You may have a strong idea for what you want to do, most people know what activities they want to deliver, but, have you thought about why?
When starting a group (or even if you're already running one) it’s useful to ask yourself an important question - why are we here?
Create a strong mission
A strong mission lays down what you want to achieve. It doesn’t usually say how that happens and this can often be a good thing because you aren’t restricted by thinking about just the activity your organisation will be carrying out.
Your mission might be to reduce the number of older people facing isolation or to support people through periods of stress or anxiety. Thinking of your group as achieving an outcome can mean that whatever you plan or do will always work towards that mission, for example an organisation wanting to reduce isolation for older people could offer a range of activities from social events, to phone calls to trips out - all are working towards the same goal.
Whatever your mission or your aim, everything you do should be working towards your goal and making that difference to the community.
Identify and assess need
Lots of community groups are set up to do lots of different things and sometimes people will attend and sometimes they won’t. Having a clear mission helps people choose if your group is for them, but, how do you know if it’s what the community needs?
The most effective way of ensuring you are meeting a need is by reaching out and asking people.
- This can be in person, if you know where they meet and have the time to engage on a one to one basis - or it can be online through surveys or social media
- Be open about the questions you are asking and why you are asking them
- Ask them what their challenges are or how they feel, this can be a good way of being guided towards what people might need from you, how they want it delivered and when
- You can also back this up by checking local and national statistics. You can look and see what health inequalities exist locally, speak to other groups and organisations about what gaps they see and doing your research on what else is available locally.
Use all of the information at your disposal to identify need and clarify your service offer.
Remember you are unlikely to be able to solve all the problems you have identified but start with a strong, well-researched offer that you can develop and grow as your service develops.
Never underestimate the power of starting small.
What are you going to do?
Once you have an idea of what you want to do and why, there are some other things you need to consider. Think about the people you are trying to reach and the problems you want to overcome.
Look at session times, costs for users, refreshments etc. If you want to work with children, offering a session on a weekday in term time is no use as most of them will be in school. Sounds obvious but many good ideas from groups haven’t succeeded because delivery suited the group and not the people they wanted to help.
The point of the group is to be there for the community, not for them to be there for you.
Think about transport
- Will your target group drive there
- Is there a car park
- Is your venue on a bus route
- Is it fully accessible if you are engaging with people who have disabilities.
Think about your activity
Imagine yourself as the service user and consider the questions they may have about attending your activity:
- Are they pitched at the right level for the people you are working with?
- Are they going to love the activity or be put off by how hard it is?
- Will they finish it in ten minutes and be bored?
- Will you be able to create or provide enough resources for people to do what you're offering?
- Are there limits to how many people you can work with at a time?
Create opportunities and activities that mean something to them and they will attend.
Create a forward plan
Now that you have decided who wants what and you have planned activities and offered them to people, you need to start thinking about how this will look in the future.
Most groups don’t go perfectly at the start and there is an element of trial and error. There are either more people than you know what do to with or hardly anyone and it feels like a waste of time.
Get feedback from everyone
Getting through the first six to nine months is often the hardest. It’s a good time to experiment, talk to people and gather their opinions, not just users, but volunteers and the committee too.
Try to work out what works and what doesn’t. It’s a good habit to get into and even if you have been going for a while - gather regular feedback and ideas for improvement. What do people feel about what you provide?
Grow with your group
Have you thought about how your activities are going to grow as your people do? Let’s use the example of a knitting group - you’ve spent six months teaching everyone the basic stitches and everyone has had a great time but knitting the same things will get boring - think about what you can do with the items knitted:
- Will they be sold to raise funds for the group
- Will they be donated to raise funds for a good cause
- Could you knit for specific events, a hospice Christmas fair for example or a school fete.
Having some events or activities planned in for the year ahead will give your group purpose and may attract new members.
Consider money and resources
Part of your forward plan is also thinking about what money or resources you might need.
- What are your ideas for when you outgrow the current venue you are in and need to accommodate more people
- What happens if your volunteers or committee members start to leave, can the group continue
- What if your room hire costs increase or your attendance falls, how will your organisation cope.
Just having these plans in the back of your mind is helpful for when, or if, the situation arises - you might not need them but these challenges often appear without warning.