Hallowe'en "tick" - Guy Fawkes "tick" - bring on Christmas!

How familiar is this scene? There you sit; a blank piece of paper and a pen (maybe a glass of wine?) are your only companions. You must start The List. Who will be getting a Christmas present from you and WHAT ON EARTH CAN YOU GIVE THEM? Close your eyes, deep breath. You can do this, you do it every year. Surely there must be someone or something to help you with this enormous task. Cue iMember.....the website can give you bright ideas for your list and the most attractive part – you will save money on your purchases.

www.iMember.co.uk will help you list all the organisations you belong to and immediately a host of interactive icons appear, which, with a click of a mouse, will lead you safely to all your personal membership benefits, often in the form of discounted prices or 2 for 1 offers.

So, how does this give you inspiration for your so far blank Christmas list? Well, if you are a member of the AA, you will have 215 offers ping up on the screen giving you discounts on clothes shops, balloon flights, days out, magazine subscriptions; are you a Barclays Premier customer? – that’ll be another 50 offers you are entitled to, including West End shows, dinner cruises, and wine-tasting days; Mumsnet?  Discounts at The White Company, Dunelm, and Boden – the offers just go on and on and so do the ideas for presents! iMember have more than 10,000 deals on their website, allowing users to benefit online and in more than 60,000 places, venues and retailers.

If you’re more of a high street shopper than an on-line shopper, download the free iMember app to your phone and once you have registered your memberships on the website, your phone will alert you to high street shop discounts and offers that you are entitled to as you mosey your way around town seeking out those elusive Christmas gifts.

So, no need to panic – enjoy the list writing and the shopping this year. Remember you’re a member and iMember will help you with the rest.

London to Brighton

There are many ways to get from London to Brighton - yes of course you could go by train but iMember likes a more fun way of making the journey. This weekend, the longest running celebration of motoring took place. It started in Hyde Park in London and ended at the seaside in Brighton. It is an event organised by the RAC and is a real celebration of motoring. Hundreds of beautiful veteran cars congregate in London and then make the journey to Brighton, marking the passing of a law in 1896 that raised the speed limit for "light locomotives" from 4 mph to 14 mph! We must assume that the hundreds of people involved are members of motoring organisations - and of course the organisers would hope they are members of the RAC! 






Which leads us nicely to suggest that you go and remind yourself of your motoring organisation member benefits. Go to the iMember website www.iMember.co.uk and see what "extras" you get for your money. 

All the organisations are going to offer much the same in terms of roadside recovery, breakdown recovery etc but have a look at those additional member benefits they offer and then make sure you use them.

Don't assume you'll remember all the discounts and offers they entice you with, join iMember now (it's free and quick and easy) and don't forget to download the free mobile app too and you will be reminded of all those lovely extras that you are entitled to and are currently, more than likely, missing out on. Toot toot!

Time for wine?

iMember is as keen as the next company to support the wine industry! We were alarmed to read in this morning's press that wine is going to be in short supply as America and China are starting to inbibe the top vintages in increasing quantities! An amazing fact is that 2.8 billion cases of wine were produced last year (a case having 12 bottles in) and yet there was still an undersupply of 300 million cases! 


And of course what do we know for sure about lack of supply leading to.......increases in prices. Cue iMember and finding out what wine deals our membership organisations are offering. Well we find the AA often leads the way on many types of membership offers and they come up trumps again now with fantastic deals on Virgin Wines.

If you are an alumni of Cambridge University you can get discounts in four wine merchants in Cambridge. Perhaps golf is your game - if you are a member of England Golf, you can claim up to 15% off wine prices at Jeroboams. Do you subscribe to the Spectator magazine (bet you hadn't even considered that to be a "membership organisation")? They have numerous wine offers for their members. And there are just so many more wine offers available.

So you know what to do to ensure you get the wine you want at the very best prices - you go to the iMember website www.iMember.co.uk , you list your membership organisations (don't forget the less obvious ones like magazine subscriptions) and iMember will remind you of the discounts you are entitled to. Cheers!

Reduce your health risks - remember you're a member

A study has concluded that gardening and DIY can reduce the health risks for the over 60s. Swedish researchers questioned 4,000 people in Stockholm about their general levels of exercise which included activities such as gardening, DIY, fruit picking or car tinkering and concluded that "a generally active daily life was, regardless of exercising regularly or not, associated with cardiovascular heath and longevity in older adults."


So head over to the iMember website at www.iMember.co.uk and see what membership benefits you can get that involve gardening or DIY. Membership of the Royal Horticultural Society not only gives you discounts to flower shows, a monthly magazine and personalised gardening advice, but also free garden admission at various venues up and down the country. If you have the iMember app downloaded on your mobile, you will be notified when you are within a certain radius of one of these gardens. You can download the app for free. For iPhone app click here for android click here

Being a member of Kew Gardens entitles you to free entry to Botanical Gardens the length and breadth of the country including the Lost Gardens of Heligan in Cornwall and Bedgebury Pinetum in Kent.

Looking at smaller membership organisations, if you are an alumni of Gloucester University and need some gardening design or planning advice, you can get 10% off the standard charges from JM Gardens in Gloucester.

Are Sunderland Athletic your football team of choice? As one of their member supporters, you can get some superb discounts from DIY chain Jewson: 20% off painting and decorating supplies, 40% off tool hire, 20% off general building materials.

There are no upper age limits to the benefits membership organisations offer, so make sure you're not missing out and sign up now to find out about all the discounts and offers, whether gardening and DIY related or not, that you are entitled to www.iMember.co.uk