deliberately stops their membership payment at the end of a term with the intention of signing up at the beginning of the following term is in breach of these Terms and may be removed from membership immediately. If you need to pause your membership for any reason, please speak to one of the directors.

Cancelling your membership

To cancel your membership, please email us to let us know the reason for your cancellation, and we will stop the direct debit. We'd ask you to do it this way in order to avoid charges for us - sometimes if you cancel your direct debit after the payment has been submitted, we then get a hefty charge. If you email us, we can do it without getting charged. If you leave it very late to cancel, we may need to allow the payment to happen and then refund you (in which case we will subtract the GoCardless portion of the fee from your refund).

Communications 

We will primarily use the email you have signed up with to communicate with you on a regular basis; during term-time, this will likely be an email at the beginning of the week.

Members are advised to search for our emails which may have landed in spam or junk folders, and to whitelist them.

We are not responsible if, for whatever reason, you are not receiving communications from us due to your email and security settings.

We will also post occasional updates with key information to ensure all members have the necessary information when logging in.

While technically you can unsubscribe from emails at any time, it is a condition of our membership that you remain subscribed to these weekly emails, as we need to be able to contact you. 

If you leave us, you will cease to receive the weekly emails, but will have the option of remaining subscribed to occasional emails or being entirely removed from the email list.

We are not responsible for emails which have not been delivered for any reason. Members should login regularly to keep up to date with events and activities, and alert us if you think you are missing communications, and if so, we will endeavour to send you these.

Messengers and Social Groups

From time to time, we may set up and advertise messenger groups for specific event purposes, including holidays and/or events using messenger apps like Telegram, WhatsApp, and Facebook events.

You will be granted access to our Facebook Group if you request it, and are or have been a member of London City Voices.

We do not grant access to non-members, however, generally we do not remove people who aren’t current members, unless they have broken specific rules. 

These social channels all have third-party privacy policies that you should read and be comfortable with before using.

Your use of the Members’ Area

Access to the Members’ Area is granted based on your membership plan.

You are responsible for keeping your login secure and you must not share it with anyone.

If you forget your password, you can request to reset it.

If you believe you do not have access to the content based on your active subscription, you are responsible for letting us know so we can check this and amend access rights as necessary.

Use of our Members’ Resources

We will make every effort to produce clear and useful resources for you to enjoy the various rehearsals, events and activities laid on for you, and we share this with you via the Members’ Area.

The resources that we publish in our Members’ Area are the property of London City Voices Ltd, and should not be shared with any non-member without the express permission of one of the Choir Leaders.

You must use the online resources and downloads we make available in our Members' Area or any connected app in the proper manner.

You must consult a member of the LCV leadership if you are unsure about use of any of our resources.

Your consent to be included in marketing videos or photographs.

You consent to incidental inclusion in marketing videos and/or photographs that we may take from time to time, at any of the events, experiences or activities we organise. We may use these images and/or videos on our website, YouTube channel, social media, press releases and broadcasts.

We will endeavour to warn members when we have contracted official photographers or videographers, and you can ask them not to be included in any shots - however, this may not always be possible.

Your consent to be included in rehearsal videos

Our specific online rehearsal is recorded every week and uploaded to YouTube as an unlisted video in order that members can catch up or revise. By attending these rehearsals, you are consenting to your image and/or voice being used for this purpose and any other purpose for which London City Voices Ltd may wish to use it, in perpetuity.

Additionally, at least one of our weekly in-person rehearsals is streamed, usually on Zoom, and then recorded in the same way as the online rehearsal. That recording is also made available for members to access at any time. By attending any in-person rehearsals, you are consenting to your image and/or voice being used for this purpose and any other purpose for which London City Voices Ltd may wish to use it, in perpetuity.

Collection of your Personal Information

We take our Members' privacy seriously

Please read our privacy policy.

https://www.londoncityvoices.co.uk/legals/privacy-policy/

Your Health and Safety

Where we deem it appropriate, or where it is required by venues, we will carry out specific health and safety risk assessments to ensure we have assessed any risks to our members and or the general public.

However, we are not responsible for damage to person or loss of or damage to personal belongings while attending rehearsals, events or other activities we organise on your behalf, or before and after such rehearsals.

Provision of Service and/or disruption to Rehearsals 

We take every care to ensure we put on an uninterrupted full term of rehearsals. 

In the case of illness of a musical director taking rehearsals, we will endeavour to find a stand-in or provide extended online rehearsals to catch up.

In the case of cancellation of a rehearsal, we will make every effort to warn you in sufficient time for you to choose to attend another rehearsal that week, either in-person or online. Where this is not possible, we will provide the materials from the recorded rehearsals online to catch up with lost learning time.

Right to perform in our public performances

We want all our members to enjoy the experience of performing with the choir at a formal public concert should they wish to do so. 

Each term we plan to organise at least one performance, but we cannot guarantee the size, location or nature of the performance.

Members who join within six weeks of a performance should seek advice from the musical director as to whether they are ready to perform at the event in question.

We reserve the right to refuse to allow a member to perform in a concert, and will set out the reasons if that is the case.

We reserve the right to invite non-members to perform in the concert at our discretion.

Additional Performances fees

The basic membership fee does not cover any performance fees which may be charged, depending on the venue at which we are to perform.

These will depend on the venue at which we are performing. Sometimes these will be free; other times they may incur a cover charge, eg for access to a party. The Member is not obliged to perform.

Additional Services and Activities

From time to time, we organise extra activities which are in addition to the core programme of rehearsals.

Some of these may be included in membership, some will be ticketed on a first come first served basis, and some may be discounted to our members

Refund Policy

We offer a range of plans designed around a member’s preference of paying and reflects their commitment to the choir’s activities.

We do not offer refunds on monthly subscriptions. Refunds on annual subscriptions are at the discretion of London City Voices Ltd.

Our Rights

We reserve the right to increase the price of membership. We will give you at least one full month's notice of any price increase and will make it clear when the price increase will take effect.

During this notice period, you reserve the right to terminate your membership in accordance with these terms and conditions. If you choose not to terminate your membership before the date the increase becomes effective, the price of your membership will be increased in accordance with our notice. 

If you are paying by direct debit your monthly payments will automatically be amended to cover the new price. 

If you are paying by credit or debit card, this amount will automatically be charged. 

Member Misconduct

Members agree that London City Voices cannot be held financially responsible for damage caused by any misconduct of its members.  

Amendments  

London City Voices Ltd reserves the right to amend these terms and conditions at any time without notice.  

Contact Details  

Use our online enquiry form or contact us at the following address:  

London City Voices Ltd  

27 Old Gloucester Street

London

United Kingdom

WC1N 3AX