Members FAQs

Members do not need to pre-book tickets to visit the Museum unless the event/activity is not included in your membership benefits*.

When arriving at the Museum you just need to present your valid membership card to gain entry.

*Some events/activities in the year may be ticketed, e.g. Open Air Theatre and Advent & Christmas Market. You will need to purchase separate tickets for these as they are not included in your annual membership plan. Members will be given priority booking window prior to ticketed events going on public sale. For these events/activities members tickets will incur a charge as these events are not included in your membership plan.

As a member of the Museum you are entitled to the following fantastic benefits:

• Standard daytime admission to the Museum
• 10% discount in the café and shop
• 10% discount on admission tickets for guests when visiting with you
• Selected discounts on Museum ticketed events and courses
• Membership publications
• Priority access to information on special events
• Priority booking window before ticketed events going on public sale*

*events that are ticketed and pre-book only will have limited tickets available.

Events and activities that are included in your membership are identified with the following membership icon:

Our membership office is open Monday to Friday, 9am to 3pm.

Annual Memberships purchased online will be processed during the office working hours and posted out within 3 days of purchase. If you wish to visit the Museum before the pack is posted out, you can notify the membership team to leave your pack for collection in the shop. Just send an email to the membership team on reply to your purchase confirmation email after you complete your purchase. Or if you have purchased a membership after 3pm on Friday or over the weekend, your membership can be processed on arrival at the Museum at the admissions desk in the Museum shop.

Direct Debit memberships will not be processed until the first payment has been received, which is approx. 5 days from purchase. Direct Debit membership packs can take up to 10 days to be posted. If you have purchased a Direct Debit membership, these will not be valid or processed until the first payment has been received, these packs are only issued by the membership team during their office working hours.

Your Museum membership is valid only for the named person(s) on the membership. Membership does not include free entrance for guests, but you can purchase a ticket for your guests (when visiting with you) with a 10% membership discount.

Guest tickets must be purchased at the admission desk on arrival at the Museum. The 10% discount will be applied when a valid membership card is presented. You must state to the admissions team that they are your guests for the discount to be applied on their tickets. Discount is not available on ticketed events/activities.

As a member you will receive our monthly Newsbite E-newsletter, which will keep you up to date with news and events at the Museum. If you do not currently receive this, please drop us an email to membership@wealddown.co.uk with your membership number and we will add you to our mailing list. Please put Newsbite ‘WDxxxxxxx’ (your membership number) in the subject of the email.

If you have provided us with your email address, you will be sent an automatic reminder a month before the renewal/expiry date. If you do not renew at this time, you will be sent a second reminder a week before the expiry date just in case you missed the first one. Please note: Sometimes these reminders can go into your junk/spam mailbox.

Members who do not have an email address will be sent one reminder letter in the post within the month up to the renewal date.

Just click on the link in the email to renew your membership via our website, or you can call the membership team on 01243 811010 if you wish to pay over the phone.

If you have purchased your membership online, you can access your online membership account at any time via the following link: Members login

Don’t worry if you have forgotten your password, you can reset it by clicking the ‘forgotten password’ under the login details.

Once you access your online membership page, you will be able to:

• Update your address details if you move
• See what tickets you have purchased for any additional activities/courses
• Check when your membership expires
• Renew you membership within a month of the expiry date – this option will appear approximately four weeks prior to your renewal date

Please note: If your membership type is going to change on renewal, i.e. adult changing to senior, or joint adult to two adult family, you cannot just click the renew membership as this is a different plan. Please click on membership tab along the top bar and purchase your new membership type. We will then transfer your membership number across to your new plan for you.

If you would like to set your membership up as a direct debit payment so you don’t have to worry about remembering to renew your membership each year, you can do this on our website. Where we offer our membership plans on a monthly continuous direct debit.

Follow the link to our Membership Direct Debit page and purchase your membership. By using your name, address and email, our system will be able to identify you as an existing member so we can move your membership number across to your new plan.

When you become a member, you are issued with a membership card with a unique number just for you. This will be your membership card for the lifetime of your membership, so each year we will renew your membership on that unique number for you.

If your membership has lapsed and you renew within two months, we will not send a new card unless you advise us you no longer have the card. If the membership has lapsed for more than two months, we will send you a new membership pack and new membership card.

If you have lost your membership card, please either email us at membership@wealddown.co.uk with your membership number if you remember it, or your name and address so we can locate your membership on our system. Or, please call us on 01243 811010 and we can find your membership and allocate you a new number and send you out a new card. Or alternatively, you can request a new membership card on arrival at the Museum, please have your details ready so the team can find your membership on the system.

A membership gift voucher is valid for 12 months from the date of issue. You can choose when you redeem the voucher, but it is only valid for the membership type that has been gifted to you.

To redeem the voucher, go to our ticketing site to purchase your membership. Add your membership to your basket, then enter your voucher code in the gift voucher box at the checkout. This will then zero value your order and take you through to the customer details screen so you can complete your details for your membership pack to be processed.

Once redeemed our membership team will process your details and send out your membership pack within one week. If you wish to visit before this, please email membership@wealddown.co.uk after your purchase so we can leave your pack for collection in the Museum gift shop.