Starting a Voluntary Group - First Steps How to start a voluntary group - first steps. Expand What will it be like starting a voluntary group? It is an achievement to start a group. It can be enjoyable and give you a lot of satisfaction. It can also be a lot of work! However, working with others and reaching agreement can be challenging and frustrating. How to begin? The best way to start is to bring together a group of people who share your interests and/or concerns. At first just talk about what the group could do. It will possibly emerge that not all interested people want to get fully involved, but will be prepared to help occasionally. Please click here for more information.
What Kind of Group? - Self Help Group A self help group is organised to do exactly what its name suggests: allow people with a similar problem to help each other. Expand This sort of group is organised to do exactly what its name suggests: allow people with a similar problem to help each other. Self-help groups usually comprise a few people who meet on a regular basis to give support to each other and help each other with difficulties. Such a group does not need to have a complicated structure, just a few simple organisational rules. These rules could include such things as: the number of members how to deal with problem members how a membership could be withdrawn how other rules are made the geographical area from which members may come It might also be useful to have some elected officers such as: Chair Secretary Treasurer Please click here for more information on setting up a self help group.
What Kind of Group? - Voluntary Group/Organisation Setting up a group larger than a self-help group needs more care because of the number of people that will be involved. Expand Setting up a group larger than a self-help group needs more care because of the number of people that will be involved and the possible legal structures that might be needed in the future, e.g. registration as a charity with the Charity Commission. Charity status, however, is not usually the first step for a voluntary organisation and might never be relevant. Any group of people may join together to pursue objectives in which they share an interest, providing these objectives are legal. It is therefore possible to establish a voluntary organisation without informing anyone or obtaining permission. You can just get on and do it. Please click here for more information on establishing a voluntary organisation.
A guide to writing a constitution for an unincorporated organisation Here you can find information on writing a constitution as well as a handy template. Expand Every voluntary and community group should have an up to date, adopted constitution – sometimes referred to as the governing document. Remember that there are different models for charities, companies and other forms of organisations listed at the front of this booklet. Only use this guide for unincorporated non-charitable associations. An unincorporated association might be called a group, club, society, organisation, project, social enterprise, self-help group, centre, federation, or just the name of the group. Please click here to read the guide. A Microsoft Word template is also available here.
Legal Status Pros and Cons A list of various legal structures you may wish to choose from. Expand Anyone can get together and agree to start a group without legal formalities. In law, this is called “an unincorporated association” i.e. it is not a corporate body or company. There are other kinds of legal structures which you may wish to choose. This downloadable list gives the advantages and disadvantages of the main types. Please click here to download the list.
Committee Members Roles & Responsibilities This information sheet lists the legal duties and managerial tasks of your committee members. Expand Please click here to download the list.
Insurance Insurance can be a daunting, confusing and complicated subject but one that voluntary organisations and community groups ignore at their peril. Expand It is an item that will not go away and there will be some insurance policies that all groups must have. It is a common misconception that you meet in a place that already has public liability insurance you won't need it, this isn't true. Your group must have public liability group regardless. It is a relatively inexpensive cover and protects against allegations of injury caused to a third party. For more information on various insurance policies please click here.