Getting Your Group Started

8/9/2019 Getting Your Group Started

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Why start a group?Why start a group?Why start a group?Why start a group?Be moved by the state of the world, outspoken about what's unfair and excitedabout making a difference.

Starting a Youth Action Group is your chance to be part of making the world a fairerplace. Oxfam is a vibrant global movement of dedicated people fighting poverty.Together. Doing amazing work. Together. People power drives everything we do.

Working with others, were stronger.Our voice is louder. There are moreideas, more people to help, morepeople to join in.

It wont just be other people in yourgroup you can work with, therell beother groups around the country,Oxfam volunteers and staff, and insome places therell be Oxfam YouthBoard members near you too.

What do groups do?What do groups do?What do groups do?What do groups do?Oxfam will support Youth Action Groups to exploreand take action on key global poverty issues.

From climate change, to health and education,campaigning on your chosen issues is all about makingan impact on particular people (your campaign targets)so that change becomes possible. Often that meanspoliticians, but it could mean companies or the generalpublic.

We want to help you put your own ideas into action, aswell as letting you know about exciting events oractivities you could join in with. That could mean makinga video, holding a creative writing competition, inviting

your local MP to school, sending a card, putting on yourown Oxjam event. The options are endless.

Becoming a group

Young campaigners work together to make amessage to politicians. Working with others helpsgood ideas go further.

Students in London pose for a photo withone of Oxfams campaigning polar bears(because humans need saving from climate

chan e too! .


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10 steps to get up and running

1.Let us know.If youre thinking of starting a new group, let us know so we can appoint a contactperson to support you. You can do this by emailing [email protected].

2.Get the word outSee who else is up for getting involved and gather a core group to help. Advertiseyour group to the widest possible range of people. You might be surprised whoshows an interest, and the more different skills, experiences and perspectives inyour group, the more youll be able to achieve.

3.Book a first meeting or find-out-more sessionTry to let as many people as possible know about the first meeting. Its easier to getpeople interested in things when theyre new, and having lots of peoples ideas atthe first meeting will help make sure things start with a bang.

4.Think who youll need support from and get them on boardThink about whose support will make your life easier. If youre in a school, is there a

supportive teacher wholl be able to help with making sure you have a place to meetand talking to the head teacher if you need permission for activities? If youre based

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Students from around the UK outside Number 10 Downing Street, ready to hand their climate changemessages in for the Prime Minister.


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outside of school, is there a youth leader wholl help you with ideas and materials?

5. Agree wholl be the groups main contact personOxfam will need a contact for your group who is 16 or older. If someone in yourgroup is that age, they can register the group themselves. If your group is younger,this should be a member of school staff or a youth leader and the person youchoose should be 18+ and have a CRB (Criminal Records Bureau) check (wellcheck this with them when you register).

6. Get registeredGet hold of an Oxfam Youth Action Group registration form ([email protected]) and send it back to us completed.

7.Choose a regular meeting time and placeHaving a regular meeting time and place will help keep things moving and give younatural deadlines to work towards when youre organising or making things. It alsogives you something to advertise as a way of joining (e.g. your posters can saycome along to Room 16 on Tuesday lunchtimes to get involved). Also think aboutwhat youll regularly need in meetings (e.g. the internet, pens, paper).

8.Share your welcome packOnce your group is registered, your pack will be in the post. It should arrive withyour appointed contact person within 2 weeks. Use the materials provided to learnmore about the issues, get clued up on campaigns and plan your own actions.

9. Arrange an Oxfam visitOxfam volunteers and staff are on hand for support. To request a visit, contact yournearest regional campaigner (see section on Sources of Support) or write [email protected].

10.Start planning your activitiesBy now, youll be an officially registered Oxfam Youth Action Group, ready to getyour teeth into planning events and activities. Set some goals. Decide whats mostimportant to you. Then get onto planning how to make it happen.

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At your first meetings you will want to start working out what your group wants toachieve and how your group will be structured. This section has recommendationsfor:

Working out roles

Making decisions

Setting priorities

Holding great meetings

Whos who?

