Parish Council - member?
Discussion
Are any PHers active members of local associations, such as their Parish Council etc?
I've just sat at my first Playing Field Association meeting which I joined becuase, having moved back to the village I grew up in and loved, with my son, the playing field looks a bit sorry for itself.
The PFA asks locals to join a lottery (reg charity before anyone asks) for £3 per month, for the chance to win £50 or £25 3 times a month - 200 members max.
They sent out fliers to the parents of every child at the local primary school and play group, and had the following number of replies......0.
We're talking 150 families here!
It is no wonder that the play equipment is looking tired, the football pitches can't be looked after properly, and at last nights meeting, why the treasurer had to um and ah about spending £30 of a tin of black Hammermite paint!!!
Why aren't people taking responsibility for the things they and their children use? They'd be the first to complain when the park gets taken out for being unsafe!
Anyone else struggle with local associations for money and/or members? Or are you in a community that could benefit from your time but you just can't be arsed to help?
I've just sat at my first Playing Field Association meeting which I joined becuase, having moved back to the village I grew up in and loved, with my son, the playing field looks a bit sorry for itself.
The PFA asks locals to join a lottery (reg charity before anyone asks) for £3 per month, for the chance to win £50 or £25 3 times a month - 200 members max.
They sent out fliers to the parents of every child at the local primary school and play group, and had the following number of replies......0.
We're talking 150 families here!
It is no wonder that the play equipment is looking tired, the football pitches can't be looked after properly, and at last nights meeting, why the treasurer had to um and ah about spending £30 of a tin of black Hammermite paint!!!
Why aren't people taking responsibility for the things they and their children use? They'd be the first to complain when the park gets taken out for being unsafe!
Anyone else struggle with local associations for money and/or members? Or are you in a community that could benefit from your time but you just can't be arsed to help?
Been a member of the village Parish Council for about 4 years now and also chair the village community group. This was born out of the Parish Council in order to have a more informal meeting to arrange more inclusive and hopefully, fun events for the community as a whole to become involved in. We are a bigger village than yours but with about 500 homes our core membership of the community group is 18 people!
These 18 arrange on average 8 events throughout the year including 3 at Christmas time which we make no charge for whatsoever. We often get upward of 250 people to attend events but it is still the same 18 people year after year who do the work.
I have to say though that when we set the group up we were under no illusions that there would be hundreds of people coming out of the woodwork to help. Active members seem to be few and far between.
Response to any form of survey has always been truly apathetic. Only when there has been the threat of large scale building proposals has there ever been any audible opinion.
These 18 arrange on average 8 events throughout the year including 3 at Christmas time which we make no charge for whatsoever. We often get upward of 250 people to attend events but it is still the same 18 people year after year who do the work.
I have to say though that when we set the group up we were under no illusions that there would be hundreds of people coming out of the woodwork to help. Active members seem to be few and far between.
Response to any form of survey has always been truly apathetic. Only when there has been the threat of large scale building proposals has there ever been any audible opinion.
Sorry, the vilalge is quite large, the school has around 150 pupils.
Population (inc. 2 local Hamlets) is 2,500.
The PFA had 6 members (140 lottery numbers out of 200), but the Parish Council is struggling with only around 5-6 people attending meetings.
They're all older people too, why don't the younger parents seem interested in their local village?
Population (inc. 2 local Hamlets) is 2,500.
The PFA had 6 members (140 lottery numbers out of 200), but the Parish Council is struggling with only around 5-6 people attending meetings.
They're all older people too, why don't the younger parents seem interested in their local village?
Always found that approaching new members personally has had more success than say in the Parish Magazine of flyer. The local church is also a good source because they generally have volunteer type people interested and already doing things for the Church.
We now always have someone at each of our events specifically with membership forms. It is rare that you get a full on active member joining but even if you can get the email or postal address of a new person in the village then they can be copied into event advertising and you have more chance of them turning up.
