Surrey & Sussex Branch

We currently have fourteen members on our mailing list although, due to work and family commitments and distance, average attendance at meetings is usually about eight. We cover all of Surrey and Sussex which is a large area so we alternate the venues for face to face meetings which are typically held in Merstham, Farnham, Crawley or Shoreham.

We try to meet once a month. Meetings on dark evenings tend to be on Zoom but may be hybrid (for example for our Branch AGM each November). During BST we have more face to face events including one or more all day meetings (Saturday or weekday) when we can do a practical printing activity as a group, and an outing to a place of particular interest.

Evening meetings are about 2 hours long, probably shorter if on Zoom because we don't chat over refreshments. We may have a speaker, or a branch member talks about a particular interest or skill, or we may discuss and plan an ongoing activity such as our Branch entry for the annual Rosen Award competition. 

Daytime meetings are face to face and usually include some practical printing activity. Trips out have included the William Morris Museum at Walthamstow, Apsley paper mill, a walk round the Fleet Street area of London and St Bride Library among other places. In 2023 we went to the National Trust property Standen because of its connection with William Morris and the Arts and Crafts Movement. BPS members who are not members of S & S Branch are always welcome to join us on these trips (unless numbers are restricted by the venue). 

Every couple of years or so we hold a Branch Open Day which is open to all Society members and the general public, and takes the usual form of sales tables, a talk or demonstration and plenty of socialising over refreshments.