There are no rules about how you run your group. Its yours we want you to run thingsin a way that suits you. Many people will find it useful to assign roles. You might want todiscuss some of the who-does-what issues below in one of your first meetings.

Getting organised

Would it be useful to have a chairperson?

How long should the chairperson (or similar) role last? Will itrotate every term, or is it a yearly thing?

Do people in your group have particular skills youwant to make the most of?

Is anyone looking for experience in a certain area?

How will you decide who does what on an ongoingbasis?

Would it be useful to have an Events Rep? Secretary? DesignCoordinator? Campaign issue experts? Media Rep?


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Making Decisions

Agreeing at the beginning how youll come to decisions together is a great way to set thetone of your group and will help make sure everyone accepts decisions when theyre

made. You might want to consider a few different ways of reaching agreement.

Agreements are often made:

By consensus (Everyone needs to agree or at least be happy to standaside.)

By voting (Where the majority wins.)

By having different people responsible for final decisions in different areas

Setting Goals

Early on, youll want to decide whats most important to your group. The issues thatmatter to you. The activities youre most interested in. What you want to learn. These arethe things that will keep your group focused and active. You might want to ask yourselvesthe following questions at your first or second meeting.

1.What issues are you most concerned about as a group? How much variation isthere?

2.How many activities do you want to aim for this year?

3.What do you want to learn more about? How do you think youll get this information?

Working together to make campaigning plans for the next few months


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Great meetings

Having great meetings is a life skill. Right now, there are probably millions of peoplearound the world sitting in meetings. Not all of them will be going well. But with the right

skills, yours can be fun, effective and make things happen.

Meetings are a good way to share ideas and organise effective campaigning action orevents.

A good chair

Not just to sit on! A good meeting willusually have a chairperson or

facilitator. Chairing a meeting isntabout giving lots of opinions. Ifanything, a good chair holds back onoffering their own opinions, unless theythink something vital hasnt beencovered. The role of a good chair is tomake sure everyone speaks up, no onedominates, and agreements arereached in the time available and in awa that the rou is ha with.

A clear agenda

Your agenda is the plan of what youneed to discuss in order to worktowards your aims. Some thingsmight be recurring items andappear every time. Its great to handround or pin up the agenda soeveryone can see what there is toget through in the time available.

Action points

Making sure someones volunteeredto keep a written record of whossaid theyll do what by when willsave a lot of headaches. Its good tonote any major group decisions too.Sending round your notes (orminutes) can help people who

couldnt make it stay in the loop too.

Fun

Get creative in how you work and maketime for just catching up and having alaugh too. Sticking some music on orbringing snacks can make all thedifference if theres lots to get through.

Clear goals

The best meetings happen wheneveryone is really clear about whattheyre aiming for and excited aboutgetting there. If things lose their flow,come back to your goals. Have you setyourself too big a challenge? Are youmissing an event or activity to plantowards? Agree an achievable goal for

the next term and go for it.

A friendly

atmosphere

Welcome newcomers. Giveeveryone a chance to have their say.Dont be afraid to disagree with eachother (campaigners always do!) butwork together and stick to groupdecisions, even if they dont go theway you want.


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The difference you makeChange cant happen without you. Each one of us makes a difference every time wespeak out, even if we get just one other person thinking about global poverty.

Campaigners often talk about actions. Generally, an action is an act of support for acampaign, with the aim of influencing a decision maker, gathering support, or having animpact on the problem directly. Like writing to the Prime Minister, holding an awareness-raising event, or living more ethically.

Popular campaign actionsHere are just a handful of ways you could support a campaign

Design an awareness poster

Send a politician a postcard

Write to a local business

Hold a film party

Run a stall

Run a theme night New media (YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, podcasts)

Hold an Oxjam event

Hold a public meeting

Do a stunt to get media coverage

Run a workshop

Organise a peaceful protest or march

Put your views to your MP

Work with the UK Youth Parliament

Organise a drama, dance or singing performance

Run or enter a themed poetry/ film-making/ photography/ essay competition

And many, many, manymore. Email your favourites to [email protected]

akin action

Students from the West Midlands take action on climate change bytaking part in a photo opportunity with Oxfam placards.


