Services

As a condition of joining, as well as paying an annual subscription, you will be asked to supply a copy of your program and sign a declaration to say that you have a published constitution.

The SPF must, at all times, be provided with details of at least one club contact who will receive all mailings from the SPF - normally the club secretary. A second contact is advised, normally the competition secretary. Full details for one club contact must be published in our SPF Directory. We do not give personal details out to anyone out with the SPF.

A combined membership fee is charged for SPF & PAGB membership. As we are also members of FIAP, this also includes affiliation to them.

Our club subscription is charged at a ‘per member’ rate meaning smaller clubs pay less than bigger clubs. This is set annually at our AGM, and payable by the clubs, to the SPF Treasurer, by 31st Dec. Renewal details are emailed out to member clubs every November. Current details are available below.

New clubs are free to join at any time. Please contact the SPF Treasurer or SPF General Secretary for details.

The joint Annual Subscription for 2023 to the SPF (and PAGB) is at the reduced rate of £3.50 per member on completion and submission of the SPF Annual Subscriptions Form and payment, together with the SPF Membership Declaration Form by 31st December 2022.

Since 2016, it is now a condition of Membership that all Clubs require to complete a Membership Declaration Form annually at Renewal of Membership. This is to show that Clubs fulfil the following requirements outlined in our Constitution (and that of the PAGB) as follows –

“1.2 A Society may be affiliated to the SPF only if it is a camera club, photographic society, photographic club or photographic group with a published constitution and published programme of events, united by a common interest in photography, meeting in person for mutual co-operation, education, entertainment or competition solely from a physical location within Scotland.” - A full copy of our Constitution is available from this website (click here)  

Only Clubs who fall within this definition can be members of the SPF or PAGB, or compete in SPF/PAGB Competitions. If this causes a problem for your Club please contact the SPF Treasurer to discuss (contact here). The Insurance Brokers who the PAGB have agreed preferential rates for PAGB/SPF Clubs, have agreed this definition of a Club for insurance purposes and they will apply this definition to Clubs wishing to apply for Insurances. NEW - The Insurance company have also added 'virtual' Clubs to their Club definition wording. 

- Clubs must have paid and submitted their SPF Annual Subscription Form and SPF Membership Declaration Form 2023 with the SPF before renewing their Insurance with the PAGB's Insurance brokers to be eligible for this reduced rate. Clubs who do not renew their Membership with the SPF by completing these details by 31st December will not be able to take out Insurance under the PAGB's arranged preferential scheme. 

- No insurance cover is now included as part of SPF Membership, but preferential PAGB insurance rates are still available for PAGB affiliated Clubs through their SPF membership, including for MLI. The Insurance Broker for this is now Hive Insurance Services, please see full details under Insurances heading below.

Covid - Please see the following additional latitudes given for existing Member Clubs for 2023 relevant to this SPF Membership Declaration statement, who are currently only able to hold ‘Virtual’ meetings, which should be read in conjunction with the above.

For the purpose of this ‘SPF Membership Declaration Form’ (and our Club definition Constitution Item 1.2) we can confirm that Clubs who would normally meet in person ‘face to face’, who cannot do so due to Covid-19 restrictions (or other such similar causes), that are only able to meet using ‘Virtual’ means (e.g. using Zoom, MS Teams etc.), do comply with this Membership Declaration and Constitutional item, even if meeting programs are published to your members in a more ‘ad-hoc’ manner during this time. (You are however advised to keep good records of your events).

The PAGB have also confirmed this for PAGB affiliation. As the PAGB Insurance Brokers have changed their defintition to accept 'virtual' Clubs this does not present any problem from an Insurance perspective.

The SPF still require you to lodge a copy of your syllabus with us when submitting your Membership Declaration Form, but this is no longer an Insurance requirement.

Syllabuses can be submitted by email or paper but not simply a link to an ever changing website page. Please see below for more details from an Insurance perspective. 

All Clubs listed uder the Clubs area of this website have renewed membership for 2023.

Through membership of the SPF you have access to competitive insurance arrangements for camera clubs and photographers, as part of the PAGB network of Clubs via the NEW Insurance Broker for 2023 Hive Insurance Services. This Insurance Broker has agreed preferential rates of Insurance exclusively for PAGB/SPF Clubs.

All Premiums are now payable direct to the Insurance Broker, payment of Insurances must not be sent to the SPF.

Cover is arranged by the Club directly with the NEW insurance brokers Hive Insurance Services on the PAGB arranged competitive rate. The policy continues to run from 1st Feb to 31st Jan.

