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56-544: The Royal Automobile Club is a British private social and athletic club . It has two clubhouses: one in London at 89 Pall Mall , and the other in the countryside at Woodcote Park , near Epsom in Surrey . Both provide accommodation and a range of dining and sporting facilities. The Royal Automobile Club has a wide range of members. It is best-known for establishing the roadside assistance service RAC Limited , though this

112-600: A tavern." Of early clubs the most famous, latterly, was the Bread Street or Friday Street Club that met at the Mermaid Tavern on the first Friday of each month. John Selden , John Donne , John Fletcher and Francis Beaumont were among the members (although it is often asserted that William Shakespeare and Sir Walter Raleigh were members of this club, there is no documented evidence to support this claim). Another such club, founded by Ben Jonson , met at

168-787: A Command and Control system. The National Customer Service Awards' recognized the system with the 'Best Use of Technology in Customer Service' award in October 2004. Aviva acquired RAC plc for around £1.1 billion in March 2005. They sold some parts of the business for £500m, including RAC Auto Windscreens in December 2008, and BSM to a German company in January 2009. BSM was later sold to Acromas Holdings, which owns The Automobile Association . Aviva ceased providing loans under

224-660: A business centre, a full-size marble swimming pool, squash courts, a billiards room and Victorian-style Turkish baths. The country clubhouse near Epsom also has accommodation, restaurants, and sports facilities including two 18-hole golf courses . The governing body of the club is its board of directors , which is presided over by the chairman. 51°30′22″N 0°08′06″W  /  51.5062°N 0.1349°W  / 51.5062; -0.1349 Club (organization)#Country or sports club Historically, clubs occurred in all ancient states of which exists detailed knowledge. Once people started living together in larger groups, there

280-479: A club for jockeys , but rather exists to regulate the sport of horseracing ; the Marylebone Cricket Club was until recently the regulatory body of cricket ; and so on. Sports club should not be confused with gyms and health clubs, which also can be for members only. Fraternities and sororities are social clubs of secondary or higher education students. Membership in these organizations

336-770: A club of board game enthusiasts might have a library of games for members), or act as a buyers' club. These organizations are partly social, partly professional in nature and provide professionals with opportunities for advanced education, presentations on current research, business contacts, public advocacy for the profession and other advantages. Examples of these groups include medical associations , scientific societies , autograph club and bar associations . Professional societies frequently have layers of organization, with regional, national and international levels. The local chapters generally meet more often and often include advanced students unable to attend national meetings. These are activities performed by students that fall outside

392-536: A customer is induced to enroll in a free trial of a buyer's club membership, and then unexpectedly billed when the trial ends. There are two types of athletic and sports clubs: those organized for sporting participants (which include athletic clubs and country clubs), and those primarily for spectator fans of a team. Athletic and country clubs offer one or more recreational sports facilities to their members. Such clubs may also offer social activities and facilities, and some members may join primarily to take advantage of

448-486: A day to assist. The office is based near Lyon, in Villeurbanne, France. RAC Vehicle Checks and Examinations conduct vehicle checks that show if a car has been stolen, written off, has outstanding finance or previous plates, is at risk of being sold illegally, and that its number plate and chassis number correspond. RAC Vehicle Checks are conducted by Experian, while RAC Examinations Inspectors make physical checks on

504-454: A for-profit basis, but more frequently owned by the members who delegate to a committee the management of its affairs, first reached its highest development in London, where the district of St. James's has long been known as "Clubland". Current London proprietary clubs include Soho House , which commenced business in 1995, and Soho 's Groucho Club , which opened in 1985 as "the antidote to

560-634: A given electoral district; the rival Conservatives instead have groups called Conservative Associations . Most Canadian political parties are likewise organized into riding associations . [REDACTED] Media related to Clubs at Wikimedia Commons RAC plc RAC Limited ( The RAC ) is a British automotive services company headquartered in Walsall , West Midlands . Its principal services are roadside assistance and general insurance, and its subsidiaries include RAC Motoring Services Ltd, RAC Financial Services Ltd and RAC Insurance Limited. It

616-432: A permanent institution with a fixed clubhouse . The London coffeehouse clubs in increasing their members absorbed the whole accommodation of the coffeehouse or tavern where they held their meetings, and this became the clubhouse, often retaining the name of the original innkeeper, e.g. White's , Brooks's , Arthur's , and Boodle's . These still exist today as the famous gentlemen's clubs . The peripatetic lifestyle of

