Model engineers often join together to form model engineering clubs and societies. The first of these to form was the Society of Model and Experimental Engineers based in London, UK, in 1898, "along similar lines to the model yachting clubs" then popular. By 1948, "well over a hundred local clubs and societies" had been formed. Model engineering clubs and societies now number in the hundreds across the UK, Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, Netherlands, Switzerland and elsewhere. These clubs are a form of civil society organisation, which are a sign of healthy democracy and community cohesion.