I am frequently asked if we can support informal projects, groups and events as well as formal clubs – the answer to that is ‘yes’ – we support any permanent or temporary gathering of any amount of people of any age, in any geographical area, with any interest type. Our aim is to support as many groups of any kind as possible.
Secondly, I am also often asked if we can help find volunteers for clubs and groups and the answer to this is we can definitely try. We have some very positive and helpful partners such as the NCVO and other national and regional umbrella bodies who we can go to, to ask for this kind of support for our clubs. And if any of our member clubs/groups asked us to help with a campaign to recruit volunteers, we would certainly do whatever we can to help – for example get the message out on social media locally or nationally.
Thirdly, I am just as regularly asked if we can help groups get funding. This is the hardest one to answer as the range of grants and ‘free’ funding is clearly shrinking. However we do still get notifications of funding pots if you are interested (we send them out sometimes to our clubs when we get them) and we have links with fundraising organisations who can potentially help you or your clubs too. We can also suggest crowdfunding and other fundraising platforms and we even have an easy to follow guide on how to write a bid for funding available. I can’t wave a wand on the funding question – in fact I am permanently looking for cash for the youth club I volunteer for, but it’s certainly worth continuing to badger local councils, local Trusts and even businesses (if they are reasonably healthy financially). It’s a thankless task I know, but necessary.
Finally, if you are still providing your groups’ activities entirely for free, it may even be time to consider levying a small charge where possible. I know for some groups that’s a tough and very unwelcome prospect which raises huge difficulties for some individuals and families, but without some regular income it’s very hard to predict a clubs’ future.
Whatever help you are looking for, it’s worth asking the Groop team – you’d be surprised by what and who we know!
Sally
