Recruitment
Top Tips for recruitment
1. Make it clear who you are and what you do.
2. Collect contact details.
3. Have your first meeting time ready.
4. Make it attractive, colourful and fun!
New members are the lifeblood of your group, and unfortunately they won’t just fall into your lap. Here we look at four possible ways to help you get new people involved: recruitment stalls, noticeboards, websites, assemblies and the advantages of raising your profile.
Example of a great P&P group stall
Recruitment stalls
- Make sure you book your stall well in advance!
- Design a flyer telling people who you are and how they can get involved.
- Organise a rota of people to help out. Stalls can be pretty tiring, so if you can reduce the shift length it will really help. Make sure there are two or three people on at any one time, just in case someone forgets to turn up.
- Prepare a colourful and eyecatching display .
- Approach people with a good opening line then tell them what P&P is, get them to sign up and tell them about your first meeting.
Case Study- Cheadle Hulme P&P noticeboard
Cheadle Hulme School P&P group had a noticeboard which they regularly updated with info about their campaigns for younger years. They used the board to publicise their regular meetings.
Noticeboards
- Find a visible noticeboard in your Sixth Form which everyone will see regularly then check your teachers are happy for you to use it.
- Think about tear-off slips or a holder with flyers so that people can take something away with them.
- Make it colourful and attractive- photos of what you’ve done are a great way of getting people’s attention.
Case Study- KES P&P website
KES P&P group’s website has lots of information about the group, what they’ve been up to and what they’ve got planned. Crucially it has the date and time of meetings on the home page.
Websites
- You might be able to put some info onto the school website, or some groups have set up their own. If you set up your own, add a link from the school website.
- This is a great way of attracting people to your group and celebrating your successes.
Case Study- Wallingford P&P assembly
Wallingford P&P group held assemblies for their whole school to raise awareness of Fairtrade. This was a great way of letting younger students know about the issues.
Assemblies
- Why not try and get notices in your assemblies about what you’re up to.
- You could speak to the students yourself, or just get the teacher to read out a notice.
- The more fun and interactive you make this, the greater chance you have of getting people involved.
Raising your profile
Even the most open and inclusive group running the best campaigns won´t grow without getting its name out there. How good is your publicity, and do people know you exist and where to find you?
- High profile actions are a good way of putting your group on the map and getting people to join you.
- Be visible with publicity around your Sixth Form - get your name everywhere so people really know you exist. This could include posters, t-shirts, badges, street chalking, stalls, and articles in the school newsletter.
- Putting the same logo on your materials can be a powerful tool to get your name out there. If people can realise that different posters etc. they’ve seen around are all by the same group, it might interest them and draw them in.
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