| What Geographical area should the
Forum cover? |
- Local authority area
- Neighbourhood
|
| Who are the members? |
- organisations only
- individual members only
- mixture of both
|
Where are the members likely to
come from?
What organisations can help to recruit? |
- Recreational clubs eg bingo
- Lunch clubs
- Pensioners' associations (eg British Pensioners, Pensioners'
Voice.
- Retired workers' associations (eg trade union retired
members associations, firms' retirement associations)
- Churches
- Tenants Associations
- Black and Ethnic minority groups (eg Afro Caribbean club,
Indian and other Asian groups)
- Disabled peoples associations
- Help the Aged, Age Concern and other voluntary groups,
|
| How to publicise the first
meeting? |
- publicity
- libraries
- post offices
- supermarkets
- circularise organisations
- newspapers
- local radio
|
| What to include in Leaflets &
posters? |
- brief aims
- venue
- date,
- speakers
|
| What speakers? |
- MPs -
- councillors
- Council - main officials
- Help the Aged
- Age Concern,
- pensioners' organisations
|
| Venue considerations? |
- central area
- accessible by public transport
- parking available
- disabled access
- acoustics (Dont forget the hearing aid loop, microphone)
|
| Who can you ask for help? |
- Pensioners' groups
- Age Concern
- Help the Aged
- Council of Voluntary Service
- Regional Forum
- Regional & National Umbrella organisations eg National
Pensioners Convention
|
| First steps? |
- draft constitution
-
names and addresses of people attending meeting
-
set up executive committee
-
size?
|
| Executive committee? |
- Chairperson
- Vice chairperson
- Secretary
- Treasurer
- Minute secretary
- Newsletter editor?
- publicity officer?
- other?
|
|
Continuing success - |
Possible issues?
(begin by focussing on something of interest to local
people!!)
|
- community care
- community health
- local transport
- environment
- roads
- pavement
- lighting
- housing
- welfare rights
- leisure and recreation
- education
- equal opportunities
- National pensioner Issues
|
| Campaigning activities?
|
- publicity
- action
- petitions
- lobbying?
|
| Taking issues to the council
meeting? |
- Identify responsibility (which councillor or official)
- Meeting -- informal or formal?
|
| Talking to the council? |
- have regular meeting - quarterly?
- establish informal relationships
- invite attendance at committee meetings?
- obtain council minutes, reports etc
|
| Talking to other public
organisations? |
- NHS
- Transport undertakings
- residential homes
- gas, electricity boards
- other voluntary organisations
|
| Reporting back to members? |
- committee
- Forum
- inform media
- other interested organisations
|
| Making friends with other
organisations? |
- good contacts
- information exchange
- shared aims and activity
|
| Good organisation? |
- regular meetings - both committee and open meetings
- provision of information > >committee >Forum, >other
pensioners >general public
- motivate members by interesting meetings
- hold proper elections to committee
- regular reporting
|
| What Training? |
- committee skills
- training of volunteers
- public speaking
- structure of local government
- finance and funding
|
Checking up?
Measuring success? |
- annual report
- record of work
- evaluate work - success, failures - why?
- attendance at meetings - numbers, organisations
- reaching out to non-attenders?
- reaching out to housebound?
- valuing ourselves - a year's good work?
|
SET UP A PENSIONERS FORUM 
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