Public Liability Insurance (PLI) - is available from Insurance Brokers, the same as in previous years, as arranged on behalf of the SPF member Clubs by the PAGB, at a preferential rate. The policy continues to run from 1st Feb to 31st Jan.

'All Risks' Insurance - to cover equipment owned or loaned to the club, whilst in UK, Europe or worldwide, is available through the scheme for Clubs negotiated by the PAGB for SPF member Clubs. The policy continues to run from 1st Feb to 31st Jan. 

Management Protection Insurance (MPI) - cover for all SPF club committee members, to protect their personal assets, is available as an option from the Insurance Brokers. The policy continues to run from 1st Feb to 31st Jan.

Note - The Insurers no longer require the SPF to hold a copy of your Club Syllabus, or any additional details of Club outings or meetings out with your normal meeting night. However, it is strongly suggest that clubs maintain some record of what they have been doing for at least 3 years as that is the time limit in which a claim under PLI can be made. Current advice is that club’s should have some form of risk assessment in respect of any events or trips they organise. Insurers have a much better line of defence against claims if such an assessment has been done. 

If you require assistance creating a Risk Assessment please see more details under the General Guidance area of this website in the area headed Risk Assessment a Rough Guide (click here)

Note - From 2020 no insurance cover is included as part of SPF or PAGB Membership.

Insurances for 2023 available from Hive Insurance Services - Full details are available below.

We're taking over from Darwin Clayton who are no longer providing new plans for Clubs. Hive Insurance is delighted to be partnering with the PAGB, providing their Clubs with comprehensive, straightforward and reliable insurance services. Please come to us for renewal and cover.

Three elements of cover -

• Public Liability - This provides important cover aganist accidents and injury whilst attending club events 
• Property 'All Risks' - This provides important cover against loss, theft or damage to club-owned or borrowed equipment 
• Management Liability - This provides important financial protection for directors/officials of the club or federation against being sued in conjunction with the performance of their duties.

Notes from Hive Insurance via the PAGB with details for 2023 -

Firstly, thank you for the warm welcome that we’ve received since taking over as the PAGB’s insurance partner last month. We’ve received some wonderful feedback from clubs, particularly regarding our Quote and Buy website – a site dedicated to PAGB clubs and making the process of buying insurance fast and easy.

Despite the glowing feedback, we’re determined to do more and act on the feedback that you provide. But before we get into that, we just wanted to throw the spotlight on some of the important plans that we offer through our site.

Whilst the focus is generally on Public Liability insurance, which is a mandatory requirement from the PAGB, there are other plans you should consider that are designed to protect the club itself and those who run it, through to members and even equipment.

Firstly ‘Management Liability’, which is a very popular inclusion alongside public liability. This policy protects the club’s management team (chairperson, treasurer etc) against any errors or omissions which could land them with legal problems or disputes. Very often it could be an innocent mistake or error, but without Management Liability, the individual could themselves be held accountable for compensation and legal costs. And given that clubs are run by volunteers on goodwill, it’s no surprise why most clubs choose to include this form of protection for their management team. The cost of this starts from just £41.28 per year, making it very affordable.

Another vital consideration is ‘All Risk’ cover which covers damage or theft of club-owned or borrowed property and once again most clubs have this in place. Our policy as standard provides £5,000 cover – HOWEVER upon feedback from clubs it appears that some clubs do not have that much equipment to insure. So to make it more affordable, we will be introducing 2 lower levels of cover: £1,500 cover costing £61.91 per year. And £2,500 cover costing £103.19 per year. This will be live on our site in the next 2 weeks.

IMPORTANT NOTE – the insurer prefers that you do not apply for your plan any earlier than 2 months in advance. So if your renewal date is 1 February 2023, then please make your purchase from 1 December 2022 onwards. If you have already submitted your application please do not worry though, there will be no impact to your plan.

Lastly, for your peace of mind I just wanted to remind clubs that our insurance is sourced through AXA, a name most of us will recognise. They are a leading insurer in the public liability sector with a strong reputation for providing high quality cover supported by strong levels of customer service.

Our Quote and Buy site can be accessed (click here) more details is available from the downloads area below.

You can also view the Hive Insurance Policy Schedule, or see more info on the Public Liability & All Risks Policy or Management Liability Policy by accessing the above webpage and scrolling to the bottom of the page where you will find links to all of these under the Important Documents heading immediately below the submit button.

Reminder - Clubs must have paid their SPF/PAGB Annual Subscription for 2023 to the SPF and submitted their SPF Membership Declaration Form 2023 with the SPF to be eligible for this Insurance with Hive Insurance Services. Annual Subscription and SPF Membership Declaration Forms require to be submitted to the SPF by 31st Dec 2022. Clubs who do not renew their SPF Membership for 2023 are not eligible to take out Insurance under this scheme.

