BIG SOCIETY
Resident’s Associations…….getting involved
BIG SOCIETY is all about local people getting
involved in local issues and services and having the power to
influence decisions about things that matter to them.
Resident’s Associations (RA’s) are a great way
to get involved in your community and there may already be a RA in
your neighbourhood. If there isn’t already a group, why not set up
a new one in the area where you live?
Being involved with a RA can take up a little
or a lot of your time – depending on how much you want to be
involved. It’s up to you! Some people are keen to take on an
officer role on the Committee - such as Chair, Secretary or
Treasurer whereas others are happy to support people in these roles
– once again, it’s up to you!
You can of course support your local RA just
by attending their meetings; getting involved in discussions about
local issues that affect you and attending social events organised
by your group.
Whatever you decide; being involved in your
local group will undoubtedly be very rewarding and can help improve
your local neighbourhood and bring resident’s closer together.
Harlow Council’s Big Society Team can help you
to set up a new RA and provides guidance about how to run your
Association - including understanding the roles of Committee
members; how to engage with the local community and how to promote
and run effective meetings.
The Council also helps new groups to get
started by offering a one-off ‘Start up Grant’ to assist with
initial costs such as paper, postage and printing etc. The
process is simple and once you have formed your group; produced a
written Constitution for our approval and opened a Bank Account we
will issue your grant payment.
Officers in the Big Society Team have produced
a comprehensive guide to help residents set up a RA and this can be
found by clicking on this link -
A Guide to Setting Up & Running A Resident Association
The team have also put together a list of RA’s
that are already established in Harlow and this can be found by
clicking on this link - Resident 's
Associations in Harlow
The Big Society Team can be contacted on 446498 or
446192
Follow these links for more information
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