Hmm, an element of "let them eat cake there" snagged 1. Are you saying that you only want the well-heeled like yourself (as witness your membership of a nearby club @ c£400 p.a) around the club? What about poor old Flt Lt J.O. Soap (RAF Retd) who is now maybe in his mid 70's, no RAF pension because he only had a short service commission and is struggling on his State pension plus some rubbish annuity because his civvy one collapsed in the recession? Thats the reality for a lot of retired RAF officers, so I suppose it's Acton for them - wouldn't want poor people lowering the tone in the club.

TTNav

Are you really suggesting that the Club should find the funds to support a SSC JO's membership who has not managed to find a career that will pay a hundred odd quid a year to belong to the Club? Come off it mate, there are Service Charities and RAFA Clubs for those people that haven't got the wonga to even buy a Pint in Piccadilly (the Running Horse is cheap at about £3.50 per pint).

Sadly, "poor old JO Soap" should've worked harder at school - as the saying goes.

The B Word

The B Word,

Je suis tout a fait d'ccord! My last stay a couple of weeks ago - for dinner, a few glasses of wine, bed, breakfast and a DT was about £115. Where else can you get that on Piccadilly at that price?

If any retired officer is so hard up that they can't pay £134 for membership then the answer is simple: don't join.

Fortunately I'm not in the position of Joe Soap, and indeed I'm looking forward to my next stay in the Club, booked for December.

However I do detect a relentless shift in the club's emphasis from providing a reasonably priced shake down for officers when they are in London to a venue for corporate events, quite often attended by large numbers who have no connection with the RAF.

The B Word - a lot of guys worked hard at school and ended up being shafted when their pension schemes went t**s up a few years back. I just count myself lucky I'm not one of them.

Anyone know how the club's facilities, costs, service etc compare with other similar clubs - the Naval Club, the Army & Navy, Naval & Military etc?

TTN,

How else do you propose to raise enough funds to run the club if you don't have the occasional event in there - especially considering you intend on hugely reducing the rates it sounds for retired officers??
Running/maintaining that building costs money, staff cost money, everything costs money - don't get me wrong, it would be FANTASTIC if HMG funded the place and we could get a pint for 50p, but somehow I don't see that happening in present climate....

Pretty patronising remarks TTN... (although I am well heeled - 6 inch stilettos only on thursdays nights thanks very much) ;)

I am with B word on this...

TTN,

These sort of things have been going on for many years and, as snagg says, they provide a good source of income. Usually they're held in rooms that would otherwise be empty, and in my experience the attendees are not at all intrusive either during or after the event.

As for poor JO Soaps. Oh c'mon - the Club's prices are excellent vfm in London, and wouldn't be all that expensive for a 'similar' establishment elsewhere. If the fees and rates are unaffordable for a lot of retired RAF officers (mmm, really?), then that's unfortunate; but as with hundreds of other entry-fee places, it's a choice, not a charity.

Pistols at 1730 in the Running Horse in December?? And who knows, my mate Foldie might even let you have a nip of his Grouse later on :ok:

I agree what he (jindy) says.
But maybe not with what foldie might say. :cool:

Oh go on then! But it's your Grouse this year, Jindy, we drank mine last year because you left your bottle on the train!!!!!! We've talked about this!:ugh:

The Club - A grand and good value for money establishment in a prime location in the centre of London endowed by Lord Cowdrey for the officers/retired officers of the Royal Air Force. Retired officers pay £131 to be members in 2011 and this will rise to £134 in 2012 - a mere pittance at £11.17 per month whether you use it regularly or, perhaps, biannually like me. I doubt many retired officers cannot afford it and most of the 'old boys' that I have come into contact with in my 42 years membership were 'junior officers' who served during the war and, on demob, went off to seek their fortune - and did!

Corporate entertainment? From my experience as a committee member in the late '90s, I recall that no corporate event was permitted if there was a prior Service need! So, in truth, if the room is available and BAe or whomsoever want to pay the going rate for it - better to profit than to lose by cutting off one's nose to spite one's face! At the end of the day, it can only benefit the members, the Service and industry by being able to impress foreign governments (for example) by hosting them in such splendour.

Foldie:ok:

PS. It's your bottle, Jindy:mad:

Wouldn't the Cowdray Lounge offer better scope for a pistol duel? Mind you when I remember my lamentable performance with the Browning 9mm on annual qualification, I reckon you're pretty safe wherever it takes place!

Very kind, but could I have a Bombay Sapphire and Tonic instead please
as good whisky is wasted on me?

Jindabyne
 

"but as with hundreds of other entry-fee places, it's a choice, not a charity."

Erm ... it is a charity in fact.

Rgds SOS

Actually you can get a cheaper room in a number of nicer hotels in London, for example the Hilton if you look around the internet. And this is why I will be cancelling my membership.

