The smaller Steering Committee deals with the
"boring" items like constitution, insurance, strategy, building plans
and management issues.
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| Tudor -Steering Committee and Team leader |
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| Jim - Steering Committee and Treasurer |
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| Andrew - Steering Committee and Fruit team leader |
Experienced or expert growers are a small group who decide on the crop rotation and varieties of seed to order. They also are frequently available to give very practical advice to Team Leaders and teams about growing issues.
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| Penny - Experienced Grower and Team Leader |
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| Paul- Experienced Grower and Team Leader |
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| Brian - Experienced Grower and past Team Leader, now A team leader |
The Team leaders deal with all the growing issues and include 10 vegetable group team leaders, a Fruit
group and a Polytunnel leader, A team Site leader, Environment officer,
Secretary and Treasurer.
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| Andrew - Team Leader |
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| Kate - Team Leader |
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| Jon - Team Leader |
There are three requirements for all effective team leaders
and each leader must have each skill
§ Skill in communicating with and
managing a group.§ Sufficient time to devote to thinking about the issues, communicating with the team and leading and training the team by example.
§ Sufficient horticultural knowledge and skills in growing the crops and dealing with some of the basic issues that arise and the humility to ask for help when it is beyond their experience.
If a new leader lacks one of those skills it will soon become
apparent. The leader can do damage to the organisation, but fortunately they
tend to move on quickly.
Team leaders have tended to stay on their own plots and with their own teams, although team members may move to a different plot if inclined. Team leaders and members feel that they have put effort into improving the soil and developed relationships with their team and so few feel inclined to move to other plots. Team leaders meet together monthly for review and planning meetings and the sharing of information and ideas has helped them to upskill. Expert growers centrally organise the purchase of seed and plan crop rotation
Team leaders have tended to stay on their own plots and with their own teams, although team members may move to a different plot if inclined. Team leaders and members feel that they have put effort into improving the soil and developed relationships with their team and so few feel inclined to move to other plots. Team leaders meet together monthly for review and planning meetings and the sharing of information and ideas has helped them to upskill. Expert growers centrally organise the purchase of seed and plan crop rotation
We have found that it is really helpful when the teams are
put together that there are a mixture of ages and skill/knowledge levels. Older
retired people can come down during the week when younger folk may be tied up
with families and work. They are very
useful for making bits of equipment or putting up sheds or doing some of the
routine tasks in the polytunnels, like watering. Younger people should have the
strength for sustained periods of digging or weeding. Children have always been
welcome as what they learn in their formative years will influence them for
life.
Team leaders have been encouraged to have regular dialogue
with all members. For most team leaders this involves a weekly email, Facebook messages
or phone conversation over what needs to be done. Some teams maintain a plastic
box on site with a notebook in and leaders and members write there what needs
to be done and what has been done. Inevitably members who turn up at peak times
such as a Saturday morning or an agreed weekday time will establish the
strongest bonds within the team.
However not everyone will be able to attend at peak times for
a number of reasons and it is essential to find an effective way of
communicating. If a team member seldom or never attends at the same time as the
team leader or regular members of the team it can be very frustrating for the
team leader. One technique that seems to have been successfully adopted by the
Fruit group and some vegetable groups is to give members who can't always make
the Saturday or Wednesday group activities their own distinctly different
responsibilities: one supervises the raspberry plot, another the gooseberries,
a third the rhubarb bed, another the redcurrants and blackcurrants polytunnel,
another mows one of the orchards and yet another strims in an orchard. So if a
person turns up irregularly they know they have an area and a crop to check on
and they can plan what will need to be done in the coming weeks. The members of
a team who are more regular can work together on bigger crops like the fruit
trees or projects such as fertilising, pruning or fencing.
Another alternative for those who are unable to attend on
Saturdays or Wednesdays and be part of a team is for the team leader to find
out when the invisible member does turn up and try to fit him/her into a team
or an activity that is meeting at that time. Otherwise people who never meet
with the group are likely to become less effective in what they do when they
are at the farm and potentially more likely to leave the project because they
do not benefit from the community social component. For example there are
activities on Monday and Wednesday mornings for the A team- those who are
retired and who enjoy building or repairing.
1. Site Manager with responsibility for buildings and
constructions including sheds, compost bins, water tanks, water supply, supply
of refreshments and the tea hut and liason with the farmer.
2. Environment Officer with responsibility to keep the site
tidy, bins emptied, grass mown and rats controlled.
3. Update writer who sends out an email once a week with
information to all project members
4. Archivist who collects pictures and other memorable
information
5. Small team of expert growers who plan together which crops
will go where, organise the purchase of seed, produce notes to advise team
leaders and their teams and are available for consultation.
6. Tool repair person who replaces broken handles on tools
etc.
7. Manure coordinator - responsible for finding horse manure
and getting it to the site.
8. Compost maker - responsible for managing our 11 compost
bins.
9. Clean pot storage - cleans pots and keeps the pot shed
tidy.
10. Food sales co-ordinator - finds out what food is
available and whether it is on a team harvest or a pick your own basis and
communicates this to members via noticeboards and the Update writer.
11. Water co-ordinator, responsible for filling the IBCs.
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| David- badge maker |
Various small sub committees are appointed to deal with
issues as they arise. Usually there is a member of the steering committee, a
couple of team leaders and any experts within the project.
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