First steps for new groups
There are many different reasons why you may want to set up a group. It might be to organise activities for your community, run campaigns, or raise money.
Whatever the reason, the idea of starting a group to do something you care about can be both exciting and daunting. Use this section to think through the first steps and start to get things moving.
Getting a group started
First steps when thinking about starting a new group, and links to further information.
Managing funds for short-lived crisis-response groups
How to manage your money if your group has been set up quickly to respond to the Covid-19 crisis
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.
These books are available at the Resource Centre, to borrow or to use in the Centre.
- Charities and Public Benefit
- Charity essentials (for Pre-schools)
- Community Matters: Reference Manual for Community Organisations Advisers
- Community start up
- Doing it for ourselves - a guide to setting up and managing a refugee community organisation
- Eradicate poverty: a resource pack for community organisations
- First steps - a guide to developing out of school clubs for community associations or similar groups
- Getting involved - a practical manual
- How to set up a refugee community organisation
- Meetings and decision-making (Booklet 3 of 5 of the "From Conflict to Cooperation" Series)
- Organise!
- Ready Steady Go - starting up and running your out of school kids club
- Role and responsibilities of the committee (Booklet 5 of 5 of "From Conflict to Cooperation" series)
- Setting up and running Tenants' and Residents' Associations
- Simply Finance: A comprehensive guide to the different options for financing a community enterprise
- Simply Legal: All you need to know about legal forms and organisational types for community enterprises
- Starting a crèche - a guide for community groups
- The Complete Guide to Creating and Managing New Projects for Voluntary Organisations
The services listed below are not provided by the Resource Centre. These are websites and services we feel are particularly useful for small groups in Brighton & Hove, and which are not easy to find by searching the internet.
Other services you might find useful