Community Resource Information
This section provides information to those in our community who are giving up their time to help run a group or club or perhaps are planning to launch a new one.
A useful read to help give you ideas is the Village Survival Guide prepared through The Princes’s Countryside Fund. It is free to download from this link https://www.princescountrysidefund.org.uk/our-impact/our-research/the-village-survival-guide/
Just Enterprise have a range of help topics, resources and free training to Third Sector and Social Enterprise Companies. Visit their website for more details https://justenterprise.org/
Social Shifters – on-line learning resources and videos covering a range of topics including crafting your mission statement, to conducting market research and impact planning.
Log in (it’s free) to access resources. https://socialshifters.co/social-shifters-signup/
Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO): the website conatons a fantsatic range of information and resources to support trustees, volunteers and staff working in the voluntary sector.
They have launched their SCOPE e-learning platform which provides entry-level information and learning to help you run your voluntary organisation. The platform has five modules covering the following topics:
Setting up a new group or club
What type of group are you setting up?
Your group may be a small informal club with a few members or a larger group with many members. Maybe you want to form a charity. It is important to think about choosing a suitable structure for your club and understand the implications of this decision. Below are some useful websites to visit:
- Highland Third Sector Interface
- Resource Centre
- sportscotland
- Third Force News
- SCVO
- Scottish Governance Code – 5 Core Principles
- SCVO Good Governance Toolkit
Forming a Committee
Committees are responsible for how a club plans its development in the best interests of its members, they are responsible for how a club monitors its performance (to ensure it achieves its goals) and how a club complies with its legal and regulatory obligations. Most club committees have a Chair Person, Treasurer and Secretary. Those involving children and vulnerable adults also require a Welfare Officer.
Sample role descriptions and training for members are available at:
NCVO – role descriptions
sportscotland – volunteer management for clubs resources
SCOPE e-learning platform free training resource from SCVO
Drawing up a Constitution
You will need a Constitution document to open a bank account, apply to funders, register for charitable status and more. It is a written framework of rules for your organisation. It is in effect your group’s governing document, stating your aims, clarifying decision-making procedures and establishing a basis for good practice. It will be a basic requirement for your group to operate. There are a number of templates and models that you can consider:
Finances
Running most groups costs money, and if you want to apply for funds you will need to think about setting up a bank account. Some help can be found below:
Running your Club or Group
Third Force News have prepared a useful Guide on Running a Charity or Social Enterprise with lots of good advice.
Volunteer support and recruitment
You might be lucky to have lots of volunteers but you do need to make sure they feel valued and supported. Support on how to do this can be found from:
- Volunteer Friendly – Signpost Inverness
- Highland Third Sector Interface
- Volunteer Scotland – the Good Practice Guide is particularly helpful
Policies
It is important your group has policies in place to protect all members. You do not need to draw these up from scratch and there any many examples that you can adapt to fit your club.
Protection of Vulnerable Groups (PVG) scheme
The PVG Scheme is a registration system for anyone who carries out work (paid or unpaid) with vulnerable groups in Scotland. It is designed to exclude people who are known to be unsuitable from working with vulnerable groups and detects those who become unsuitable while in the workplace.
Insurance and Risk Assessments
When you organise an activity or event you have ‘public liability’. This means that your group could be responsible if any of the following things happen to a member of the public at your event; injury, damage to their property, loss of their property.
It might also be necessary to carryout risk assessments of your activities. You could use the templates below:
Other information on Insurance can be found at:
Other Legislation & regulation
Accessibility
Fire safety
Music & film licensing
Premises licensing
Highland Council Public Entertainment Licence
Food hygiene & catering
Food Standards Agency
Health & safety
Freedom of Information Act
Data Protection & GDPR
Funding & Grants
Many groups can benefit from grants for projects, equipment and development. There are numerous funds available for groups in the Soirbheas area. Check out details of Soirbheas grants here. Details of other funds can be found here.
Making Funding Applications Some application processes can ask for more information than others, and if you are new to making applications this may be quite daunting. We hope you will find the following table useful as you prepare your application and consider how to evaluate your project.
Raffles – For small raffles that are part of a bigger event, you do not need a licence as long as you sell tickets at the event and have the prizes drawn at the event (no cash prizes though). The same applies to private raffles where you are only selling tickets to members of a club. For larger raffles and lotteries, or ones where you wish to sell tickets to members of the public, you must apply to the local registration authority (local council) beforehand for a licence permit. Tickets must not be sold by anyone under the age of 16. For more guidance, you can contact the Gambling Commission.
Collections – If you plan to hold a collection on private property, such as a pub or shopping centre, you need to gain permission from the owner or manager. If you collect on the street you must gain a permit from Highland Council. Please don’t collect money door to door; this is illegal without a licence. The minimum legal age for collecting money is 18 years old in London and 16 years old everywhere else.
100 Clubs, etc – Small society lotteries (proceeds that do not exceed £20,000 for a single draw) do not require a licence but must be registered with the local authority in the area where the principal office of the society is located. Society lotteries are promoted for the benefit of a non-commercial society. A society is non-commercial if it is established and conducted for charitable purposes, enabling participation in sport or a cultural activity (for example theatre) or any non-commercial purpose other than that of private gain. Click here for a Highland Council Small Lottery Application Form.
Virtual Events – coronavirus restrictions have meant face-to-face fundraising events have been disrupted and groups and charities are looking at on-line fundraising opportunities. You may find this booklet from Enthuse a useful resource to get you started
Publicity, Communication & Marketing
Communicating with and attracting volunteers and members has changed in recent years and many clubs now rely on Social Media to communicate, the most commonly used are Facebook and Twitter.
Setting up and using a Social Media Account – Hootsuite
To help ensure your communications are clear and accessible, including best practice for on-line information have a look at accessible communications best practice from SCVO.
Other ways to Publicise your Group or Event
- put posters up at local noticeboards and key venues
- produce a flier and distribute through the community. Schools may be happy to help with this through schoolbags
- contact Moray Firth Radio for a community mention
- submit a media release to local papers
- make use of newsletters produced by other groups
- contact Soirbheas to share your event
Soirbheas helps maintain a list of local groups and clubs. This is available at the Glen Urquhart Library and on our resources web page.
If there are any changes to the main contact for your group, we would really appreciate if you would let us know so we can keep the list up to date – [email protected]
Local Venues
Throughout the Soirbheas area there are a number of venues that can be used for meetings, events and other activities:
Balnain Hall – contact Anna MacDonald on 01456 476240 or email: [email protected]
Cannich Hall – Cannich Hall offers a choice of warm, light-filled spaces with great views and facilities.
Craigmonie Centre, Drumnadrochit – This community centre, integrated with Glen Urquhart High School and managed by
High Life Highland, has a wide range of facilities including 200 seat Theatre, Games hall, Meeting rooms, all weather floodlit pitch, Public Library, Fitness Room, and more. – Contact: [email protected]
Glen Urquhart Hall, Drumnadrochit – Facilities include a large hall with stage, plus two meeting rooms and kitchen. Contact: Miranda Service on 01456 450645 or email [email protected]