APPLYING TO BECOME A GUILD COMPANION

Welcome. Thank you for your interest in becoming a Companion (member) of the Guild of St George. To put forward an application for consideration by the Board, we ask that you write to the Guild’s Board of Directors by email, explaining your interest in the Guild's work and the ways in which you would seek to contribute as an active Companion, using the guidance notes below. From 2024, Companionship is subject to an annual membership subscription (£50 in 2024, or international equivalent, with concession/alternative options) payable annually or monthly, in the spirit of Ruskin’s original intention that every Companion would contribute to the cost and stewardship of the Guild.

Companionship (membership) of the Guild is about active contribution; Ruskin wanted everyone involved to make a commitment to actions that make a positive difference in the world, for themselves but also for others. In applying for Companionship, we therefore ask you to set out the way(s) in which you would like to add your contribution to this endeavour, by joining with like-minded people around the world who are currently Companions.

In writing your application, we ask that you address these five questions. It does not have to be a long, formal document; a letter will suffice.

1. What do John Ruskin and his writings and thinking, or those of people associated with him and his ideas, mean to you?
2. From what you have read or discovered, what do the Guild of St George and the idea of Companionship mean to you?
3. What area(s) of the Guild’s current activity do you find most engaging/relevant personally?
4. As Ruskin intended, we wish to be an activist organisation, making a difference in the world by way of our contribution. What would you intend (through your work, scholarship, research, personal interests and skills, activism, donations of time or resources, etc) to bring to the Guild and its work, by way of Companionship?
5. What impact do you believe becoming a Companion of the Guild would have on your life and/or work and your ability to make a difference in the world?

Any relevant interests or experience, within your letter or as a resume/CV or further notes, are welcome as part of the same application document.

Please then email Communications & Membership Officer Simon Seligman with your application, and your contact details, including your postal address and phone number(s), confirming that you understand that Companionship will require an annual financial subscription (£50 in 2024, payable annually or monthly - concessions/alternatives available). Once received, an officer of the Guild will be in touch for a conversation on the phone/zoom, and then your application will be considered at the next Guild Board meeting; these are held four times a year. After that, you may be asked further questions or asked for more information to support your application.

If your application is accepted, you will also be asked to submit some brief biographical information, with links if relevant to your own website or other places where your interests feature, for your entry on the online Directory of Companions on this website. Once received, you will then receive a formal letter of welcome from the Master of the Guild and will then start to receive our regular Guild e-newsletters and invitations to the Guild’s events and AGM (where new Companions are invited to sign the Roll of Companions).

Everything the Guild has, it was given - the collection, land-holdings, property and other resources. As well as the annual subscription,  financial donations and legacies are always welcome to support our work, but we also welcome contributions from Companions in the form of research, creating and/or attending Guild events or volunteering time and expertise to Guild projects and publications. Above all, we encourage Companions to come forward with ideas of their own, for engagement and discussion among other Companions, forming regional groups, or suggesting events that they might organise and run with the Guild's support.

We also add you to our secure and confidential database of Companions, so that we can send you information via email pertaining to your companionship.

The governance of the Guild, and of the terms and commitments of Companionship, is rooted in our Memorandum & Articles of Association, which you can read HERE.