Membership terms and conditions

National Portrait Gallery Membership (inclusive of Membership and Patronage) provides invaluable support to the Gallery in its mission to encourage understanding of those individuals who have contributed to British history and culture through the medium of portraits and to promote portraits as an art form. In return, members receive a range of special opportunities and discounts commensurate with their level of support.

Terms

Your membership is an annual membership and your payment covers a period of one year from the start date, with the exception of Life Patronage, which is for the lifetime of the specified individual, unless otherwise stated.
Memberships (new and renewing) may take up to five weeks from receipt to process and membership materials will be posted out to you by Royal Mail. Please contact the Gallery if you have not received your membership materials after this time period. We regret that we will not be able to grant an extension if you fail to inform us of non-receipt of membership materials.
Your membership card can only be used by the named member. Proof of identity may be requested on presentation of your membership card.
If you are unable to show a valid membership card on entry to an exhibition or event you may be asked to validate your membership at the Ticket and Membership Desk for access.
You can upgrade your membership and update your details at any time by contacting the Gallery.
Lost or stolen membership cards will be replaced free of charge on the first occasion. Any subsequent replacement cards provided may incur an administrative fee of £5.
Supporter news will be sent electronically to members without a UK postal address, unless otherwise requested.
Anyone buying a Gift Membership will be asked to provide the name and address of the Gift Membership recipient, which will be held by the Gallery for the fulfilment of the Gift Membership. It will then be the responsibility of the gift recipient to contact the Gallery to update their contact preferences and provide any further contact details they wish the Gallery to have, including any email addresses.

Benefits

As a member you are entitled, upon presentation of a valid membership card, to the benefits as listed on the relevant Members, Bloomsbury Patrons, Reynolds Patrons, Ditchley Patrons or Life Patrons pages of the Gallery’s website.
To receive the membership discount, we request that members must show a valid Membership card in Restaurant and Cafés before ordering or when reserving a table and before a sales transaction is made in all Gallery shops.
Discounts in the Restaurant, Cafe and Gallery shops cannot be applied retrospectively.
Members’ 10% discount in the Gallery Shops does not apply to all products and offers.
Members’ 10% discount in the Restaurant only applies to the member or to a bill for up to a maximum of 6 people, inclusive of the Member, when the Member pays. The Portrait Restaurant is unable to split the bill for a party of more than 6 people, including the Member.
Members whose benefits include complimentary catalogues will receive catalogues periodically at the selection of the Gallery that relate to exhibitions within the current year of membership.
The Gallery reserves the right to change membership benefits during a member’s year of membership. All effort will be made to notify members of changes ahead of renewals.

Fees

Membership fee are treated as charitable donations by HMRC, thus they’re not refundable. This applies to one-off payments and Direct Debit payments.
Members are responsible for ensuring that membership fees are paid in full.
Your membership is valid from the point of joining or membership fee is received.
Annual Direct Debit payments will be taken within seven weeks of joining the Gallery and on an annual basis from when your membership is due for renewal. You will be notified prior to the payment of your renewal fee.
Direct Debit payments must not be cancelled until the first payment has been collected.
For memberships paid by monthly Direct Debit, you agree to take out the selected membership for a period of one year. Your membership fee is payable in 11 instalments. The first payment includes two instalments and all subsequent one will be equal and as set out in the Direct Debit payment schedule, which we will send you as part of your membership welcome or renewal order confirmation.
If your membership fee is outstanding you are still responsible for the payment of any benefits you may have used from the day you became a Member, this includes any exhibition tickets that you may have used in this period. If you have redeemed any discounts on purchases or services, these will be repayable in full.
You must notify the Gallery prior to the start of the month in which you are due to be renewed if you intend to cancel your Direct Debit.
If there is any difficulty with collecting the Direct Debit payment the Gallery will be in touch to re-attempt payment collection.
The membership fees and benefits will be set by the Gallery’s senior management, who reserve the right to increase the fee or alter the benefits.. All efforts will be made to notify members ahead of annual renewals.
If you wish to cancel part-way through your membership year, you are not entitled to a partial refund as per the above point regarding cancellation.
Members are entitled to upgrade their memberships. This can be done in person or over the phone. The difference in fee will be taken in a one-off card payment to upgrade the membership.
Membership upgrades are for the remainder of the Membership year. They cannot be paid pro rata and cannot be carried over.
The Gallery reserves the right to increase membership fees at its discretion. All efforts will be made to notify members ahead of annual renewals.