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672-402: A public presence. A service club is a type of voluntary organization where members meet regularly for social outings and to perform charitable works either by direct hands-on efforts or by raising money for other organizations. Social activities clubs are a modern combination of several other types of clubs and reflect today's more eclectic and varied society. These clubs are centered around

728-401: A team can be sports amateurs—groups who meet to practice a sport, as for example in most cycling clubs —or professionals; football clubs consist of well-paid team members and thousands of supporters. A sports club can thus comprise participants (not necessarily competitors) or spectator fans, or both. Some organizations exist with a mismatch between name and function. The Jockey Club is not

784-460: A transaction valuing the RAC at £1.4 billion. The RAC has around 2,000 patrols that attend 2.8 million breakdowns each year, this includes overseas breakdowns with RAC Europe. The RAC covers eight million roadside assistance customers, with 2.2 million individual members and 4.5 million corporate customers. Their breakdown assistance centres operate 24/7 , and deal with approximately four millions calls

840-539: A year. They have introduced, for trial, two hybrid vehicles , to cut fuel consumption and carbon emissions. In May 2009, a survey by J.D. Power ranked the RAC highest in "satisfying roadside assistance customers" for the fourth consecutive year. RAC Europe is breakdown cover for customers from the United Kingdom that travel to Europe. RAC Europe covers forty seven European countries, and provides English speaking Incident Managers, available twenty four hours

896-757: Is described in the Survey of London as "a polished essay in the late French Renaissance manner". At the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914, the club arranged for 25 of their members, with their personal cars, to accompany the British Expeditionary Force to France and Belgium to act as chauffeurs and messengers for the British General Staff. Describing themselves as the " RAC Corps of Volunteer Motor Drivers ",

952-416: Is generally by invitation only. Hobbies are practiced for interest and enjoyment, rather than financial reward. Examples include science fiction clubs , ham radio , model railroading , collecting , creative and artistic pursuits, making, tinkering, sports, and adult education. Participants may form an organization to coordinate gatherings of hobbyists, provide services related to the activity (for example,

1008-446: Is no longer owned by the club. It was founded on 10 August 1897, with the name Automobile Club of Great Britain (which was later changed to Automobile Club of Great Britain and Ireland). The headquarters was originally in a block of flats at 4 Whitehall Court , before moving to 119 Piccadilly in 1902. In 1902, the organisation, together with the recently formed Association of Motor Manufactures and Traders , campaigned vigorously for

1064-1022: The Friendly Societies Act . The institution of the gentleman's club has spread all over the English-speaking world . Many of those who energised the Scottish Enlightenment were members of the Poker Club in Edinburgh . In the United States clubs were first established after the War of Independence . One of the first was the Hoboken Turtle Club (1797), which still survived as of 1911. In former British Empire colonies like India and Pakistan they are known as Gymkhana . The earliest clubs on

1120-513: The Green Ribbon Club (1675). The characteristics of all these clubs were: These coffee-house clubs soon became hotbeds of political scandal-mongering and intriguing, and in 1675 King Charles II issued a proclamation which ran: “His Majesty hath thought fit and necessary that coffee houses be (for the future) put down and suppressed,” because “in such houses divers false, malitious and scandalous reports are devised and spread abroad to

1176-549: The Recovery service. Similarly, until the early 1980s the roadside assistance service was limited to locations away from home, which only changed with the addition of an At Home level of service. In 1978 the Associate section was split off to form RAC Motoring Services Ltd and subsequently sold in 1999 to Lex Service (then renamed RAC plc). The Club's premises have 108 bedrooms, seven banqueting rooms, three restaurants,

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1232-526: The 18th and 19th century middle classes also drove the development of more residential clubs, which had bedrooms and other facilities. Military and naval officers, lawyers, judges, members of Parliament and government officials tended to have an irregular presence in the major cities of the Empire , particularly London, spending perhaps a few months there before moving on for a prolonged period and then returning. Especially when this presence did not coincide with

