First Steps

And so it began, the journey from not being able to sit on your own hands and keep your mouth shut to delivering a functioning and thriving Veterans Club in Hook.

First things first, meant that by following the mantra of "when starting something, always have the end in mind", a club purpose and objectives needed defining along with a high level plan of how it would be delivered.  Early work on the purpose and objectives involved taking up an invitation from the Basingstoke Veterans crew on 2 Mar.  This turned out to be the first of quite a few visits to their club; speaking with them about potential pitfalls to avoid, things that they found worked and some that didn't and just general help, for which we are very grateful.

So just like the movies where a mad scientist locks themselves away and comes up with a cunning plan, that's exactly what I did.  Much like Dick Dastardly, I sat with my advisor and together we developed an idea for a 2-tiered organisation.  Both tiers were to sit under the same control umbrella, working towards largely similar aims and objectives, but they were to remain separate of each other in terms of delivery.  The tiers of the club were to be; a) a weekly meeting or get together where veterans could relax and let their guard down over a cup of tea and a biscuit and, b) a charitable organisation that could be used to legitimise charitable fund raising activities, should money be required to satisfy certain objectives.

Objective 1 - "To provide help and support to armed forces veterans, within Hook, Hartley Wintney and neighbouring villages, who need and would welcome that help."  Objective 1 seeks to provide physical help with problems/issues that any veteran may have encountered and not been able to resolve it themselves. The type of issue will generally be resolvable through expertise/knowledge of member(s) of the group or by the "rolling up of sleeves" and getting it done. It is almost inevitable that occasions will arise where the purchasing of specialist tool(s) or materials will be necessary.  The intention is for the group to hold charitable fund raising events to cover these costs but in order to legitimately do so, the club will need to registered with The Charities Commission.  As a result the club will eventually be registered as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation.

Objective 2 - "To create a space where veterans can rediscover the camaraderie that they experienced in the military."  Objective 2 seeks to organise situations where like minded people can gather and rediscover a level and type friendship that was always available within each of the armed forces.

Objective 3 - To provide an environment where people will "get it". A "safe" place with friends who will understand and be willing to lend a sympathetic ear.  Having organised the necessary situations through objective 2, objective 3 seeks to ensure that veterans who may have been carrying troublesome "baggage" feel comfortable enough in the environment so speak of their struggles in dark places and take a first step on the road to a better place

So now we have strategy guiding objectives, all we need now is a plan on how this is going to be delivered.  Whilst the detail behind the plan was being discussed work began on the things that were definitely going to be required;  a draft governing document(the constitution), and a number of policies that will be required in support of the proposed registration.

Membership/General Interest

One of the biggest issues that we are facing is in getting the message out to the people that may be interested in this venture.  At the Veterans Health Briefing in February Whitewater Health agreed to help try and overcome this difficulty by using their database info and an SMS service. This involved them sending a simple message to those people registered with the surgeries, both Hook and Hartley Wintney, who had previously identified themselves as forces veterans, that contained contact details of the start-up people.  The thought being that if someone was interested they sent their contact details and would receive a reply containing the current club details, aims, links etc.  Towards the end of the month a letter was delivered to Whitewater Health taking them up on this very kind and helpful offer.

It had also become obvious that there would be great benefits on this front in having a Social Media and Internet presence.  A facebook profile, Hook Veterans, and and private Facebook group, Hook (Hants) Veterans Club, were created.  Alongside this an internet domain, hookveterans.com, was purchased and a website, www.hookveterans.com created in order to help spread the word.

Venue

With a start-up budget of £0, the cost of any venue was going to be up there alongside suitability when it came to choosing a venue.  Research was carried out into the cost of a room through Hook Village Halls and feelers were put out to various organisations and establishments that had a potentially suitable hall. I had the costings of the rooms at the community centre and Elizabeth Hall and by the end of the month I had a meeting set during April with a representative of the scout group. This meeting had been set up with a view to using The Sue Hedges Memorial Hall as a venue/base.

Funding

Through discussion with my anonymous advisor, it was decided that when the time finally came to start the coffee mornings they would be self funding.  A little kick start with some basic refreshment ingredients and some biscuits would be all that was needed.  A "donation" box at the door would mean the second requirement for tea, coffee, sugar would easily be covered.  The cost of other items that would be required to make it obvious that this was a serious attempt at a start up; web domain, website hosting, leaflets etc. etc. would be addressed as the need arose.