Ticket upgrade to Membership

National Portrait Gallery exhibition tickets can be converted to Membership up to 7 days after the visit.
Only one ticket can be converted to an Individual Membership, two tickets can be converted to Member plus Guest. Please note that multiple tickets need to have been purchased by the same person, in the same transaction.
If a ticket holder opts to pay the Membership by Direct Debit, the ticket price will be deducted from the subscription amount. The ticket buyer will need to provide valid bank account details in order to set up a Direct Debit instruction. Should the bank details be invalid the Membership team will make every effort to inform the ticket holder of the failed set up. It is the responsibility of the ticket buyer to communicate the correct bank details. Failure to do so will result in the Membership being cancelled and the ticket purchase amount will not be refunded.
If a ticket holder opts to pay the Membership by card, it will be necessary to refund the initial transaction amount on the payment card first. The Membership fee will then be charged in full.
If a ticket holder has not set up an online account they will need to provide the ticket order number to be able to convert the initial purchase to Membership.

Gift Aid

The donation portion of Patronage payments are eligible for Gift Aid, and thus can be included in self-assessment tax returns. For details of the donation and subscription amounts of these membership types, please refer to the relevant Patron pages of the Gallery’s website.
It is your responsibility to read the declaration and truthfully fill it out. It is also your responsibility to inform the Gallery of any changes in your tax status, if your name and/or address changes or if you wish to cancel the declaration.
You have 30 days to cancel the Gift Aid declaration after receiving acknowledgment from the Gallery before any claim is submitted against the membership fee.
To be eligible for Gift Aid a donor has to be a UK taxpayer and to have paid an amount of UK income tax or capital gains tax that is equal to any tax we would reclaim on your Membership or donation.
Declarations are valid into the future until you notify us that it needs to be stopped.

Events

We encourage you to respond swiftly for Member and Patron events as places may be limited and are offered on a first come first served basis.
We encourage you to book for events in the Gallery’s public programme during the Members’ priority booking period as there is no reserved allocation for members once events are sold out.
Events tickets for the Gallery’s public programme are non-refundable.
During the Members’ Priority booking period, members are entitled to purchase tickets for guests, however, the discount will only be applied to the member’s ticket.
We request that members arrive at designated meeting points in good time. If you are delayed please notify Gallery staff. We will endeavour to accommodate your requirements if possible but cannot guarantee that tours or visits will be delayed for late arrivals.
Gallery staff may need to refuse entry to special previews or private views upon late arrival if it is felt that it would cause disruption for other guests.
Only categories such as Member & Guest, Joint Members & Two Guests and Membership Plus entitle Members to invite a guest (one each for Joint Members & Two Guests) to afternoon previews and evening private views.
For reasons of space, some selected membership events, may only be open to members, regardless of membership type.
Patrons are entitled to bring one guest to each Patrons event unless otherwise stated. We are generally unable to accommodate further guests but will let Patrons know if additional places are available.
We request that Members and Patrons across all categories of membership and their guests attending Gallery events adhere to the obligations of membership as outlined within this document.

