2 FINDING A MEETING VENUE

REQUIREMENTS FOR A VENUE

When you are sure there is enough interest in forming a society you will need to find somewhere for it to hold its meetings – you can’t just hang out in a bus shelter.

But don’t just take the first free room you can find. Your meeting venue will need to have the following: at least some parking for your members, its own chairs and tables, heating for winter meetings, disabled access and toilets and plenty of power sockets for equipment. Those basic requirements will rule out many possible meeting venues.

MONEY, MONEY, MONEY

It is very important to find out in advance the financial obligations and arrangements you are entering into before hiring a room for your meetings. When making your enquiries ask how much the room will cost per meeting, when the money is to be paid and how the fee is to be paid. Unless your room is free you will need to set up a bank account for your society, which means having a treasurer to collect membership fees and pay the room-hire costs. We’ll come back to that.

IDENTIFYING POSSIBLE VENUES

When looking for a venue for your society meetings consider approaching the following:

• Local schools may have classrooms available for use after school hours.

• Your local library might have a

meeting room for hire.

• Your local college might have a

suitable room available.

• Your local community centre.

• Parish halls are often used by astronomy societies.