About IPMS Birmingham

On this page you can find information about our club meetings, contacts, committee members, our venue, annual subscriptions and IPMS (UK).

Meetings

Our meetings are held on the first Thursday and the third Sunday of the month, although occasionally  the date is changed to avoid clashing with shows, holiday periods or events at the church. Please see the Diary page for the dates. Our current venue is Longbridge Methodist Church, 1654/8 Bristol Road South, Longbridge, Birmingham. B45 9TY, 

The Thursday "mid-week meetings" are  build nights and run from 7.00pm to 10.00pm. attendees should bring along their own tools, glues, paints etc. as well as a kit or two to work on, but most importantly a cutting mat to protect the church's tables. There is no competition and "official business is kept to a bare minimum, the aim is to share modelling techniques and chat informally about the hobby and any related subjects. The meeting is held in one of the function rooms at the rear of the building - ring the bell inside the front door for admission.
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The Sunday "Main monthly meeting" runs from 3.30pm until 6.00pm in the cafe/reception area of the church. We try to keep the meeting as informal as possible to allow members to talk to each other about their models, modelling techniques, projects and any other modelling related subjects for as long as they wish. There is a short 'Official business section to announce and discuss shows we will be attending and any other club activities or business when the committee members do ask for everyone's undivided attention but every effort is made to keep this short and to the point.

Visitors are more than welcome to attend meetings to get a flavour of the club and it's members and to see what goes on. From sharing tips and techniques, the competition table and general chat, there is plenty to sample during meetings. Our April meeting is where club members vote for a winner of the annual Bill Nicholls Charity Trophy build, with all funds raised going to good causes.

At the January through to October main Sunday meetings there is a monthly competition in which all members are welcome to enter their recently completed models. Each month there is a themed competition and also the "Eager Beaver Competition" plus additional trophies into which models can be entered. For more details please go to the Monthly Competition Page.

Venue:

Since January 2016 our venue has been:- Longbridge Methodist Church, 1654/8 Bristol Road South, Longbridge, Birmingham. B45 9TY.







Public Transport.

The venue (Bus stop Ryde Park Road) is served by the following bus services; No. 63 from central Birmingham, No. 49 Northfield - Solihull via Longbridge Rail Station and 144 from Worcester.

By rail, the nearest rail station is Longbridge on the Cross City Line (Lichfield to Reditch) at 0.7 mile distance but connected by the No. 49 bus service.

Journey planners;

Network West Midlands

National Rail Enquiries 

Contacts and Committee Members: 

Branch Chairman:

Roland Turner

 Email: chairman.ipmsbirmingham@gmail.com





Branch Secretary:

Stephen Baker

Email: ipmsbhambranchsec@gmail.com















Newsletter Editor:
 
Martin Deakins

Email:  ipmsbham.newsletter.ed@gmail.com

Branch Treasurer:

Matt Nicholls


















Competition Secretary:

George Green

Membership and Annual Subscriptions

Club subscriptions are £20.00 per year (juniors - free), granting you Full Membership status of  IPMS Birmingham. Fees payable at the January meeting (Or at the next meeting you are able to attend). Reduced rates are applicable to new members joining during the year. For this you get entry to the club meetings with free coffee/tea and is equivalent to £1.67 per meeting if you attend twelve during the year. In addition you will gain free admission to any of the regional/local shows we attend if you come along as part of the club team and assist on the branch display. Please note, to gain free entrance to Scale ModelWorld you will also need to have current membership of IPMS (UK) - see below.

We also offer Associate Membership. This is for casual attendees, irregular members or members who support or want to be part of IPMS Birmingham but can't attend meetings. Associate membership is priced at £3.50 per meeting attended, should you attend more than 5 meetings in a year, we recommend that you take out full membership which works out cheaper than paying per meeting.

New members: we give potential new members a free trial period of three (3) months before asking them to pay any subscriptions to allow them to decide if they like the club, before making any commitment.

Juniors (under 18 years): We welcome younger modellers to the club and actively encourage their parents/legal guardians to attend with them.

Midland Expo

Midland Expo  was IPMS Birmingham's own show. Sadly, due primarily to rising costs, 2017 was the last year we hosted  Midland Expo. It was a difficult decision and the final show took place on Sunday 23rd July 2017.

International Plastic Modellers Society (UK)

To join IPMS Birmingham you do not need to be a member of IPMS (UK), however as a branch of the society we do encourage club members to join and enjoy the benefits of membership, including free entrance to the world's biggest model show Scale ModelWorld.

(N.B. Branch committee members are obliged to be IPMS (UK) members.)


Click here to become a member of IPMS (UK).