Obligations of membership

Whilst at a premises owned, operated or in official partnership with the Gallery, we request that members act in an appropriate manner so as not to cause offence or annoyance to other visitors, members and their guests.
Whilst at a premises owned, operated or in official partnership with the Gallery a member is responsible for the behaviour of their guests and ensuring that they behave in an appropriate manner.
Fraudulent use of membership cards reduces our ability to raise income so we kindly ask that you do not lend your card to non-members. The Gallery will operate random checks at the exhibition entrance so please bring a form of identification with you at all times. Failure to provide valid ID (e.g. bank card, driving licence etc.) will result in refusal of entry.
We reserve the right to refuse entry or, if necessary, to revoke membership without refund if an individual behaves in a threatening or abusive manner towards any person at the Gallery, damages or threatens to damage any of the collections or property of the Gallery, or acts in a manner which – in the Gallery’s sole opinion – brings the Gallery into disrepute.
The supply of alcohol will be restricted at the sole discretion of the Gallery based on the behaviour of the individual and/or their guest.
The Gallery takes a zero tolerance approach to the use of illegal drugs.

Termination of membership

Joint Membership, Joint Member & Two Guests, and Patronage membership may not be transferred from one individual to another in the case of divorce or legal separation. The membership will remain in the name of the original member. The Gallery will remain neutral and will not favour one individual over another in such circumstances.
Upon notification of the death of a member the Gallery will conclude the membership unless instructed to transfer to a named individual for the remainder of the annual membership period. Such transfers will be at the discretion of the Gallery.
We regret that Life Patronage cannot be transferred and may only be used by the original, named individual for the duration of their lifetime.
If payment of any membership fee has not been received by the Gallery within 90 days of the date of renewal membership will be terminated.
In the event of any dispute arising as to the meaning or interpretation of these rules, the matter shall be referred to the Gallery’s Director whose decision shall be final.

Members’ research

When you visit the Gallery, we will scan your Membership card to check your entitlement to free entry, to understand how and when our members visit, and to help us send you more relevant communications. In our legitimate interests to understand our members and provide improved communications and benefits to them, we will carry out demographic profiling and we may use your personal data for marketing, statistical, and analytical purposes.

Staying in touch

We request that you keep the Gallery up to date with your preferred contact details. The Gallery is not responsible for any missed communications due to a change of address (electronic or postal).
We will endeavour to post communications to your preferred postal address. However, in the case of catalogues, or residential addresses outside of the United Kingdom we may need discuss alternative arrangements if prohibitive postal costs are likely to be incurred.
If returned mail is received at the Gallery due to a change of address and we are unable to re-establish contact, membership and any associated Direct Debits will be cancelled within two months of the Gallery attempting to make contact.
It being in our legitimate interest to do so, we will contact you both by post and, when applicable by email, to update you on your Membership status including reminders when it is due to expire. Members may also be contacted up to 18 months after the expiry date of their membership asking them to re-join. If you have consented to receive marketing materials, this contact period will only apply to reminders about your Membership status. If you do not want to receive these communications please inform the Membership office either in person, by phone or by email. You can also use the unsubscribe button to stop receiving any email communications from us.

Contact details

The Membership Team can be reached on the following details:

Membership Office
National Portrait Gallery
2 St. Martin’s Place
London
WC2H 0HE

Phone: + 44 (0)20 7321 6283

Email: [email protected]

Data Protection

The National Portrait Gallery is committed to protecting your privacy. All personal data given when you register to support the Gallery will be held and processed securely by the Gallery in accordance with the GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018. It will be used to administer your membership to fulfil the Gallery’s contractual obligations to you; and to send you email updates about events, benefits, services, special offers and fundraising activities from the National Portrait Gallery, in our legitimate interest to keep you informed. These updates are sent via our email provider Wordfly and you can unsubscribe at any time. Your personal information will be retained by the Gallery for as long as is necessary to administer your membership.

If you ask us to claim Gift Aid on your payment, it is a legal requirement to share your name and address with Her Majesty Revenue and Customs (HMRC) in order to process the Gift Aid claim. Evidence of Gift Aid claims must be kept by the Gallery for seven years.