Our Parish Council is quite old but our Community Group is younger. We found that to get younger people on board we had to do things that were attractive to their children. Christmas Carols By Torchlight in our old Churchyard, Santa Sleigh, Teddy Bears picnic, Annual Teddy Bear display.
We now always have someone at each of our events specifically with membership forms. It is rare that you get a full on active member joining but even if you can get the email or postal address of a new person in the village then they can be copied into event advertising and you have more chance of them turning up.
Our Parish Council is quite old but our Community Group is younger. We found that to get younger people on board we had to do things that were attractive to their children. Christmas Carols By Torchlight in our old Churchyard, Santa Sleigh, Teddy Bears picnic, Annual Teddy Bear display.
You have my sympathy - everyone needs a rocket up there .....
Apathy rules throughout many areas - sadly. It takes something really special to get people onto their feet and doing something. Sadly something like upkeep of play equipment is often too small to stir interest.
At the end of the day successful things rely on one or two key people willing to give an extraordinary amount of time and accept being walked on by others.
That's where I have been. I am a Parish Councillor of 4 years - have done other council things before that. I am on a Playing Field Committee where we have an excellent Secretary.
My main thing though - until two months ago - was to run our Village Hall with my wife. We took it on when it was making a loss. Started making profits after two months. Over the next six years we ran the place very successfully and importantly managed to get £100k invested in the spot - new roof / heating / toilets / kitchen etc etc. Yes - we needed help - but it is widely acknowledged that without us the place would not have moved forward.
What went wrong ? Ladies of a certain age who think they knew better - mostly. Mostly retired civil servants who understand spending a budget but not how to make a profit (to then re-invest). Having spent ALL my Xmas holiday refinishing the floor on my own - despite ALL of us agreeing to help (a dozen people - would not have been a whole holiday) they then got very critical about minor aspects of the finish - abusive !!
Other committee members wanted me to take over from (a crap) chairman - but working full time I couldn't commit more than I already had. (Last summer during the main renovations I spent about 5 hours per day on site - for three months). We got up and walked away. Very sad. Half the rest of the committee have gone leaving the trouble causers - who are now running a loss making hall (heating on full time in June !!!)
So after the rant (my experiences) - if you have time and skills and want to make a difference - please do it. You will largely be doing it for yourself and the small handful of people who will thank you. And, for as long as possible try and ignore all the rubbish that people will throw at you - either outsiders or others on the inside who's 'skill base' is sadly lacking.
If you want a laugh - to finish:
Chairman - Oh, I've forgotten the coffee (for refreshments at an event) - I'll go and get them.
Committee - OK - the kettles are nearly boiling (scheduled refreshments in five minutes)
Committee - Where is the Chairman - he's been gone 15 minutes - this is embarrassing
Committee - He must be here - his car is outside.
Chairman (another 5 minutes later)- Here's the coffee
Committee - Where have you been - the car has been outside for ages
Chairman - Oh - I fancied a walk home !!!!
There are many more ! We are proud of what we achieved - but we are enjoying our rest - for now.
Apathy rules throughout many areas - sadly. It takes something really special to get people onto their feet and doing something. Sadly something like upkeep of play equipment is often too small to stir interest.
At the end of the day successful things rely on one or two key people willing to give an extraordinary amount of time and accept being walked on by others.
That's where I have been. I am a Parish Councillor of 4 years - have done other council things before that. I am on a Playing Field Committee where we have an excellent Secretary.
My main thing though - until two months ago - was to run our Village Hall with my wife. We took it on when it was making a loss. Started making profits after two months. Over the next six years we ran the place very successfully and importantly managed to get £100k invested in the spot - new roof / heating / toilets / kitchen etc etc. Yes - we needed help - but it is widely acknowledged that without us the place would not have moved forward.
