Friday 10 October 2008

Steering Group

It's exciting to see that we are thinking about moving up to the next level and I do think we need to be careful how we proceed and that Tina has a point about being rudderless, although we do want to hear from all those indians. Having no idea at all about how to take this further, I'm happy to leave it with those in the know but if I can be of any assistance, I'm more than happy to have a go.

How many people do we need for this group and what kind of skills are desirable?

I did come across a site 'Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations' which has information about setting out a constitution and structures, but don't know if its relevant or not. The site address is: http://www.scvo.org.uk/scvo/Information/DisplayResults.aspx?al=t&TCID=123&PageName=Forming%20a%20Voluntary%20Association if anyone want to have a look.

I thought we could perhaps use the wiki to set out a constitution and then we can add and amend it as it goes along.

9 comments:

Catherine Watt said...

Hi there
I checked this out already but I think it's really important to set out our priorities first as Brian suggested. We all appeared to be talking about our aims yet only a few people have responded to Brian's post - if we are to develop a constitution then we need to address the issues Brian raised, particularly in relation to a business plan, etc. We can't go forward unless we get this right first. I think we should all have another look at what Brian said and respond to this as soon as so that we can at least agree upon our aims.
Catherine

Anonymous said...

This would be the role of the steering group - through consultation with us all - giving it structure and a strategically focussed direction. Build the foundations then lay the dialogue on top. The steering group would steer it forward to this end.

Catherine Watt said...

Hi there
I've added a post in the 'practical issues' relating to how to set up an association.
Please leave comments.
Thanks
Catherine

Catherine Watt said...

In response to my other note in 'practical issues' I would like to be part of the steering group and am able to meet up or contribute online.
Catherine

Tina Beales said...

I would think we need at least 6 maybe 9 people on the steering group.

Tina Beales said...

Not wanting to presume anything but having now caught up with all the reading on the VLE about ideas for the organisation, I think we should be a little more pro-active and start pulling together the Steering Group.

We have passed the suggested date (10th Oct) to "spread the word" and are fast heading towards the 26th Oct deadline for forming a group.

So in summary: People who have expressed an interest or have said they have particular experience in certain matters are:
Gerry, Alan R, Catherine, Tina and Annette.
Others who I am not sure about, but seem to be "active" are Alan D, Brian, Sharon and Rosie.
Please correct this if I have got it wrong, but we are close to having enough people to create a working party. If there are others who wish to be included, please add you names to the list.

Gerri, you mentioned about creating a spreadsheet with everyones contact details, perhaps you could start this off-line, at the moment, in preparation for it to be available to all in the future. If you start with those I have listed (who may form the steering group), we could see where the majority of people come from and find a venue for a working party session!

As a suggestion, members of the steering group could take on tasks which need to be investigated further. I would envisage the group meeting a couple of times to discuss their findings and then we would be in a better position to report back to everyone else, on the blog.

I welcome your comments and thoughts.

Anonymous said...

I think we need to make sure that any steering group is representative of practitioners across Scotland - not just TQALers and not just the central belt. I am keen to be involved, particularly to make sure the north east is included. But I think we should encourage others from outside Glasgow to get involved and we should be careful about arranging meetings - there are financial implications for people getting involved if they have to travel to meetings from further afield.

scullyboy said...

yes iam am very wary that this could be perceived by others as a Tqal Clique. We have to braoden our scope. I am trying to engage others in this process but I have had some technical problems with this computer. I have sent out invitations to many but they have also had some technical difficulties engaging.

Catherine Watt said...

Hi there
I'm just back from holiday.
I've also emailed other practitioners and as yet none of them have joined (as far as I know). This is something that needs to be ongoing but I did suggest deadlines because we can't hang around for ever. I do concede however that maybe I didn't recommend enough time for everyone to get in touch with their contacts or to give others a chance to read all the blogs, reflect and make their own voice heard.
Also I think Aileen is right when she said that we need to make sure that we are representative of practitioners across Scotland, this is difficult however if people don't join up from other areas. I wonder if getting the bones of an Association sorted out now (i.e. the steering group) and concetrating on the meat later (i.e. the membership and elected posts) should be the way forward or should we look at a different way to go forward, what do you think?
Catherine