The Active Communities Team

Community Groups

A Basic Guide

Produced by The Active Communities Team Southampton City Council

2009/2010 Edition

1 Contents Page

Active Communities Team- Page 3-4

Types of groups-Page 5-6

Why start a Community Association/group?-Page 6-7

Getting Started-Page 7-8

The Committee and Roles-Page 8-10

Governing documents (Constitution/terms of Reference)- Page 11

Charity Accounts and Requirements-Page 12

Inaugural meeting-Page 13

Annual General Meeting-Page 14-16

Additional handouts and contact information-Page 17

2 Active Communities Team

Active Communities helps local people work together to build sustainable communities where everyone is valued and involved. We support local people who are keen to make a difference to where they live.

Active Community Development Workers

We support people by:

 Encouraging people to get involved in improving their local environment through local action

 Supporting and advertising resident and community groups

 Helping community associations in community centres provide improved facilities for local people

 Supporting you on how to run street parties

 Advising new community groups about setting up management committees and writing constitutions

 Working with a range of groups providing activities for all age groups

 Supporting local groups to set up social enterprise schemes.

Our services:

 Helping you to set up residents and community groups

 Helping you improve your local park and open spaces

 Supporting you to apply for funding to carry out projects in your neighbourhood

3  Helping you find training courses to meet your needs

 Giving you advice on how to plan meetings and events in your community

 Asking you about the services we provide and using your comments to help us improve them

 Putting you in touch with Council staff and other agencies who can help you

Please note at the time of publication there are imminent staff changes which could have an impact on services that are currently listed within this guide. Please be advised to check on the council website for relevant information.

4 Types of Groups

Community Groups

These are groups of people with similar aims, ideas and visions which have formed into a group. There are many different types of community groups, such as:

A) A geographical community is where people live in a specific locality and often has a common characteristic or interest; it could be a residents group, community association, youth group etc B) A community of interest can be people from different geographical areas, who share a specific interest or issue, for example, a support or campaigning group for people suffering a particular illness etc. C) It could be that a community group is both the above (A + B), such as, a women’s group living in a specific geographical area.

Community Associations These are made up of volunteers who are responsible for the day to day running of their organisation. management committees who run their local community centre are community associations and work to provide a community space for social, educational and recreational activities for others in their community.

Residents Associations These are groups of people who represent the interests of everyone living in a particular area or street. They take up issues about their neighbourhood with relevant agencies, like the Council and the Police, who are involved in looking after where they live.

5 Tenants Associations These are groups of people with common aims who get together to form an organisation to improve their council housing conditions and local environment. They represent the views of their members to the City Council.

Friends of Groups This is a voluntary group of local people who put time, energy and effort into caring for and improving their local park or open space.

Why Start a community association or group?

There are a number of reasons why someone may decide to start a community association or group. These may include:

1. Campaigning for something such as a better street-cleaning service, play facilities etc

2. Campaigning against something such as the closure or change to local facilities

3. To help achieve more through collective action such as  Apply for funding

6  To be seen as a professional body by other organisations/agencies  Share the workload  Make collective decisions

4. To arrange outings and social events such as a coach trip, street party, bingo, yoga or keep fit

5. To increase the sense of belonging within a community, and to meet and help others

6. To keep local people in an area informed of the issues that affect them

7. To get involved with what other groups may be doing

8. To have a representative voice when dealing with landlords or statutory agencies

9. To have a say on services provided by statutory agencies and organisations: e.g. older persons forum, health forum, children & young peoples forum

Getting Started

The first step in forming a group is to discover whether or not there is sufficient interest amongst the people around you.

Listen to people’s views and ideas. Talk to as many people as you can and find out if they would be interested in getting involved. This can be done in a variety of ways:

 Door knocking  Visiting the local shops  Visiting places where people meet socially

7 Get initial agreement from people that setting up a group would be a good idea. You only need around six people to attend the first meeting to have enough to set up a group

Once a few people are interested, get together and talk about the issues or interests your group may like to focus on.