1288-475: The 1940s, 1950s and 1960s social clubs were the precursor name of gangs like the infamous Hamburgs of Chicago. Latino immigrant adult and youth groups organized themselves as social clubs like: Black Eagles, Flaming Arrows, Paragons and Young Lords. Those made up of the elite are best known as gentlemen's clubs (not to be confused with strip clubs ) and country clubs (though these also have an athletic function, see above ). Membership to gentlemen's clubs require

1344-460: The 1990s only a handful still operated on holiday routes in the West Country. The advent of mobile phones made the need for roadside telephones redundant and the last of the RAC telephones were removed from service. Roadside assistance is now provided by vans and recovery vehicles. Until the early 1970s the RAC did not have a formal "onward to destination" service for members. If the patrolman

1400-574: The Defamation of his Majesty’s Government and to the Disturbance of Peace and Quiet of the Realm.” So unpopular was this proclamation that it was almost instantly found necessary to withdraw it, and by Anne ’s reign the coffee-house club was a feature of England’s social life. See English coffeehouses in the 17th and 18th centuries . The idea of the club developed in two directions. One was of

1456-525: The Devil Tavern near Temple Bar , also in London . The word “club,” in the sense of an association to promote good-fellowship and social intercourse, became common in England at the time of Tatler and The Spectator (1709–1712). With the introduction of coffee-drinking in the middle of the 17th century, clubs entered on a more permanent phase. The coffee houses of the later Stuart period are

1512-751: The European continent were of a political nature. These in 1848 were repressed in Austria and Germany, and later clubs of Berlin and Vienna were mere replicas of their English prototypes. In France, where the term cercle is most usual, the Club de l'Entresol (1724-1731) was followed by the Club Politique (1782), and during the French Revolution such associations proved important political forces (see Jacobins , Feuillants , Cordeliers ). Of

1568-543: The RAC brand name in January 2008, and dissolved its partnership with The Co-operative Bank . Aviva sold the RAC to The Carlyle Group in June 2011. Although Carlyle had planned a stock market flotation for the RAC, in September 2014 Carlyle agreed to sell almost half its stake to Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC Private Limited . In December 2015, Carlyle agreed to sell its remaining stake to CVC Capital Partners , in

1624-541: The RAC created the motorsport governance and events organisation, the Motor Sports Association (now Motorsport UK ). In 1978 during a re-organisation the 'Associate Section' was established as a separate company RAC Motoring Services Ltd , which was owned by the organisation. In 1991 the RAC Foundation was split off as the research arm of 'RAC Motoring Services'. When RAC Motoring Services

1680-526: The RAC was one of the first organisations to provide an easily recognisable grading system. Their inspectors assessed each hotel and garage and awarded between one and five stars in the case of hotels and one to three spanners to garages. The RAC disbanded its hotel inspection team in 2004. Motorcycle patrols gave way to small vans during the 1960s and by 1970 the last motorcycle patrols had been phased out. RAC telephone boxes were withdrawn from service when they were eclipsed by wider telephone ownership and by

1736-643: The Season , a permanent establishment in the city (i.e., a house owned or rented, with the requisite staff), or the opening of a townhouse (generally shuttered outside the Season) was inconvenient or uneconomic, while hotels were rare and socially déclassé . Clubbing with a number of like-minded friends to secure a large shared house with a manager was therefore a convenient solution. The other sort of club meets occasionally or periodically and often has no clubhouse, but exists primarily for some specific object. Such are

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1792-436: The ability to pay large fees as well as an invitation by existing members who seek new recruits who meet personal criteria such as lifestyle, moral base, etc. Less elitist, but still in some cases exclusive, are working men's clubs . Clubs restricted to either officers or enlisted men exist on military bases . The modern Gentlemen's club is occasionally proprietary, i.e. owned by an individual or private syndicate and run on

1848-412: The activities available to the club members in the city or area in which the club is located. Because the purpose of these clubs is split between general social interaction and taking part in the events themselves, clubs tend to have more single members than married ones; some clubs restrict their membership to one of the other, and some are for gay and lesbian patrons. Membership can be limited or open to

1904-411: The associate section as R.A.C. Motoring Services Ltd. in 1978. In 1987, the organisation introduced an "Advanced Computer Aided Rescue System". In 1991, it established the RAC Foundation as its research arm. The RAC Foundation was later turned into a charity, and received a legacy from Royal Automobile Club members when R.A.C. Motoring Services Ltd. was sold in 1999. British School of Motoring (BSM)

