Communicating with your community
This section will help you to build channels of communication between your group and your wider community. This might be local residents, people with a shared interest or people who support the aims of your campaign.
Involving people in your group requires two way communication. You might need to find out people’s views on an issue, help local people to make their voice hear, or provide opportunities for different people in your community to communicate with each other.
As well as the links below, you might find it useful to look at our section on Producing a neighbourhood newsletter.
Beginner's Guide to Printing
Most community and voluntary groups need to produce printed material from time to time. Whether you are producing a monthly newsletter, a poster for a meeting or an information leaflet, it’s worth thinking right from the start about how you will print it.
Designing and using surveys
Surveys are useful for finding out people’s opinions about an issue, or to gather feedback about your group’s activities. This page provides tips on getting the most out of surveys.
Facebook for community groups
Simple information and tips for small, volunteer-run community organisations
Involving people in your group
How do you get lots of people along to your meetings and events? How do you make sure that more than a handful of you are doing the bulk of the work?
Organising a public meeting
Holding a public meeting can be a really good way of building a campaign or getting more people involved in your group.
Support with publicity and printing
At the Resource Centre we can help groups to produce publicity and stationery, and provide administrative support.
Video and telephone meeting tools
How to have a meeting when you can’t all be together
Data protection for community groups
A plain-English summary of data protection responsibilities for small, volunteer-run community groups, including how to comply with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Community groups in Sussex can use our print room to produce publicity and communications.
We have a range of different types of printing equipment, and we are very cheap! We are especially good value for long runs of black and white or 2 colour printing (on our copyprinters), and short runs of full colour printing (on our inkjet or laser printers).
Whether you want to print letters, leaflets, posters, surveys, or stickers, you will find what you need to help you communicate with your community.
These books are available at the Resource Centre, to borrow or to use in the Centre.
Equipment available from the Resource Centre
- Clip boards
- Data projector
- DVD player
- Exhibition boards (free standing with 7 boards)
- Exhibition boards (table top)
- Flip chart
- Lectern
- Meeting Owl set
- Megaphone (30W)
- Megaphone (60W)
- Microphone
- PA 1 and PA 2 (50W)
- PA 3 (battery powered, lightweight, in a backpack)
- PA 4 and 6 (Alto Spectrum with LED lights)
- PA 5 (very small and portable)
- PA 7 and PA 8 (80W)
- PA 9 (80W with extra microphone)
- Projection screens
- Stand for projectors