Find a local comp club

I’ll never forget my first experience of a compers’ meeting – it was about 15 years ago at a fabulous event known as ‘Big Brum’, organised by Birmingham comp club, Kompers Korner. Over 100 compers would gather annually to exchange entry forms, chat and enter fun competitions – with a massive charity raffle to end the day. I went alone to the first Big Brum and chatted to several other compers  – we had a great time, it was a relief for me to find people who finally understood the strange hobby I’d taken up!

Not long afterwards I joined the Compers News chat forum and went to a meeting round the corner from my house in Nottingham – there were about 20 of us there, including comping legend Brita Bevis. I met a group of girls that day who remain some of my closest mates. Meeting compers in real life is inspiring and fun, and it certainly helps you to win prizes when you work as a team! Soon I was invited to join the Toton comp club (hosted at ‘Britain’s Luckiest Granny‘s house!), started a North Notts comp club (with Compers News Editor Steve), and attended Notts about Comping in the city centre. Now I’m a member of Brighton Breezy down on the South Coast, meeting with likeminded wine-loving compers once a month.

These days the bigger comping days are few and far between – London Competitors Club has quarterly meetings for members and guests, and you can still find events occasionally in Manchester, Yorkshire and the South-West (read my write up on ComperCon 2017).  I hosted my own event, SuperLucky LIVE, in October 2019 in Brighton, and hope to do more events in the future!

Local comp clubs are still popular, but it can be difficult to find up-to-date information on meeting venues and times. I’ve contacted several comp clubs in order to get a current list together – if you’d like me to include details of your club or comping event, get in touch via my Contact page.

Facebook Comping Clubs

If you’d like to attend a comp club but don’t see a local one listed here, check to there may be a local Facebook comping group you could join on my list of comping Facebook groups – you might find a few members are interested in starting a club in the same location!

I also have my own Facebook comping club Lucky Learners – a group where new and experienced compers from round the UK (and indeed the world!) can chat and share tips and comps.

Meeting formats

All comp clubs work differently. A few smaller clubs are held in member’s houses on rotation, but most will be in a pub or café. They can be as often as fortnightly, or organised on a whim every 6 months! It’s rare for members to make it to every meeting, and new members or guests are usually welcome.  Comp club meetings are relaxed and informal, but there may be rotas set at the beginning of the year to decide who’s responsible for bringing raffle prizes. Here’s what generally happens:

• Wins – members take turns to say what they’ve won since the last meeting
• Prize draws – members may bring magazines (with entry forms in), ‘quallies’ (promotional products where a receipt is required for entry) or stamped postcards to be given away in prize draws
• Entry forms – members bring along any entry forms, free magazines and newspapers or photocopies of current competitions, often bundled into sets ready to be distributed between club members
• Quizzes – members might take turns in setting a quiz
• Comping chat – members might need advice on Facebook, Twitter or a certain competition – or simply need a bit of motivation to get going after a comping break!

Since the Covid-19 outbreak, many clubs have moved to virtual meetings via Zoom!

List of UK comp clubs

Midlands

Kempsey Compers – meet on the third Thursday of every month near Worcester, usually at 7.30pm. Contact Valerie at KempseyCompers@gmail.com

Notts about Comping – meets monthly on a Saturday morning in Nottingham city centre.  Contact Maureen at williams_m@live.co.uk

Staffordshire Comping Club – meetings are held monthly and rotated between Rugeley and Trentham, in a pub on Wednesday evening 7.30 – 9.30. The club is growing each month with new members always welcome. Contact Jean at staffscompers@gmail.com

Lancashire

Manchester Marvels – meet every 8 weeks in Prestwich. Contact Elaine at ellieblue1223@gmail.com

Yorkshire

Leeds Competition Club – meet on the second Monday of every month in Leeds city centre, 7.30pm – 9.00pm. Contact Jane on Twitter at @jayess38 or Heidi: rigtonprint@yahoo.com

Ridings Round Compers – meet every six weeks at 1pm in Harrogate. Contact Emily – emily@planet-garage.co.uk

Scotland

East Kilbride Compers Club – meet on the first Monday of every month in Nerston area, 8pm. Contact Ann on 01355 248287

Glasgow Compers Club – meet in Glasgow City Centre on the first Saturday of every month. Join the Facebook group for more details.

London

London Competitors Club – meets quarterly in London on a Saturday. Membership currently costs £24/year but you get free entry to the club meetings, access to the email groups and a quarterly magazine. Contact londoncompclub@yahoo.co.uk, or find more information at www.compelation.co.uk

Essex

Chelmsford Comping Club – meet every second Friday. Contact Sheila at sheilatalk@hotmail.com

South Coast

Brighton Breezy comp club – meet on the first Tuesday of every month at 7.30pm in Hove. Contact Nuala at nualaroberts@yahoo.com 

Coastal Compers – meet bi-monthly in Rustington on a Saturday morning. Find out more in the Coastal Compers Facebook group.

Southampton competitions club – meet on the second Thursday of every month at 7.30pm in Chandlers Ford. Contact Chrissy at sotoncompetitionsclub@gmail.com

South West

Bristol Compers Club – Meet every 6 weeks. Contact Cara at bristolcompers@hotmail.com

West Country Winners – meet just outside Newton Abbot every six weeks. Contact Oonagh at wood1nr@btinternet.com

If there’s not a club listed here that suits you, don’t worry – I’ll hopefully be adding more clubs to the list. Also check my post about local Facebook comping groups to join, as you might find someone near you who wants to set up a club!