Honorary president: Judith Butcher Honorary vice-president: David Crystal OBE

Local groups: Guidelines for local group coordinators

Regional development director  

1. Section 4 of the SfEP by-laws sets out the general regulations for SfEP local groups. You can access these by going to About the SfEP: Important documents.


2. SfEP local groups are for SfEP members and associates only, with two exceptions:
   
   
   • People interested in joining the SfEP are welcome to attend up to three meetings, but they must join the Society to attend subsequent ones.
   • Members and associates who have notified SfEP of their retirement from the profession before leaving the Society may continue to attend local group meetings.


3. Local group meetings don't have to be formal – sometimes just a chat over a drink in a pub or at someone's house can be just as productive.


4. Please keep a record of people's contact details and of who comes to meetings.


5. When choosing a venue, please bear in mind accessibility. Some members are reliant on public transport. Others may have difficulty with flights of stairs.


6. Try to encourage people to take an active part by asking them to organise a meeting, sort out refreshments, arrange a venue, etc. If you have to collect money to pay for a venue, get someone to help with that. Coordinators shouldn't have to do everything on their own.


7. Meetings must be self-funding. Make a small charge to cover costs of room hire, etc. If possible, find speakers locally – say, from among your members. If speakers belong to the SfEP, offer them only their expenses.
   
   
8. Please send notices of meetings to the as far in advance as possible, for inclusion in the monthly local groups notice on SfEPAnnounce, in the local groups calendar of events page on the SfEP website and in Editing Matters. Reminders about meetings can go on SfEPLine nearer the actual date, but bear in mind that only about half of the SfEP membership subscribes to SfEPLine.


9. Please send brief reports of meetings to the Editing Matters so that they can be published in the magazine.


10. We have a special SfEP forum for local group coordinators. Please use it to share tips, ask questions, look for ideas for meetings, seek guidance, look for speakers, etc. Ask the regional development director to add you to it.


11. Local groups should consider creating their own web pages, to be linked to the SfEP website. For an example, check out the South Hants group page to see what they have done. Contact the SfEP for more information.


12. If your group is interested in having one-day SfEP courses come to your area, contact the SfEP .

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