1960-592: The car to make sure it is mechanically and structurally sound. The RAC also provides travel and traffic services including online route planners, in car navigation and help with travel documents. In 2006 , RAC teamed up with WSR (West Surrey Racing) to form Team RAC and to race in the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) with two MG ZS cars and from 2007 onwards, two (and sometimes three) BMW E90 320si cars. The racing cars were liveried in RAC's corporate orange and have achieved

2016-475: The command in 1907 "that the Automobile Club of Great Britain and Ireland should henceforth be known as The Royal Automobile Club". In 1911, they moved to the current address, part of the site of the old War Office ; the club house was (and remains) one of the largest in London, with a frontage to Pall Mall of 228 feet and a depth, in the centre, of 140 feet. It cost over a quarter of a million pounds and

2072-574: The drivers included the Duke of Westminster , Lord Dalmeny and "Toby" Rawlinson ; many of them were given commissions and went on to give distinguished war service. In September 1914, a further group of RAC members put themselves and their cars at the disposal of the British Red Cross , to help transport war casualties. The RAC was responsible for organising the first British Grand Prix motor race at Brooklands , Surrey in 1926. In 1977,

2128-504: The expenses of their gatherings. The oldest English clubs were merely informal periodic gatherings of friends for the purpose of dining or drinking with one another. Thomas Occleve (in the time of Henry IV ) mentions such a club called La Court de Bonne Compagnie (the Court of Good Company), of which he was a member. In 1659 John Aubrey wrote, "We now use the word clubbe for a sodality [a society, association, or fraternity of any kind] in

2184-457: The face of considerable opposition a speed limit of 20 mph was retained in addition to the creation of the offence of driving recklessly, dangerously or negligently. In 1905, the club organised the first Tourist Trophy (TT) motorcycle race, the oldest regularly run motor race. The club became the governing body for motor sport in Britain. King Edward VII 's interest in motoring led to

2240-569: The general public, as can the events. Most clubs have a limited membership based upon specific criteria, and limit the events to members to increase the security of the members, thus creating an increased sense of camaraderie and belonging. Social activities clubs can be for profit or not for profit, and some are a mix of the two (a for-profit club with a non-profit charitable arm, for instance). Some social clubs are organized around competitive games, such as chess or bridge . Other clubs are designed to encourage membership of certain social classes. In

2296-516: The many purely athletic, sports and pastimes clubs, the Alpine, chess, yacht and motor clubs. Also there are literary clubs (see writing circle and book club ), musical and art clubs, publishing clubs. The name of “club” has been annexed by a large group of associations which fall between the club proper and friendly societies , of a purely periodic and temporary nature, such as slate, goose and Christmas clubs , which do not need to be registered under

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2352-523: The mobile patrolmen by telephone, so they waited by public telephone boxes for the callout. From 1957 onwards they were equipped with radio sets for two way contact with their local headquarters. In 1912, following the lead of the competitor organisation The Automobile Association (AA), the RAC installed roadside telephones on laybys and junctions of the main trunk roads in the UK for members to summon help. Although they were never as numerous as AA boxes there

2408-401: The patrolmen would come to attention and salute as a member drove past, or, if the patrolman was riding a motorcycle, merely salute. The RAC issued an annual 'Guide and Handbook' that contained road maps of the UK with the location of all RAC telephones marked on it, together with lists of local RAC approved garages and hotels. To give members an indication of the quality of each establishment

2464-836: The purely social clubs in Paris the most notable were the Jockey-Club de Paris (1833), the Cercle de l'Union, the Traveller's and the Cercle Interallié. Buyer's clubs or buying clubs are clubs organized to pool members' collective buying power, enabling them to make purchases at lower prices per individual item than are generally available, or purchase goods that might otherwise be difficult to obtain. There are many legitimate buying clubs – for example, food buying clubs – but many are unauthorized credit card billing scams, in which

2520-545: The real originals of the modern clubhouse. The clubs of the late 17th and early 18th century type resembled their Tudor forerunners in being oftenest associations solely for conviviality or literary coteries. But many were confessedly political, e.g. The Rota, or Coffee Club (1659), a debating society for the spread of republican ideas, broken up at the Restoration in 1660, the Calves Head Club (c.1693) and

