Steps 2: Getting Started


An important note on the next steps:

The next steps give instructions with the intention of helping the action club to become organised, focused and effective in its actions. It's not necessary for you to follow every single step for the sake of it. Some things may be more relevant and more suited to your club than others.

The steps and resources provided should be particularly useful to anyone taking on fairly serious issues and problems. Learning and applying these organisational skills will likely benefit everyone involved throughout the rest of their lives in dealing with all manner of situations. They will also make a difference to the overall effectiveness and health of the action club, and how seriously it will be taken by people in the community whose co-operation may be needed to succeed with particular projects.

Finally, an action club can be compared to a ship. The more organised it is, the more seaworthy it will be. And in times of heavy seas, when numerous difficulties can arise, being well organised can make the difference between it sinking beneath the waves and seeing out the storm to sail on to successfully accomplish mission after mission.


Step 2 - At the next meeting

'Let us always meet each other with smile, for the smile is the beginning of love.'

— Mother Teresa

Discuss and / or select start-up projects

In Step 1 you would have already chosen a new project or a narrow list of them.

If your members have their own ideas on what projects the club should start with you can all decide as a group what to start with. If there is any conflict over which activities to pursue this can be solved by either voting or splitting the action club if it has enough members. There is no limit to the variety of activities an action club can take up over time if everyone is keen. That's why it's vital everyone is encouraged to join in and take co-ownership of the club.


Research and learn about the project

Decide what the next step will be to encourage everyone to learn as much about the project as they can and share what they find with each other. The more everyone knows about the cause behind the project, the more effective the action taken throughout the project will be.
Many of the projects we list have links to basic research, but how it will apply to your own community is important. For instance, there maybe little point starting a 'no junk mail sticker campaign' in your area if another local action club or organisation is already in the process of doing it or has done it. To make things easy we have included a research help sheet. (See below) You can simplify and change it where necessary. You could ask for volunteers to research each of the relevant questions (which are numbered) and report their findings at the next meeting. The Internet can be useful information source but to find out what's really occurring in your community some detective work might be needed. Click here for a web page that offers good advice on how best to find information that is relevant to your local community and make sure it is trust worthy and reliable.


Resources

 Action club research help sheet: (In PDF) (In Microsoft Word)

Research: Potential sources of information relevant to your community



© Shanti Lion Children's Trust: 2006, 2007
This Web page may be linked to any other Web sites. Contents may not be altered.