Getting Started With Your Group

So you’ve got the passion, and you’ve got the drive to change something in your community. But doing it alone is a thankless task - and there's no need to take the challenge on alone -  a group of like-minded people will have a much bigger impact, and working together you’ll be able to achieve your objectives more quickly -and have a bit of fun along the way.

Setting up a community group will be one of the most rewarding things you’ve ever done, but there are a few things you need to consider before you start.

Our handy free guide has lots of advice - have a read of the full guide here.

                           

Things that you need to ask, find out or decide:-

You need to make sure everyone in your group knows exactly what you’re aiming to achieve. Ask yourself:-

  • Who your group aims to help
  • What it aims to do

Make sure you remain realistic and work with the resources you have easily available. It might also be a good idea to collaborate with other groups, who have a similar objective to yours, or one you could benefit from working with. It’s important to do a bit of research too - you don’t want to set up a group if the same one already exists in your area!

Things you need to do

  1. It’s easy to get in a muddle and if you haven’t done anything like this before, knowing where to start can be tough
  2. Get people on board by advertising your group in the right areas
  3. Once you’ve got your group together, you need to be strategic and systematic
  4. Develop a plan, set yourself goals and put timescales to these.
  5. Assign tasks to members of the group so everyone knows exactly what their responsibilities are
  6. You need to set up a constitution, stating exactly what your group represents
  7. Setting up a committee is the next most important thing. Giving everyone roles will mean goals are achieved quickly and more efficiently, it will also mean everyone feels a sense of importance
  8. You also of course need to set up a bank account. Set it up under your group’s name

Checklist

A few things to review once you have set up your group...

  • Is your group formally set up with a committee and constitution drawn up?
  • Do you know exactly what you want to achieve and how to go about it?
  • Are you a registered charity, do you need to be?
  • Are there any agencies you could be working with?

Who to ask for help

There is much more detailed information and guidance in our free guide which you can read here. There are also further services out there to offer you advice when you need it. Contacting your local council is the best thing you can do. You can also get in touch with the Small Charities Coalition http://www.smallcharities.org.uk or the National Council For Voluntary Organisations .