It is highly unlikely that an individual, no matter his/her qualities, commitment or efforts, will achieve alone what a group of committed and hard working people can achieve together, but more will be said of this later in this pack.

Checks would need to be made of whether there was already an organisation in existence wishing to achieve the desired outcome. If there was, it might be appropriate for those with that desire to join that organisation, but if there is none, the like-minded individuals should form their own organisation to achieve that end.

The following pages will help you to set up a new organisation, to find funding to reach you objectives and to develop the services.

YOUR ‘OBJECTIVES’

What is it you want to achieve, or do in the organisation? What is it about society which you wish to change? The answers to those questions will help you to decide the ‘Objects’ of your organisation, and those ‘Objects’ will be a very important part of the constitution which your group will write for the organisation, which you will need to become a recognised organisation or charity and which most funder’s ask for when applying for funding.

You and your ‘like-minded’ friends need to be very clear in your minds about why you want to set up the organisation and what you want it to do.

HOLDING AN INAUGRAL MEETING

When an organisation is being formalised, you should hold an inaugural meeting.

There are three main items of business at the Inaugural Meeting:
to check that there is sufficient support for the establishment of the organisation and sufficient interest in participating in the work of the organisation (being a Committee Member, etc):
to adopt a constitution, if a draft one has been prepared; and
to elect Office Bearers and a Committee to run the new organisation.

As there is no Chair yet, someone needs to be found to chair the Inaugural Meeting.

There are two options: either one of those present could be asked to chair the meeting or, preferably and in advance, someone who will not be part of the new organisation and with no vested interest in its development.

The Acting Chair should, with agreement, decide whether there is sufficient support to continue. If there is sufficient support, any draft constitution which has been prepared should be discussed. If possible, sufficient copies should be available to allow those present to study it in detail.

The Acting Chair (if agreed before) should be informed at the start of the meeting of any such draft constitutions and who will speak in support of them. The Acting Chair shall conduct discussion of the draft(s) in logical order (one at a time), allowing sufficient time for any amendments to be suggested and discussed. After each draft has been discussed, a vote shall be taken by the Acting Chair: Proposed amendments shall be voted on first, and any which are passed added to the draft; then the (amended) draft shall be voted on. Those with an alternative constitution may either suggest amendments to the first draft or simply vote against it, if so desired. In each case, a simple majority of those eligible to vote shall suffice.

If no draft constitution has been brought to the meeting then either the meeting should be adjourned to a later date and a volunteer or volunteers be chosen to draw up a draft constitution or the name of the organisation could be decided and the Office Bearers and Committee members selected, with the Committee being given the task of preparing a draft constitution for the next meeting.

While a constitution is not essential, and groups can operate without one, it is essential if funding is required from another body and the legal or binding status of decisions made at meetings of un-constituted bodies is at best questionable.

At an un-constituted meeting, all of those present may be considered eligible to vote. At such a meeting, all of those present may vote for Office Bearers and Committee members. The voting method should be decided on before the voting takes place.

The Chair person shall be elected first. After the result of that vote is announced, he/she shall Chair the rest of the meeting, including the other elections.

If there is a tied vote in the election for any office, the Chair of Acting Chair should gauge the feeling of the meeting. He/she may ask each of the tied candidates to make a brief statement outlining why he/she wants the position and why he/she is the best person for that position; then a subsequent vote may be held, which may produce a result; the candidates may also be asked if one of them would be willing to stand down and allow the other to take up the post. The Chair or Acting Chair could exercise a casting vote only with the agreement of the meeting. In the last resort, the decision might have to be postponed until another meeting.

It is desirable that the new Office Bearers and Management Committee members gather at the end of the meeting to arrange their first Management Committee meeting.