Setting up a New Friends Group
Some parks and open spaces in the borough, usually the smaller ones, do not have an established Friends group. If you are interested in setting up a Friends group please read on…
It’s great when you and a few friends or neighbours decide you want to become a Friends Group and enthusiasm is the first step towards becoming the voice of your local park. But you may want to think about becoming a ‘formal’ group. By doing this a number of funding opportunities from both the Council such as the Parks and Open Spaces Small Grants Scheme, and external bodies open up.
Help is also on hand from partners such as conservation BTCV who can help with a number of practical tasks and improvements in your local park as well as offer a number of services to help you become established.
To become a formal Friends Group you will need to consider a number of things:
Setting up a committee: The committee helps to run the group. There are certain roles such as Chair, Secretary and Treasurer that will need to be decided and it is the Chair who usually leads the group and acts as the public voice.
Choosing a constitution: This sets out exactly how your group will be managed, your aims and objectives and how meetings will be run.
AGMs (annual general meetings): Groups will need to hold an AGM in the first instance to adopt its constitution and elect committee members. AGMs should be held each year after as a way of re-electing committee members, and to present an annual report and reporting of accounts to other members of the group.
Setting up a bank account: Once your Group is formally established it should set up a bank account so that membership subs and other funds raised can be managed appropriately. The account should be in the name of the group and will need at least two people (usually committee members) to act as signatories each time a transaction is made.
Insurance and Health & Safety: Every time a public activity - such as a community clear-up, tree planting or fun day - is organised, public liability insurance is needed to cover accidents on a public site. Conservation charity BTCV (external link) offer public liability to community groups through their Community Network initiative.
Risk assessments are also required for each activity organised by Friends to identify potential risks associated with the activity and put in place any measures to reduce the risks or implement help if needed.
Information on setting up a Friends Group is offered by a number of organisations. Green Space, the national parks charity, have produced a document called Making a Difference (external link) that offers advice on how to set up a Friends of Parks Group. Click on the external links below to find out more.
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