Within the Association for Group Travel Organisers ‘Kent’ is unique inasmuch as it’s contained within just one English county.
We currently have a branch membership of 60 covering a wide range of clubs and organisations – business communities, U3As, KentARA and other retirement groups, WIs, gardening, theatre and many more – some with comparatively small member numbers, others in excess of 300. Our aim is to ensure our members are kept fully informed of AGTO news, membership benefits and the assistance available to them both through the Association and our own branch membership network.
Kent branch holds meetings/events at least 4 times a year. These take place at suitable venues and attractions generally within the county, or within easy travelling distance. Attending these get-togethers provides insight into potential days out for our members’ individual groups.
Each starts with a 45 minute branch meeting. Members are always made welcome, given the opportunity to introduce themselves and speak about the type of outings their organisation arranges. Likewise, when Partner members attend they are invited to introduce themselves and share what their organisation has to offer GTOs. All members are welcome to bring a guest to our meetings, and everyone is invited to join in a general discussion session. Indeed, one of our key objectives is to share our experiences of day trips, short breaks and holidays, telling it how it was – the good, the bad and the ugly – together with advice on how to book and get the best out of your group’s visit.
All AGTO members, whether GTOs or Partners, are most welcome to join us at our advertised meetings, and an invitation is also open to any non-members to come along, bring a friend, and see for themselves what the Association has to offer Group Travel. Just contact our Chairman, Secretary or one of our Committee members for any further information you may need.
Don’t forget to join the AGTO facebook page here.
Not a member? Join here today!
Branch Chairman: David Steele – tel (07889) 936396; email associate-membership@agto.co.uk
Treasurer: Alison Holloway – tel (01797) 367067; email alisonehollway@hotmail.com
Secretary: Patricia Speakman – tel (01233) 665621; patriciaspeakman27@yahoo.com
Committee Member: Eileen Booker – tel (01227) 765917; email bookertrip@live.co.uk
Committee Member: Carol Gower – tel (01580) 712521; email cbaoutings@gmail.com
Committee Member: Linda Sharp – tel (07930) 357680; email ianjsharp49@aol.com
Committee Member: Jim Silvester – tel (01474) 704782; email jamessilvester600@msn.com
Board Director: David Steele – tel (07889) 936396; email associate-membership@agto.co.uk
Accounts Verification: Pam Freer
AGTO Magazine Co-ordination: Vacancy
To contact the Branch please email.
Recent Activity
2025 has been a busy year so far …
A number of branch members were present at Dunwood Travel’s Conference at Potters Resort, Hopton at the beginning of January.
Our branch Secretary, Patricia Speakman, won First Prize in the raffle and looks forward to her holiday in Cyprus very soon.
Our member Janice Biffen won a Dunwood award for organising holidays with them.
More recently, Kent branch was well-represented at the AGTO Showcase held in Bournemouth, 4th – 6th February, 2025. The Marsham Court Hotel proved the perfect venue for this special event and, even in February, the Bournemouth weather was kind to us! It was fantastic to meet up with GTO members and Partners old and new, and to attend fam. visits of our choice whilst we were there. Huge thanks are due to all involved in the organisation of a really worthwhile couple of days! We can now look forward to the next one, in Leicester, 27th February – 1st March 2026! SAVE THE DATE, NOW!! It would be wonderful to see a good number of fellow Kent members there.
The Association’s AGM took place at the London Transport Museum, Covent Garden on Tuesday 18th February. At the end of our formal meeting useful presentations were given by Nick Goodchild of Travlaw (who provide legal cover to us all as part of our annual AGTO subscription), Tony Lincoln of Cirque du Soleil, Anna-Karin Hanson of English Heritage and the London Transport Museum who can offer a wide range of visit opportunities to our groups. It’s well worth checking these out! Members were given free admission to the Museum after the AGM.
On Friday 28th February members of the Kent branch committee had a table at the SOUTH EAST ENGLAND ‘Groups Visit Fair’ which took place at Saint Hill Manor, East Grinstead RH19 4JY, when three new AGTO members were recruited. As ever, it was good to meet up with both members and a good number of Partners. It’s a great show for new, more local, ideas to be shared, and with several first time exhibitors this year, I watched a number of new ideas for trips being developed during the show.
DATES FOR DIARIES
Our next branch meeting will be held at Fort Amherst on Wednesday 23rd April. Details and booking forms are being distributed by email by our Hon Sec. Patricia Speakman. If you know someone who arranges outings for a group who is not an AGTO member do feel free to invite them to come and join our meeting. It’s the very best way to grow our branch membership. We are expecting a number of Partners to join us at Fort Amherst, so there will be an opportunity to meet them and take away their literature…. food for thought….
THEN…
Our Kent branch summer meeting will be held at the wonderful Great Comp Garden on Monday 2nd June. Further details will be shared in due course.
YOUR COMMITTEE LOOKS FORWARD TO SEEING YOU SOON!!