Well yes SOSL, but you got my drift I think ;)

Ayna Whatever

And I'm sure you'll find your food and booze will be similarlly 'cheaper' in the Hilton - probably offsetting the cheaper room price, 'specially if you have similar drinking habits to some of us on here:hmm:. But that aside, my own membership has little to do with the cost of the place; there's no way I would swap the Hilton for the personal enjoyment that the RAF Club provides for me.

Tanker

No sweat, more for us. Watch out for the ties;)

Bbad

He says that every f*****g year:sad:

No I don't!:\ Anyway, I'm drinking with my Tornado mates the day before so will be too p****d to partake of too much Grouse!

Foldie:{

PS. Oh no I won't!

Well yes, Jinda, I did get your drift and I agree with everything else you've said on this thread.

Rgds SOS

AP,

You are welcome to the Hilton.

I am attending a lunch event there (Park Lane Hilton) next month and afterwards I shall invite my fellow pi**heads to head down towards Green Park and continue the thrash in the Running Horse, where we'll probably run into yet more reprobates that we know and have a thoroughly enjoyable time.

It's not just the cost of the room, I know when I stay in London that I can always find something cheaper than the Club, but where is the ambience and the chance to meet an old mate or two?

If you find the antiseptic (cheaper) atmosphere of a hotel superior to that of the Club, then please do cancel your membership. It is your choice. Like many other people I'll continue to pay my £134 subs and value a wonderful facility on Piccadilly, which I can use whenever I find the need to be in London.

To which I have nothing to add. I keep paying but hardly ever go there. I think I ought to start instead of buying lunch/drinks elsewhere when I'm in Llundain.

In, Out, In...
 

Bit of a gap in posts here! Maybe there is a more upto date thread.

Just had a most odd e-mail re. annual subs. It was from the Club address. But said, 'Dear Customer'. That's not me, I am a member. It was signed off: Ashwood Portable Buildings Ltd. Sent twice within a few minutes.

Can anyone cast some light on this. I have asked admin at the Club.

Further to my last. I have received an e-mail from the RAF Club. They are indeed false e-mails. It is recommended that you do not open them just delete. The source is being investigated.

http://www.pprune.org/military-aviat...es-hacked.html


Fairly self-explanatory :ugh:

GE. SD' s post preceded mine but was delayed due to the wait for moderator approval.

It is extremely easy to identify people who belong to various MOD organisations or have links to them from the past.....many people put details of past and current careers on the likes of LinkedIn or Facebook and a simple organisation search reveals that, and most importantly their email address...

Scammers will also gather phone numbers from these sites or CV's that people have previously listed on jobsites and will check them against sites such as www.truecaller.com (check your own number) it will list your phone network provider and in some cases your personal details which makes spam texting even easier to spoof.

I dont have any connection with the club but this would appear that ex military and members of the club are being targeted as part of an organised effort to get you all to "click a link" and enter your login details or install ransomware, just be extra cautious of suspicious emails.

I would urge you all to report all suspicious emails to Action Fraud (the right hand link) so that a true picture can be established or simply forward them to

[email protected]

I would doubt the club has been hacked but someone has done some harvesting of email addresses.

you can also read up more in the little book of cyber scams published on the Met Police website here
http://www.met.police.uk/docs/little...yber-scams.pdf

Just as an example i searched "People who work (or used to work) at Royal Air Force" on linkedin and it came up with 32,465 examples...many of those have emails, simple scraping software will easily create a database to email from

This is one example https://www.atompark.com/web-email-e...form-linkedin/

Thank you PN.

FYI Geordie I spent some time searching for the best thread to post on

Linkedin: what can you do? You want searchers to know your background and also be able to contact you.

I am concious that this is thread drift so may be suited in the computer section however the club incident serves as a timely reminder to raise awareness for cyber security...

firstly i must stress that i am in no way saying LinkedIn was the source or otherwise, just that many people use this and other social media sites to great advantage however there are many things we post online that in a number of cases can be fantastic inners for scammers who want to "socially engineer" you....

In cases such as LinkedIn i personally keep my information limited to a broad outline of what i do, (aviation specialist, aviation engineering, security professional, education manager) i do not include anything that relates to my past and keep my connections to only those i know & also have spoken to them and confirmed they are active on linkedin.

I had one work colleague who attempted to connect with me but he wasn't on the site, turned out someone had created a profile for him and was using it to fleece my friends contacts...(many people just accept connections on the basis they may be of use in the future, the reality is far from it)

With regards to my CV i only include an email address (non personal i.e [email protected]....) i also only include my geographical area as (south west UK, south UK, North UK etc) i do not include a mobile number, no personal details are listed but my key skills are, if a recruiter wants me they make an effort to get me and if i am comfortable releasing after a couple of emails then i provide a mobile number they can speak to me on.

i have had a number of emails from recruiters that claimed to have read my "excellent background skills" and suggest i am "perfect for this role" however they neglected to remove my post nominals as my surname (again another basic error).

I don't use FB and to be fair my closest friends know exactly what i do and what i can bring to an organisation, networking and recommendations from trusted people go further than what you can post online...

As for Wifi... a treat below on the dangers next time you accept the free coffee....

CM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YRs28yBYuI