Our member clubs receive regular emails containing information and details of relevant events. This includes subscription renewals, rule changes, event notifications and results.

In addition clubs receive both the SPF e-FLASH our own e-newsletter and the PAGB’s newsletter PAGB e-news via email. From time to time they also include offers from photographic supply companies, exclusive to our member clubs.

These e-communications combine to keep you updated with any information we think may be useful to your club members, as well as essential information. 

Please visit the SPF e-flash area (click here) for copies of this publication, and for the PAGB e-news website (click here) 

If you are not sure what the emails that come from the SPF look like, please download the PDF supplied below.

The SPF maintains a list of individuals from our member clubs who are willing to give their time to visit our SPF clubs as SPF Judges and/or SPF Lecturers. All SPF Judges and Lecturers are listed within the SPF Directory. Club Committee members can request a copy from the SPF General Secretary, if they require a copy in between updates being issued.

The PAGB Handbook has an abridged version of our SPF Judges and Lecturers, as well as those from all the other PAGB member Federations. SPF Clubs can book Judges and Lecturers from any Federation.

The Judges and Lecturers listed in both publications, unless otherwise indicated, charge no fee and agree to the standard arrangement for bookings and out of pocket expenses, as outlined in the PAGB Handbook. The recommended rate for car travel is set by the PAGB and SPF. 

Everything related to Judging and Lecturing for use by both Clubs and Judges alike is available from the dedicated webpage All Things Judging and Lecturing to visit (click here)  You can also contact the SPF Judges Liaison Officer (click here) or SPF Lecturer's Secretary (click here) or via the SPF Executive page. 

All member Clubs are provided with copies of the SPF Directory & PAGB Handbook. 

The SPF Directory lists all of our SPF Member Clubs, SPF Judges and Lecturers, along with our SPF Executive. This is supplied in electronic PDF format

All of the SPF Clubs’ details are supplied to aid Clubs in organising or advertising events, between one another. We are also happy to promote events between Clubs from time to time via email, this website or our e-FLASH.  We retain this information securely and confidentially and we never divulge these details to anyone else.

The PAGB Handbook (Biennial) contains most of our SPF Judges & Lectures as well as those from all PAGB member Federations, which Clubs are also welcome to use as members of the SPF. This handbook also contains information on PAGB events and services and is supplied by post to Club Secretaries.

Both publications contain Judges and Lecturers willing to visit clubs for out of pocket expenses only, information useful to running a club, correct procedures for booking Judges & lecturers, help and advice on organising digital competitions and how to apply for Distinctions (APM).

The SPF runs a Judges Assessment Day for those interested in becoming an SPF Judge. This is our opportunity to see prospective Judges in action, with a view to inviting a few new faces on to our SPF Judges list. We try to ensure this event is run annually.

Visit the 'All Things Judging and Lecturing' area for more details (click here) or contact the SPF Judges Liaison Officer.

The SPF has archives of past competitions and photographs donated by Clubs and individual photographers over the years. Many of these were last on display when the SPF celebrated its Centenary. The SPF is very happy to receive donations. You can donate prints, transparencies or digital files, as well as any "historic records" such as catalogues or club syllabuses, newspaper articles about SPF member Clubs or Photographers for our SPF archive. If you have anything you think we may be interested in, Contact the SPF General Secretary in the first instance.

From time to time, we will highlight some of our Archive material in the 'History' area of this website (click here) to visit this area.

SPF Medals are available to purchase for your Club’s competitions, for end of year Annual Competitions or for Inter-Club events.

Silver and Bronze Medals are available for Club or Inter-Club use.

Gold Medals* are available for National or International events only (not for Club or Inter-Club Competitions)

*Gold Medals must be engraved before presenting. You are free to present Silver and Bronze Medals without engraving if you wish.

If you would like to order SPF Medals for your Club please download and complete the below Order Form (This superseeds all previous versions) following the below guidance. 

• Please complete the below Order Form for the number and type of medals you require, noting the Gold medals restrictions.
• P&P must be added to ALL Medal Orders at a rate of £4.50 for up to 8 medals i.e.  if you require 3 medals include P&P of £4.50; If you require 11 medals include P&P of £9.00 .
• Please send the completed Order Form together with your cheque made payable to ‘SPF’ to SPF Admin Assistant Joe Prior at the address supplied on the Order Form, not to the SPF Custodian, Tom Doherty.

If however you require any assistance or clarification as regards your SPF Medals Order then Tom can be contacted by email (click here)