What went wrong ? Ladies of a certain age who think they knew better - mostly. Mostly retired civil servants who understand spending a budget but not how to make a profit (to then re-invest). Having spent ALL my Xmas holiday refinishing the floor on my own - despite ALL of us agreeing to help (a dozen people - would not have been a whole holiday) they then got very critical about minor aspects of the finish - abusive !!
Other committee members wanted me to take over from (a crap) chairman - but working full time I couldn't commit more than I already had. (Last summer during the main renovations I spent about 5 hours per day on site - for three months). We got up and walked away. Very sad. Half the rest of the committee have gone leaving the trouble causers - who are now running a loss making hall (heating on full time in June !!!)
So after the rant (my experiences) - if you have time and skills and want to make a difference - please do it. You will largely be doing it for yourself and the small handful of people who will thank you. And, for as long as possible try and ignore all the rubbish that people will throw at you - either outsiders or others on the inside who's 'skill base' is sadly lacking.
If you want a laugh - to finish:
Chairman - Oh, I've forgotten the coffee (for refreshments at an event) - I'll go and get them.
Committee - OK - the kettles are nearly boiling (scheduled refreshments in five minutes)
Committee - Where is the Chairman - he's been gone 15 minutes - this is embarrassing
Committee - He must be here - his car is outside.
Chairman (another 5 minutes later)- Here's the coffee
Committee - Where have you been - the car has been outside for ages
Chairman - Oh - I fancied a walk home !!!!
There are many more ! We are proud of what we achieved - but we are enjoying our rest - for now.
Some random comments:
Fundraising and getting people involved is far more effective face to face, and with people you know. Sending out a flyer will do nothing - people can bin it and feel zero guilt.
Younger people will inevitably have less time, devoting more of their energies on progressing their careers, families and social lives. They also often are more inward-facing "me" people, are less inclined to see themselves as part of a community, care less about politics etc.
Fundraising and getting people involved is far more effective face to face, and with people you know. Sending out a flyer will do nothing - people can bin it and feel zero guilt.
Younger people will inevitably have less time, devoting more of their energies on progressing their careers, families and social lives. They also often are more inward-facing "me" people, are less inclined to see themselves as part of a community, care less about politics etc.
It's a marketing exercise. If you really want the parents attention, sell it to the kids. 
If you want to get new members, sending them junk mail that'll get treated with the same contempt by most people as the stuff you get from UPVC pedallers and charities isn't the way to do it IMO. If you sent it through the post via the school, you'll be lucky to have got 10% of them being read.
If you sent it home via the kids, well firstly, kids aren't really that trustworthy as messengers. What percentage of flyers do you envisage made it home?
I'll take a bet that a good few ended up in the bin before first break, a fair few got used to doodle on, and of the few that made the transition from being in the kids' bags to under their folks noses, very few got read because the folks were busy sorting tea or being asked to sign some other bits of paper and so on. I'd be surprised if any more than 20% made it home in one piece, and I'd bet less than 10% actually got read.
Flyers are, for the large part, tat. Tat that seldom works, and is rarely the best approach when it comes to the direct mailing option. Cheap and cheerful they may be, but really, there's better ways of making connections.
The best, as said, is face to face. Treat it like sales in that respect. Nobody likes being sold to uninvited, cold calling and junk mail are amongst the most annoying things people deal with in the home. It's very easy to hang up, or sling a flyer in the bin and not give its content a moments thought thereafter. Face to face, it's a much more difficult thing to escape - I'm not suggesting you send a small army of 'chuggers' out there, but look at how hard some people have to try to effectively say "no you're not getting my shrapnel" when approached by them.
As for the dwindling numbers of people interested, well I can take a guess as to why that may be too. I've never been to a parish meeting, or anything of the sort. Of the 16-18 hours of the day I'm typically awake for, I lose probably 2 of those hours to eating, 10 of them to work, say another hour to travelling, shopping and so on. It all adds up. Of the precious little free time available in my life I don't really give the state of the local amenities much thought. I can't remember the last time I thought about the local parish - Oh sorry, yes I can it's when I paid my council tax and wondered what exactly they did with the money.
