Welcome to Thames Valley IVC
Friendly Multi-Activity Social Club
Thames Valley IVC (TV IVC) is a friendly multi-activity club that organises a range of social, cultural, leisure and sporting activities. It is aimed at graduates, professionals and like minded people living the Reading, Berkshire, and surrounding areas.
Wide Range of Activities
As well as pub evenings & meals out, there are BBQs & parties, theatre & cinema trips, skittles & ten pin bowling, afternoon & evening walks, glow worm hunts, and kayaking. We go to regular public events such as Café Scientifique, jazz evenings and quiz evenings. We have also organised visits to museums & country houses, fireworks displays, ceilidhs, and other events such Fawley Hill Vintage & Steam Festival.
Run by our Members
We are run by our members for our members, who are encouraged to take part in organising events. If you join you can organise the type of events that you would like to take part in, either something you enjoy already or perhaps something new that you would like to try for the first time.
Non-Profit Making
TV IVC is non-profit making with few overheads, which ensures that the club is less expensive than commercial ones. We keep overheads low, mostly: Meetup and this website, a fee to the AIVC and insurance cover, attending the annual AIVC conference.
Part of a Nationwide Association of IVCs
Thames Valley IVC is part of the Association of Inter-Varsity Clubs (AIVC), a nationwide association of about 40 similar clubs with around 4000 members across the UK. If you join our club you can go away on national events organised by other IVCs, such as holidays abroad, weekends away, or just day events. We also organise joint events with some of our neighbouring IVCs and share events with each other. If you are temporarily living or working in another club's area then you can also go along to that club's events.
Welcoming New Members
Anyone who would like to meet new people and make new friends in a relaxed social club atmosphere is welcome to join, there is no upper age limit. The ratio of men/women is almost exactly 50/50, though this can vary from year to year. Both singles and couples (over 18) are welcome to join the club. If you are wondering if you would fit in then the easiest way to find out is to join our Meetup group and come along to an event to see what the club is like.
Try before you buy
To enable prospective members to sample events, meet other members, and get to know the club before joining as Full Members we offer an initial free membership through our Meetup group. Once you have joined that you can book to come to any of the events shown there. We don't make any charges for attending events, but after people have come to two or three we ask them to join the club itself. The annual membership fee is just £12, which goes towards the costs of running our non-profit-making club.
If you think the club could be for you and you are interested in joining then have a look at How To Join TV IVC for more information.
About IVCs
- Thames Valley IVC, like other IVCs, does not have any religious or political affiliations.
- IVC (in case you were wondering) stands for Inter-Varsity Club, reflecting its origins in the university world. The AIVC has an interesting article on the Origins of the IVC.