On the Sunday after the AGM I was once again invited to a branch meeting. It made for a long working weekend but was well worthwhile, as I enjoyed a trip down to Bristol and a meeting of our Avon Branch members.
About 30 of us took part in an open discussion in the form of a Q&A session. None of those attending had been at the AGM on the Saturday so I told them a little about what had happened there, and that naturally led on to lots of questions about Professor Ali’s work and the future of the charity. All very positive stuff.
There was also some discussion about branch fundraising, and how it is becoming more difficult to find volunteers to shake cans at supermarket collections and organise events. It’s true to say that the organisation has to work at new sources of income, but our traditional fundraising has to continue as well. One of the keys is engaging with more and younger people with RP and encouraging them to join the cause, and (occasionally) help with things like this too.
We are working on a number of initiatives to try and encourage younger people to join us
- generally raising our profile and awareness of our work
- making membership available online and improving our use of technology including facebook
- launching fundraising events that should appeal to younger people
- making links with younger celebrities
- modernising our image and language
I hope that Avon Branch and others will soon start to see the benefit of this work, though as with any change it takes a while for the impact to filter through.
My thanks to Stewart Fraser or his hospitality and the group for a great meeting.
Tags: avon, bristol, retinitis pigmentosa
