When I recently took over as chair of the Sustainable Crediton
Core group I was keen to find out what *you*
thought we should focus on. So I've spent some time over the past
few weeks gate-crashing group meetings and asking two simple
questions: "What are your expectations for the Core
Group?" & "How can we support and help you?"
Your answers were very interesting and have given us much food
for thought!
Whilst we're pretty good at the fundamentals of running the
organisation (as one of you put it: "keeping us solvent and
legal") we need to improve in other areas. Much of our role
covers general 'behind the scenes' administration, such as:
- Financial management, book-keeping and accounting
- Provision of our website and training, guidance and support for
our volunteer editors
- Publication of our monthly newsletter, Facebook and Twitter
feeds
- Responding to letters concerning sustainability which appear in
the local press
- Ensuring that sustainability issues are key considerations in
Mid-Devon initiatives such as the Local Plan and the REAL Devon
grants programme
Your feedback suggested that we do these well and seemlessly -
perhaps too seemlessly since we may appear to be a bit anonymous
and almost invisible at times! We need to communicate better and
create a more actively welcoming environment for new-comers.
What we've been less good at is the wider connections: "We're so
focused on local aspects that we're in danger of missing the bigger
picture". We need to link Crediton up with other Transition Towns,
such as Exeter and Totnes, to share knowledge and experiences and
to engage in national and international events & campaigns. Two
of our members have recently attended the Transition Network Conference and we're keen to
learn from their experiences. We're also considering affiliating
Sustainable Crediton with Friends of the Earth.
Some of you also mentioned that we haven't been very successful
at turning ideas into action: "We've had lots of blue-sky,
brainstorming sessions but nothing happens to take the ideas
forward". Our previous
long-term plan ended last year and we need to develop a clear
set of goals to take us forward over the next few years. To this
end we've placed strategy: developing clear goals as the top
priority item at our monthly meetings and will be involving all the
groups over the next few months. If you're in a group and would
like to know more then ask your group leader/co-ordinator for more
information. If you're not in one of our action groups but would
like to be involved then contact me or come along to our next meeting.
I'd like to add that I've thoroughly enjoyed meeting up with the
groups - I've met many new faces and got really excited by some of
your up-coming projects! Thank you all for your feedback ... but it
doesn't end there. If you ever want to know more or have thoughts,
questions or criticisms about the Core Group please don't hesitate
to contact me or one of the other members of the group. We are always open to
suggestions and would love to hear from you!
Sarah
Green
Chair