Governor Guide to Membership Recruitment
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Governor Guide to Membership Recruitment April 2017 Contents 1. Introduction 2. About membership 2.1 A representative membership is key 2.2 Quantity versus quality 3. Membership data 4. Under-represented communities 4.1 Sensitive recruitment 5. Our resources 5.1 Membership forms 5.2 Promotional items 5.3 Working with other Trusts and Organisations 6. Recruitment mechanisms 6.1 Events and stands 6.2 Face to face 7. Staying in touch with your constituents 8. Evaluation and improvement 8.1 Feedback forms Appendices Appendix A – Directory of Services Appendix B – Membership Leaflet and Form Appendix C – List of voluntary services Appendix D – 2017/18 Members Event Guide Appendix E – Governor Question Form Appendix F – Towns and Villages for each Geographic Constituency 1 1. Introduction This guide has been developed to assist our Governors in recruiting members of the public to become members of our Foundation Trust and to help improve engagement with existing members. If you have any questions about this guide, please contact the Communication and Engagement Manager on 01372 216158 or email [email protected]. 2. About membership Currently we have just over 6,500 public members of our Foundation Trust, with a goal to grow this to 7,000 members by April 2018. At present, we have no set upper limit to the number of public members we wish to recruit. 2.1 A representative membership is key As a Foundation Trust we are accountable to the population that we serve, which helps us focus on the specific needs of our communities. We value having a membership that is representative of the people we serve and strive to achieve this by linking with all of the different communities across Surrey and north east Hampshire to raise awareness of the services we provide and other support that is available to people. Furthermore, a fair and diverse membership base is crucial. Being aware of this helps us to aim recruitment activities towards groups of people that are currently under-represented in our membership. This also helps us to ensure that our elected Governors are representative of our communities. 2.2 Quantity versus quality As much as any Foundation Trust is interested in growing their membership numbers, we are aware of the cost of recruiting lots of members who may never want to actively engage with the Trust, compared to focusing on and recruiting fewer numbers of people who may suggest they are going to be active member. In truth, it is difficult to predict how involved a person will be when they sign up as a new member; some may never engage in activities of the Trust, despite saying they will when they signed-up. Others may find themselves very interested and active in Trust events, despite never intending to be. Overall, with any new member that is signed-up, it is important for them to realise they can be as involved as much or as little as they are able to be or wish to be. 2 3. Membership data We collect membership data via our membership form, which asks for basic contact details such as name, address, telephone and email. The table below shows our total number of public and patient members per constituency up to the end of March 2017: Table 1 Constituency Eligibility Number of Members Public Constituency – People who live in the communities we serve NW & SW Surrey Resident of NW or SW 2648 Surrey East & Mid Surrey Resident of East or Mid 1456 Surrey Hampshire & Rest of Resident of Hampshire or 1500 England residing in England Public Constituency – People who use services and carers Learning Disability Someone who uses 209 learning disability services Other Services Someone who uses other 285 Trust services Carers A carer or family member 439 of someone who uses services Total Membership = 6537 Our membership form also asks for further personal details such as age, ethic group and marital status in-line with protected characteristic information. We collect this data as we feel strongly about the importance of building a membership as diverse as the population we provide services to. Additionally, there are key characteristics that the Trust is expected to report to NHS Improvement, the regulator of Foundation Trusts. The information we ask for from new members is entirely voluntary. No-one should feel compelled to provide this. It is also very important to assure our members that their information is kept completely confidential within the guidelines set out in the Data Protection Act 1998. 3 The Communication and Engagement team adds this information to our database and we are able to extract information which can be broken down in numerous ways. Governors are able to request information/reports if needed. Table 2 below shows a breakdown of membership details up to the end of March 2017: Table 2 Membership breakdown – March 2017 Age Band Public Patient Total 0-16 160 8 168 17-21 950 33 983 22-29 640 56 696 30-39 362 63 425 40-49 508 151 659 50-59 664 181 845 60-74 921 247 1168 75+ 563 70 633 Unspecified 836 124 960 Grand total 5604 933 6537 Gender Public Patient Total Male 1734 321 2055 Female 3759 604 4363 Transgender 0 0 0 Unspecified 111 8 119 Grand total 5604 933 6537 Ethnic Origin Public Patient Total White 4627 782 5409 Mixed 109 22 131 Asian or Asian 475 30 505 British Black or Black 120 25 145 British Other 60 14 74 Undisclosed 213 60 273 Grand total 5604 933 6537 Disability Public Patient Total A sensory disability 17 16 33 A physical disability 89 36 125 A learning disability 10 40 50 A mental health 31 38 69 problem 4 Any other special 13 13 26 need Grand Total 160 143 303 Sexual Orientation Public Patient Total Bisexual 41 8 49 Gay 27 7 34 Heterosexual 1147 279 1426 Not stated 4390 638 5028 Grand Total 5605 932 6537 Under-represented communities We produce reports about our membership and provide some information on our website, particularly within the Council of Governors papers and our Annual Report and Accounts. Whilst there are geographical variations in our membership, there are some generalisations that can be made about the characteristics of members that are under-represented: Men – we have 2055 male members compared to 4363 female members (119 members did not specify their age) People with a disability – Only 303 members have registered as having a disability Gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people. 6454 members have either stated they are heterosexual or did not state their sexual orientation For public geographic constituencies, East Surrey is under-represented, as shown in Table 1 on page 3. 4.1 Sensitive recruitment It is important to target specific groups sensitively and be clear about the reasons why they are being approached. It should be made clear that we feel strongly about the importance of building a diverse and representative membership; it is not just to fulfil any kind of reporting obligation. Our resources This section outlines the resources we have in place to help recruit new members. If you require any resources, please contact the Communication and Engagement team on 01372 216158 or email [email protected] 5 5.1 Membership forms We collect membership via our membership forms. This is a leaflet with information about membership and a tear-off section that can be securely posted back free of charge. These details are then entered onto our membership database. The Communication and Engagement team is responsible for entering the new members’ information onto our system and sending out the welcome letters. People are also able to sign-up as a member online at www.sabp.nhs.uk/members. Alternatively, the Communication and Engagement team can be contacted at [email protected] where the team can advise on any aspect of membership. Please see Appendix B for a copy of the Membership Form. We make sure that membership forms are distributed to all of the services within our Trust as well as local organisations such as council buildings, libraries and relevant voluntary sector organisations. 5.2 Promotional items We have a supply of giveaways such as pens and key-rings. These help attract people to you if you are at a stand or at a public event. 5.3 Working with other Trusts and organisations Where possible, we work in partnership with all relevant groups to help share resources, costs and potential members. Working alongside other Trusts and organisations helps build relationships and presents a good image of the NHS. For example, we attend South East Coast Ambulance Trust annual Members Day event, where we link with their employees and members of the public to promote our services and recruit new members. Please see Appendix C for a list of voluntary services that you may wish to approach to talk to their members about our Foundation Trust membership. If you receive an offer to attend an event, a meeting, or to work alongside other organisations please let us know. We can help support you or the event wherever possible. Furthermore, we may already have contacts within that organisation and we all need to be linked up to represent the Trust together. Also attached as Appendix F is a list of towns and villages residing within each of our geographic constituencies to help you familiarise yourself with these areas. 6 Recruitment mechanisms There is no right or wrong way to recruit members and different Governors may feel more comfortable undertaking different types of recruitment activity than others. Here are some of the methods we use….