There's always the other option too - are the meetings worthwhile? Or are they, as I suspect they may be, very very dull?
Give people something back in return. I realise you're trying to do this, but it's obviously not working because you're not marketing it to them. Have a fund-raiser for the local parish, a village fair or something, get some local businesses involved, get knocking doors instead of posting tat to people, consider if you're meetings are at a sensible place and time. Get the kids out with you and go and knock all the doors you can the night before the meeting, or even the hour before. Go into the local pubs and ask the patrons if they wouldn't mind sparing half an hour tomorrow.
Also, consider the people who hold these meetings, are they tedious and boring? Listening to someone who's a terrible public speaker in a dusky old village hall waxing on about the state of the swings isn't going to make me want to come back. Keep it sharp and snappy without trying too hard.
Would it be worth combining it with some other regular local event? I know we're not exactly at an all time high in terms of sense of community but someone has to do something about that. Any local sports clubs you could combine forces with?
If you want to get new members, sending them junk mail that'll get treated with the same contempt by most people as the stuff you get from UPVC pedallers and charities isn't the way to do it IMO. If you sent it through the post via the school, you'll be lucky to have got 10% of them being read.
If you sent it home via the kids, well firstly, kids aren't really that trustworthy as messengers. What percentage of flyers do you envisage made it home?
I'll take a bet that a good few ended up in the bin before first break, a fair few got used to doodle on, and of the few that made the transition from being in the kids' bags to under their folks noses, very few got read because the folks were busy sorting tea or being asked to sign some other bits of paper and so on. I'd be surprised if any more than 20% made it home in one piece, and I'd bet less than 10% actually got read.
Flyers are, for the large part, tat. Tat that seldom works, and is rarely the best approach when it comes to the direct mailing option. Cheap and cheerful they may be, but really, there's better ways of making connections.
The best, as said, is face to face. Treat it like sales in that respect. Nobody likes being sold to uninvited, cold calling and junk mail are amongst the most annoying things people deal with in the home. It's very easy to hang up, or sling a flyer in the bin and not give its content a moments thought thereafter. Face to face, it's a much more difficult thing to escape - I'm not suggesting you send a small army of 'chuggers' out there, but look at how hard some people have to try to effectively say "no you're not getting my shrapnel" when approached by them.
As for the dwindling numbers of people interested, well I can take a guess as to why that may be too. I've never been to a parish meeting, or anything of the sort. Of the 16-18 hours of the day I'm typically awake for, I lose probably 2 of those hours to eating, 10 of them to work, say another hour to travelling, shopping and so on. It all adds up. Of the precious little free time available in my life I don't really give the state of the local amenities much thought. I can't remember the last time I thought about the local parish - Oh sorry, yes I can it's when I paid my council tax and wondered what exactly they did with the money.
There's always the other option too - are the meetings worthwhile? Or are they, as I suspect they may be, very very dull?
Give people something back in return. I realise you're trying to do this, but it's obviously not working because you're not marketing it to them. Have a fund-raiser for the local parish, a village fair or something, get some local businesses involved, get knocking doors instead of posting tat to people, consider if you're meetings are at a sensible place and time. Get the kids out with you and go and knock all the doors you can the night before the meeting, or even the hour before. Go into the local pubs and ask the patrons if they wouldn't mind sparing half an hour tomorrow.
Also, consider the people who hold these meetings, are they tedious and boring? Listening to someone who's a terrible public speaker in a dusky old village hall waxing on about the state of the swings isn't going to make me want to come back. Keep it sharp and snappy without trying too hard.
Would it be worth combining it with some other regular local event? I know we're not exactly at an all time high in terms of sense of community but someone has to do something about that. Any local sports clubs you could combine forces with?
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