Once you have agreement set a date and prepare the content of your meeting. Talk to people about what you would like to discuss.

It does not help to be too pushy, but it always helps to reassure a person that attending a meeting does not mean they will be roped into doing anything specific!

At your first meeting you may wish to set up a group of people which is called an interim steering group or to elect the committee (see below for a description)

The Committee

A committee is a group of elected representatives who are tasked with helping to run an organisation and delivering the aims and objectives of the group.

A committee is usually made up of minimum 3 people, although recommendation would be 6 persons, who usually come together on a monthly or bi-monthly basis to discuss the running of the group in accordance with their constitution( see page 11 for a explanation of constitution) Decisions are made by discussion through a majority vote. Meetings should be recorded and this is done in the form of taking minutes/notes.

Officers of the Committee and their Duties 8 Chair – to chair meetings – be the official ‘voice’ when facing the media and other organisations, – to work closely with the secretary to arrange dates, agendas, and to prepare meetings – to ensure the smooth running of committee meetings and the association

Vice Chair – to deputise for the chair when she/he is unavailable

Secretary – to handle all correspondence and inform the committee at meetings – file and keep all such records in a safe place; arrange meetings – prepare agendas in conjunction with the chair and treasurer and ideally distribute at least 1 week prior to the next meeting – take the role of the minute secretary unless you would like to lighten the load and elect a minute secretary (see description below) – prepare and arrange for the Annual General Meeting and public meetings (see page 13 for explanation) in conjunction with the chair and treasurer etc.

Minutes Secretary - keep a accurate record of meetings - as soon after the meeting as possible, write out and submit the minutes to the chair for approval and actions - distribute approved minutes to committee members and wider circle of volunteers and contacts.

Treasurer To be responsible for all financial transactions and related paper work - recording income and expenses, issuing receipts, paying invoices - preparing financial reports at committee meetings - drawing up income and expenditure reports periodically and annually for the AGM) - If a charity, ensure a copy of the yearly accounts are sent to the Charity Commission. We recommend as good practice to send accounts regardless of whether income is below or above £10,000.

9 Please note that although it is the Treasurers responsibly to do the above. It is the committee’s decision how the funds are spent, this should be done at a meeting and recorded in the minutes.

Lettings Officer (If responsible for a building or equipment) - ensure all bookings for centres are recorded - ensure wall diary is filled in (If applicable) - keep a diary of bookings and inform the person who opens and closes the building - issue receipts for money received and ensure that hiring agreement is signed prior to usage - keep a record of any money received - pass on cheques and cash for bookings to the Treasurer at least monthly - monthly report for committee - check hall for damages and mess following private bookings

You may wish to elect other officers for example: Publicity Officer

10 Governing Documents

What is a Constitution and why do you need one? When setting up a voluntary organisation or community group, it is advisable to have a constitution or terms of reference. (A sample constitution and terms of reference is available see page 17 for further details)This will be an extremely important document for your organisation as it will govern how your group will be run and what its purpose will be.

Constitutions or terms of reference are also a way of ensuring that public and other funding bodies feel confident your group is being run correctly and that money is being properly managed. Groups wishing to apply for funding for community activities for example may face barriers if they are not constituted.

The following information will need to be included in your constitution:

- the objects of the committee - membership, minimum age, area of benefit etc - sections of the association - resignation and termination of membership - general meetings, annual general and special - officers roles - management committee roles - rules of procedure at meetings, to include quorum amount and voting - finance, how the finances will be managed - liability and indemnity - how to dissolve the organisation - alterations to the constitution

11 Charities Accounts and Requirements (If you are a registered charity)

The Charity Commission An essential requirement of all charities is that they operate for the public benefit and are independent of government or commercial interest.

The job of the Charity Commission is to ensure that all charities adhere to charity law. A handout is available for further information, see page 17.

All charities have a duty to be transparent and are required by law to provide certain documents to the Charity Commission and to keep their information on the public register up to date.

Inaugural Meeting

12 What is an Inaugural Meeting?

An inaugural meeting is the first formal open meeting to take place within a group or association. A year following the inaugural meeting will be the Annual General Meeting which will then take place yearly from then on.

