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Now all the background work has been done, you'll know what issues are important to     the wider community, by this time you may have built up a partnership with your local  area housing office or neighbourhood housing officer. Between everyone involved your steering group should now be ready to develop further.

The purpose of your first group    

• Is to officially set up the group or Association

• Adopt a constitution

• Elect a committee

• Agree the main aims for the group/association

You could also consider inviting guest speakers to the meeting to give their support, these could include

• Local Councillors

• Housing Staff

• Community Police Officers

• A representative from the Federation

Elections

Any member of the community can stand for the Committee, not just the original tenants who formed the steering group. Each candidate should have a nominator and a seconder(two supporters). It is a good idea for the candidates' names to be given to the Chairperson before an election takes places.

All votes are decided when a majority of people vote for and against.

You will elect your Chairperson, Treasurer, Secretary and other committee positions at  this first meeting.

Agenda

To help the meeting run smoothly and everyone knows what is going on you should prepare an agenda, this will show the people who attend the main items that need to be discussed.

Minutes of Meetings

The Secretary normally takes the minutes of the meeting, but this job can be rotated.      The minute taker needs to make an attendance list available for the people who attend to sign. This should include the name of the group,date and time.

The minute taker will record  what is being discussed at the meeting.

Did you know full training is available for people wanting to take minutes, for further information contact your tenant involvement officer.

Constitution

A constitution is a written statement of the aims and rules of your group. It states the area that you cover, the membership, committee roles and rules of meetings. When you form a group it is important to decide your purpose and how you will get the group to work.           A copy of the constitution should be made available to every member so everyone is clear what the rules are.

If you would like assistance with setting out a constitution please contact us or alternatively select the link below where you can view and download and save a model constitution.