Advice on setting up an Action Group
Get others involved
Book a community meeting
» You need to let people know what is happening and to give them the opportunity to join forces with you.
» You need to find a central meeting room known by your local community and book it for an evening or weekend when you feel that a large number of your community can attend.
» Make sure that the room is big enough to hold a large number of people; your local community centre should be able to help.
Advertise
» Drop leaflets around the area that is affected.
» Let people know what is going to happen, when it is going to happen, and why you are objecting to it.
» Ensure it is clear when your first meeting is going to be held, how they can get there and if you are comfortable a telephone number and/or email address on which they can contact you on for more information.
Holding the meeting
» Let people know what’s happening.
» If you have print-outs for instance petition forms or objection forms ensure you have plenty or that you can tell people where they can get more.
» Be prepared for questions.
» Let people know that you are forming an Action Group.
» Ask people to put their details on a form that you circulate around the room if they would like to help run the Action Group, deliver leaflets to their local area, or provide some other service.
Services could include; printing, providing wood for signs, giving advice.
» The details you should ask for are; name, address, phone number, email and how they would like to help. Also make a collection jar available on the front desk and ensure you tell people that if they want to help fund the Action Group please do leave a donation.
» Tell people where you will be putting further information about when and where the Action Group will meet and what is happening. For example the internet, a parish council notice board, a local post office. Do ensure you have gained permission or set up your website prior to doing this.
» Confirm the date and time of your first Action Group meeting, an evening slot is more likely to be available to everyone. Make sure people know that everyone is welcome and that you will be meeting on a regular basis.
Your first Action Group meeting
» Agree your group’s objectives, make sure you all know and agree on what your common goals are.
» Fill key roles; chair(s) – organises each meeting (agenda), a point of executive decision, the main figure-head of the group; treasurer – is in charge of the groups finances, is in charge of the groups bank account if one is set up; secretary – the main point of communication in the group, keeps everyone organised and keeps things flowing, arranges meeting and takes the minutes; other optional roles can include fundraising, public relations, inter-group contacts and leaflet delivery. In most groups any individual could have many changing roles.
» Agree meeting dates, agree where, when and how frequently the group will meet. Local pubs may have a room which you can use at no cost, it would most likely be useful to meet on a weekly basis.
» A plan of action, who are you going to communicate to, how are you going to communicate (leaflet drops, website, posters, notice boards, shops), how does the community communicate back to you (key contacts, Action Group meetings, email addresses), what are you communicating (current news, fundraising events, key dates), how do you fund all of this, events (village fairs, community gatherings, sponsored events – raffles, tombola’s, car boot sales etc), donations (at Action Group meetings, events, selling items, car stickers).
» Joining other groups. There are lots of small Action Groups. When they work together they can provide support and have a louder voice. See www.saveourgreenspaces.org for a growing alliance of Bristol Action Groups which you are welcome to join.
» Do you need a website? Websites will be used by some, but not all, of your local community. They provide a means of communicating what is happening, what you are doing, and what you would like the community to do. You may have a resident IT expert who will be able to set up your website at no cost. www.saveourgreenspaces.org can also provide you space under their website. Currently this is at no cost, as more groups join we may have to share the hosting costs, although this should not be much money per group.
Community
Local Action Group