Booking a venue This should be as accessible as possible. Think about whether the venue is on a bus route and if there is adequate parking. Try to find out if attendees have any particular requirements e.g. wheelchair access, and any equipment you may need to provide such as an induction loop.

Make sure the room is large enough to accommodate not just the committee members but other people who may attend.

Preparing documents for the inaugural meeting.

An agenda will need to be available to all attendees; it should include:

 introductions  explanation of the purpose of the meeting and the proposed group  the constitution acceptance or any amendments made prior to voting acceptance.  the official voting of officers and members  date of the next meeting.

You will need to make sure copies of your constitution or terms of reference that you wish to adopt are available for all attendees.

Annual General Meetings (AGM)

13 What is an AGM?

An Annual General Meeting is held once a year. The purpose of the meeting is to:

 report on the work of the group over the last year  present the groups annual report including the annual statement of accounts  elect the committee for the next year  make any changes to the constitution

Your group will have a section within your constitution which deals with AGM’s. This will give guidance as to how the AGM should be run and what matters should be dealt with.

Structure of an AGM

You will need to draw up an agenda for the AGM which should include items such as:

 minutes of previous AGM  annual reports  annual audited/independently examined  statement of accounts  election of committee  amendments to Constitution  date of next meeting

 the AGM is normally partly conducted by the Chair, until the point of elections, whereby an independent person stands in to take over the election process  minutes of the meeting should be taken by the Secretary  try to make the meeting enjoyable – think about breaking up the business side of the meeting with social activities and refreshments  consider inviting a guest speaker  introduce the current committee

14 Preparing documents for AGM

You will need to make sure copies of your constitution or terms of reference, annual statement of accounts, annual report and agenda are available.

Your annual report should explain what you have achieved over the last year and what your plans are for the next 12 months.

An annual statement of accounts will also need to be prepared. You will need to make sure you have time before the meeting for the accounts to be audited or independently examined, depending upon what the requirements of your constitution are.

Make sure the room is large enough to accommodate not just the committee members but other people who may attend.

Notice of the meeting Once a venue, date and time has been decided, a notice giving details about the AGM should be circulated to members of the group and interested parties in advance of the meeting. (Your constitution will tell you how far in advance this should be done).

The notice should include the date, time, venue and the elections that will be held. You may also wish to include details of the agenda or just highlight one or two items. Only items on the agenda can be discussed at the AGM.

Think about other ways of advertising the meeting for example in local shops, libraries, doctors’ surgeries, community buildings, on lamp posts etc.

Managing elections

15 Your Constitution should give guidance on electing committee or board members. It is advisable to ask for nominations before the AGM, which should be proposed and seconded. Check whether your constitution has rules about who is allowed to stand as a committee or board member.

Be clear on the voting system you will be using and make sure it is explained clearly. For example do you want to have a show of hands or a private ballot?

Check your constitution to find out who is eligible to vote at the AGM. If the constitution does not provide clear guidance on what to do in the event of a tie, then it is usual practice for the Chair of the organisation to have a casting vote. The existing committee need to be clear about voting procedures as laid out by the constitution before attending the AGM.

The meeting following the AGM This meeting will be a good opportunity for the new committee to get to know each other. It is a time when the work of the organisation can be discussed and the objectives and role of the committee understood.

16 In addition to this basic guide, handouts on the following subjects are available.  Ideas on how to keep volunteers  Sample constitutions and terms of reference  Charity Commission requirements

If you require a handout or further assistance please contact the relevant community development worker for your area.

Central & North area Malkeat Singh (Central) 023 80 833197 Elly Wong (North area) 023 80 834340

South & East area Cathy O’Leary (South) 023 80 833476 Louise Fagan (East) 023 80 832644

West Area Debbie Edwards 023 80 832101 Natalie Hargreaves 023 80 832165 Or alternatively e-mail:[email protected]

Produced by the Active Community Development Workers Southampton City Council 2009/2010