Tips for holding a Labour Link Meeting

Before organising a Labour Link meeting locally it may be useful to consider some of the following points, which may sound obvious, but may be helpful as a checklist.

The date of the meeting

• Try to avoid holding meetings during public holidays and holiday periods.
• Consider if weekends are good times or bad to maximise attendance.
• If you want MPs/MSPs/MEP/councillors to attend make sure the meeting is held at a time that they are likely to be available. When Parliament is sitting MPs tend to be in London between Monday and Thursday, MSPs in Edinburgh between Tuesday and Thursday, MEPs in Brussels during the week days, and you should check timings of local council meetings and councillor surgeries.

Time of meeting

• Discuss good times for meetings with Labour Link members. Good times may be early evening, straight after work, or later in the evening giving people time to travel to the meeting.
• Consider caring responsibilities of members when deciding on meeting times.
• Try to ensure the meetings last an appropriate time, say one or two hours, so as people can travel safely home.

Venue

• Ensure the venue is in a central location if people are expected to travel some distance.
• Choose a venue that is easy to find, and provide a map or directions where possible.
• Consider public transport options for people attending the meeting.
• Make sure the venue is accessible for people with disabilities.
• Ensure the venue is in a safe, well lit and accessible area for people to enter and leave safely alone, particularly if the meetings are to be held in the evenings.

Childcare arrangements

• Remember that members (particularly women) may have childcare requirements. Arrange to meet these requirements as best suits the needs of the member and Labour Link group.
• If more that one person requires childcare it may make sense to employ a crèche worker. If only one person needs childcare it may be sensible to pay that person's childminder/ babysitter.

Refreshments

• People may be encouraged to attend a meeting if there are refreshments available.
• People may need refreshments if the meeting is being held straight after work!
• Consider people's dietary requirements when organising refreshments.
• It is helpful to know how many people are expected to attend when arranging refreshments - therefore ask people to indicate their attendance prior to the event if possible.

Subject of meeting

• It is a good idea to have a focus for a meeting to encourage attendance.
• Focus on a topic that will appeal to the audience for discussion.
• Subjects could be a local issue, more general issues such as PFI or proportional representation, or bargaining issues such as the STUC/Scottish Executive PPP Staffing Protocol.
• You may find it helpful to have someone to lead discussion or an invited guest speaker.

Inviting speakers / guests

• Speakers or guests to meetings could be elected representatives - MSPs, MPs, Councillors, MEPs, or another trade unionist or full time official.
• Ensure the speaker or guest knows what is expected of them in advance of the meeting. For example indicate to them prior to the meeting if you want them to speak for a given amount of time, or answer questions, or just participate in a group discussion.
• Make sure you give the speaker or guest the details of the time, date and venue of the meeting.

Publicising the meeting

• Ensure the meeting is well publicised to the target audience.
• This may be through the branch newsletter, Labour Link bulletins, direct mail to members, electronic mail, posters or other suitable publicity.
• Provide directions / maps to assist people.

Feedback from meetings

• You may find it useful to get feedback from meetings so as you can gauge what works and what doesn't, and get views on subjects, venues or speakers people want at future meetings.
• You may also want to provide formal or informal reports on the meetings to the Scottish Labour Link Committee, on your branch websites, bulletins or the Labour Link Bulletin.

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