Excuse the thread creep but out local WI (Womens Institute) in Newton Longville, Bucks, is about to close in January after 67 years. One of the main reasons for the closure is that few members feel adequatly able to take responsibility for running it, meaning a committee cannot be formed.

Nowadays small clubs already find themselves subject to much of the same mountain of legislation as large profit-making businesses. The sheer amount of time, effort and expense that members have to devote to administration to keep their club/society afloat within the law has begun to outweigh the pleasure that club activities bring. Yes, of course you can bakes some cakes and have a sing-song - but you'd better be absolutely sure that you have complied with the thousands of pages of current health and safety legislation, and have applied for, paid for and been granted the appropriate licences for such activities. Get it wrong and it's committee members that are ultimately personally liable to large fines/imprisonments for infringments....

Meanwhile, last night I walked into the local BP petrol station to discover they're the latest shop to install a sound system powerful enough deafen staff and customers alike. The usual dreary 'thump-thump' bass-beat music of course. But of course they don't need to apply for any licence to play this. Neither would the Government dare to curb the decibles at which this recorded music can be played in public places such as shops and bars. Unless, of course, that music played everywhere happened to be English Folk music...then the, no doubt, our MPs would swiftly find ways to force the volumes down!! :-)