Borders Family History Society
50-50 Club Rules
The 50-50 club is a monthly prize draw run by the Society where half (50%) of the receipts makes up the prizes and half is a donation to the Society which will be used to buy, rent, refurbish or furnish premises (apart from administration costs like postage and collection costs, which are expected to be very low).
50-50 club subscriptions cost £9 for the remainder of 2013 and are only for those that are paid-up members of the Society at the time they subscribe, or who join the Society at the same time using the Joining Borders Family History Society page.
When you subscribe, you choose 3 letters from the normal English alphabet of 26 letters.
The letters you choose will be the same for that year, you cannot have different sets of letters for different months.
You can make more than one subscription to the 50-50 club, and choose a different set of letters for each subscription. After a letter is drawn out of the bag it will be replaced, so each letter has an equal chance of being drawn as the first, second or third letter. You can thus choose a set of letters containing two or three the same, if you wish, for example, “CFF” or “AAA”.
Subscriptions can be made online using the using the Joining our 50-50 Club page.
For months in which we have a public event, the draw will be made at that event in the presence of at least 2 Council members and two other people; if we don't, the draw will be made at a Council or Committee meeting in the presence of at least 3 Council or Committee members. The draw results will be announced in the magazine, on the website, and for those participants who have email, by email.
There will be two prize funds: the first prize fund and the second prize fund.
Each month a quarter of the income received for that month will be paid into each prize fund.
The total balance in the first prize fund will be shared by all tickets who have the same permutation of letters as are made in the draw, that is whose letters were stated in the same order as the letters are drawn. If there are no winning tickets, the balance in the first prize fund will remain there, to be won in a subsequent monthly draw, and thus will be more valuable in the next draw.
The total balance in the second prize fund will be shared by all tickets who have the same combination of letters as are made in the draw, that is the order in which the letters are drawn does not matter; and which have not won the first prize or a share of the first prize. If there are no winning tickets, the balance in the second prize fund will remain there, to be won in a subsequent monthly draw, and thus will be more valuable in the next draw.
It's possible for the winners of the second prize fund to win more than the winners of the first prize fund.
If you are under the age of 18 years, or if you are resident in a jurisdiction which does not permit this form of gambling, you must not subscribe.
If a member dies, his or her 50-50 club subscription(s) will remain valid for the remainder of their subscription period, and any winnings will be paid to their estate.
In the event that your payment is invalid, or reclaimed by the bank or credit company, your entitlement to any winnings will be forfeited for that month(s), and you will not be eligible for a prize until funds are validly received.
Membership is non-transferable. No refunds of partly used subscriptions will be made.
There will be 12 monthly draws every year.
Winning members will be notified by email or by post and the letters drawn announced in the next available magazine.
Borders FHS 50-50 club will take no responsibility for non-received or late subscriptions.
Winnings will normally be paid in pounds sterling by cheque but winners may choose to order publications or services or pay for membership in advance or additional 50-50 club subscriptions instead.
Overseas members may elect to have their winnings paid in foreign currency, however the conversion cost and fees will be deducted from their winnings.
In the event that your choice of letters is unclear, we will write to you to check; and your subscription will start when the matter is clarified.
All decisions made by Borders FHS Council will be final.