Day Twenty: Westminster and City CF

My first time at an event with a new CF branch. The guys in Westminster and City are just starting out in forming a branch and had Jo-Ann Nadler, author of 'Too nice to be Tory' booked. Sadly, illness stopped Jo-Ann attending but she will be making an appearance next February. Eric Forth kindly stepped into the breach and entertained the crowd with his upfront manner.

One thing that will help brand new branches or smaller branches struggling to get going is the right sort of support from CF. The office in London can't be expected to have much hand in the day-to-day running of branches, but there are some things the new CF exec should get sorted out.

We can consult our existing branches and write up some 'How to...?' booklets, on holding events, recruiting and campaigning. There is a wealth of experience that should be shared with people who need it. If the booklets can be made available online along with professional templates for campaign literature all the better.

We can even go further. Already branches can use the RSS Feed to get daily updated articles on their websites. The next logical step is to provide branches with their own professional-looking site that can be the property of the association and passed on to the next exec.

Old or abandoned websites are a common feature of CF branches, simple steps can change the situation for the better. I am passionate about changing the way we use the internet to campaign, we already have a small lead with the CF website, but the future requires some ambition and forward planning.