2576-637: The realm of classes. Such clubs may fall outside the normal curriculum of school or university education or, as in the case of subject matter clubs (e.g. student chapters of professional societies ), may supplement the curriculum through informal meetings and professional mentoring. A secret society is a club or an organization whose activities, events, inner functioning, or membership are concealed. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence agencies or guerrilla warfare insurgencies, that hide their activities and memberships but maintain

2632-566: The relaxation of speed limits, claiming that the 14 mph speed limit imposed by the Locomotives on Highways Act 1896 was 'absurd' and was seldom observed. The organisations, with support from the Prime Minister Arthur Balfour , had considerable influence over the forthcoming Motor Car Act 1903 , which originally proposed to remove all speed limits for cars while introducing the offence of driving recklessly. In

2688-481: The roads of Britain during 1901 with the patrolmen wearing a uniform not unlike the military police of the day, including tailored jodhpur trousers. The patrolmen had an army-like rank structure with corporals, sergeants and officers. Mounted on Matchless motorbikes with sidecars containing a tool kit, fanbelts, engine hoses, and metal cans of spare petrol they were usually located on standby at laybys and major road junctions. Until around 1930 control could only contact

2744-674: The social opportunities. Country clubs offer a variety of recreational sports facilities to their members and are usually located in suburban or rural areas. Most country clubs have golf facilities. Swimming pools , tennis courts , polo grounds and exercise facilities are also common. Country clubs usually provide dining facilities to their members and guests, and frequently host special events like weddings. Similar clubs in urban areas are often called "athletic clubs". These clubs often feature indoor sports, such as indoor tennis, squash , futsal , basketball , volleyball , boxing , and exercise facilities. Members of sports clubs that support

2800-452: The traditional club." In this spirit, the club was named for Groucho Marx because of his famous remark that he would not wish to join any club that would have him as a member. A political club is a group of people who share a political ideology, or supporters of a particular political party , of which it may function as a local element. For example, a Constituency Labour Party is an association of British Labour Party members who live in

2856-420: Was a measure of cooperation between the two motoring clubs—keys fitted both types of box and members' messages were passed on. The telephones were installed in locked boxes painted in royal blue with the RAC logo badge mounted on the top of the box. Members were provided with a key to the boxes when they joined the club. Members' cars were identified by a metal club badge usually affixed to the radiator grille and

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2912-413: Was a private club owned by its members until sold in 1999, eventually acquired in 2014 and 2015 by GIC Private Limited and CVC Capital Partners . The RAC's main competitors are The AA and Green Flag . The Royal Automobile Club was formed in 1897 by Frederick Richard Simms , which set up an "associate section" to provide members roadside assistance and motoring services. The club incorporated

2968-465: Was need for people with a common interest to be able to associate despite having no ties of kinship. Organizations of the sort have existed for many years, as evidenced by Ancient Greek clubs and associations ( collegia ) in Ancient Rome . It is uncertain whether the use of the word "club" originated in its meaning of a knot of people, or from the fact that the members "clubbed" together to pay

3024-411: Was not able to complete the repair at the roadside, arrangements were made for an RAC approved garage to tow the vehicle and repair it at the owner's cost, with the owners being responsible for making their own arrangements for travel by public transport or hired vehicle. This changed in the 1970s with the first of the low-loading vehicle transporter fleet and the introduction of a higher membership tier of

3080-750: Was purchased by R.A.C. Motoring Services Ltd. in December 1998. The RAC moved into a bespoke control centre at the M4 / M5 interchange in Almondsbury in 1994, designed by Grimshaw Architects . In 1999, R.A.C. Motoring Services was sold by the members of the Royal Automobile Club to Lex Service for £437m, with each of the 12,000 members receiving £34,000, and each of the 4,000 RAC Motoring Services staff receiving £1,000. Lex Service renamed themselves RAC plc in 2002. In October 2000, RAC purchased Intergraph 's Computer Aided Dispatch System (I/CAD),

3136-456: Was sold in 1999 the foundation was granted a legacy and was subsequently established as a charity to research and promote issues of safety, mobility, economics and the environment related to motoring. In September 1999 members sold RAC Motoring Services to Lex Service plc, who renamed themselves RAC plc in 2002. RAC plc was then acquired by Aviva plc in March 2005 for around £1.1 billion. The RAC introduced uniformed mobile patrols around

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