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Action checklist

An effective action should allow you to answer yes toat least one of these four questions:1.Does my action inform people of the issue?

2.Does my action grab peoples attention? Is itfun, engaging, powerful enough?

3.Does my action help show other people howthey can help, speak out, take action?

4.Can I use this action to influence thegovernment, media and other influential people withthe power to help make change happen?

Once youve chosen what actions to take, you can start thinking about how to make ithappen. Wholl do what? What deadlines do you need to set? What are your goals? Dontforget to share your plans with us by contacting your nearest regional office or writing [email protected].

Dos & Donts Do focus on a single, clear message.

Do use logos and slogans so people canidentify your message more instantly

Do keep on message at all times bear inmind the overall campaign message and

dont let yourself confuse your audiencewith tangents or extra info.

Do think about the timing of actions to givethem the biggest impact. What events couldthey link to? Whats been in the media?

Do keep plugging away at your promotion theres no quick fix.

Do use stories to give your issue a humanface

Do learn from mistakes we all make

them.

Dont lie about the facts

Dont use negative emotions like fear, guilt

Campaigners double their impact by taking photos to telltheir story, as well as writing to the PM.

Creativity is often a really valuable tool forcampaigners, helping your action stand out.


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Help and adviceOnce youve registered, youll have an official contact at Oxfam who you can contactwith any questions. This person is likely to be based out of your nearest Oxfam office.

Scotland OfficeSara Cowan, Community & ActivistCampaigner (Youth)[email protected] 285 8874

First Floor, 207 Bath St, Glasgow, G24HZ

North West OfficeJo-Anne Witcombe, Youth & [email protected] 234 2793Green Fish Resource Centre, 46-50Oldham Street, Manchester, M1 1JR

Midlands OfficeSophia Ireland, Youth & [email protected] 634 3611Queensgate Business Centre, 121Suffolk Street Queensway, Birmingham,B1 1LX

Cymru OfficeRhodri Griffiths, Youth & [email protected] 200 1269

Fifth Floor, Market Buildings, 5/6 St MaryStreet, Cardiff, CF10 1AT

South West OfficeJennifer Martin, Youth & [email protected] 916 647507876790635Brunswick Court, Brunswick Square,Bristol, BS2 8PE

South East OfficeJohn McLaverty, Youth & [email protected] 7802 9981Ground Floor, 232-242 Vauxhall BridgeRoad, London, SW1V 1AU

If youre unsure who to contact, you can also write to [email protected]

TrainingYour nearest Oxfam Campaigns office may also able to help with workshops and trainingwith your group, by arranging a visit from an Oxfam Speaker, providing materials, orcoming to see you themselves.

Online informationThe Oxfam website (www.oxfam.org.uk) also contains a huge amount of information.From what the Millennium Development Goals are all about to the effect climate changeis having on poor communities, its a great first stop.

Sources of su ort


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Leading the way

If youre taking part during Spring and Summerterms of 2010, youre part of one of our veryfirst Youth Action groups. Ever! Part of beinginvolved should be helping to shape howgroups work in the future.

We want you to help us understand how beingin a group can be the most enjoyable

experience possible, and how we can help youto play the most effective part in campaigns.

During this academic year, youll receive twoquick surveys from us, which will help usunderstand more about your starting point,your interests and the experience you have with us. Please return these to us.

We also welcome your feedback at any time please write to us [email protected] or speak to your appointed Oxfam contact.

Were especially interested to hear your thoughts on these three things:

1. These materialsThese are the first editions and we really need your feedback to help us improve them soplease tell us whats missing, what isnt necessary and what needs to be changed

2. CommunicationYoull receive a mixture of printed materials, emails and in many cases visits. Wedlike to know how this balance works for you.

3. Online ideasWere currently developing an online space for young campaigners so please email usyour feedback on the main site. Wed love to know what would make this new space mosteffective for you.

Please also let us know if there is anything else we could provide that would help you torun your group.

Campaigners take part in an action being doneall over the world forming a white band tosymbolise make poverty history.

Your feedback

Documents

Getting Your Group Started