Anyone got experience of the IVC (Inter Varisty Club) - activity / social clubs in the UK?

Answer 1

Yes. From way back. A little bunch of us went along to join and we were interviewed so fiercely that we felt that we were going to be privileged members of an elitist club (the kind you don't want to join if they would have you as a member, as was once famously said). We were all duly admitted, paid our subs and waited for life to take off. It never did for any of us -- at least through Inter Varsity. I met so many lame ducks that I began to worry about whether I was one myself. The most awful encounter was with someone whose sole topic of conversation was exam results. (What sort of person wants to quiz you on your class of degree or 'A' level grades outside an interview room?) Some people were pleasant, but I didn't make a single actual friend there. I am prepared to concede that perhaps I didn't try hard enough myself. Maybe I should have persevered. But the fact is, I let my membership lapse, as my friends did theirs.
All this was long, long ago and perhaps it is unfair to be so dismissive about this hazy experience. But you did ask!