TEN YEARS ON

Ten Years On (Continued)

It is important that new members like each other and that the core feels it can accept them, so make sure that everyone meets as often as they need to make a decision. Two weekends of living in the same house with all the children present is a reasonable trial. Some people make up their minds quickly but beware of the sort who grasp at straws.

Someone will have to take responsibilities as chairman, secretary and treasurer. It is not a good idea to rotate these posts for every meeting but they should certainly not be perpetual offices. Sometimes people have to take on work they feel at odds with. Try to be understanding about this.

You will know after a few weeks if you have a viable core group. If you find agreement difficult or if you have to vote on every issue rather than reach consensus, or worst of all, buy decisions by making concessions, drop it and try again.

Some simple principles are worth remembering. Members will expect to be treated equally in every respect. Officers are there to serve, not rule. Decisions, once made, should be put into effect quickly and without fuss. Never let an issue drag on from meeting to meeting. Try not to form factions over difficult decisions. Try to see everything you do for the group as a gift, made without conditions. Be understanding about those who appear to give less, they may have less to give. One day you too will be found wanting.

I have deliberately kept off the issue of legal structures so far. There are several. The one I know most about is the co--ownership housing association. This works well for people with money to buy a lease outright or take a mortgage, giving a frame-work which is understood by most of the organisations you will have to deal with as well as limiting the liability of members and officers. Other forms of housing associations are probably adaptable for groups who wish to rent accommodation to members but the finding of a lender to finance the scheme is likely to prove difficult. Limitation of liability can be obtained by forming companies limited by guarantee or otherwise, but there are advantages in the housing association being non-profit-making and not liable to tax.

When you start a group you will soon discover that many things you hadn't expected happen as a matter of course. The group gets through far more work than its members could tackle separately so try to work as a group as much as possible. Share the work and the enjoyment, shrug off the bad times and remember the best.

Ten years ago we knew it ought to be possible to find some sort of way of life between the single household and the parish. Now there are thousands of people who are seriously trying to join such groups. The area of experiment open now is in the relationship of such groups to the wider community. Various critics have rightly said that groups tend to look inwards at the moment. I hope that the next decade will produce groups whose contribution to the life of the people around them will be valued not just for the occasional contact but because they are part of the scene, a vital part.