Three Regions Meeting 20th June 2020
On 20th June, Presidents and Officers from Midland Arden, Midland East and Midland Chase ‘met’ (on Zoom naturally)! It’s a great opportunity to exchange news, share best practices in Programme Action, and to explore ways of collaborating on future projects.
Obviously, this year’s meeting was unique in that we are all now in the midst of a global pandemic. Members throughout our regions have been profoundly affected by the lockdown. Some have been furloughed, many are socially isolating or shielding. During this unprecedented time, we have had to quickly adapt to a remote way of reaching out to our members through the use of technology.
President-Elect Elaine Clarke explained to the meeting how we at Midland Arden are meeting the challenges of this ‘new normal’ by taking advantage of new technologies. We are using them to communicate both amongst our own club members and also to a wider audience.
Response to Covid-19
When lockdown occurred the ROC immediately took steps to establish communications amongst ourselves and to support Clubs: –
-We set up a WhatsApp group for ROC – this has been remarkably successful enabling rapid and instant communication between members
-We have used Zoom for additional Regional meetings, which can take place at short notice, with no travel downtime or room hire expense.
-Regional President Rose has participated in conference calls with President Isobel and other Regional Presidents. Everyone found this useful and helpful.
-We allocated a ‘buddy’ from ROC to Regional Clubs not represented on ROC, to ensure we had an insight as to what was happening in all Clubs in the Region. We can also offer assistance if necessary, particularly with electronic or virtual meetings.
-Regular newsletters to Clubs have continued. These have included the President’s Easter message and shared examples of how Programme Action is continuing despite the lockdown.
We are also regularly updating our Facebook pages and Twitter accounts. This lets the world know that we are still here and actively supporting each other and the wider community.
Read President-Elect Elaine’s Report here: Three Regions Meeting June 20th 2020