I'm not sure if you have read my report of last year’s event, which highlighted a number of problems. If you have not, don't bother, because they were all resolved. Not a single one was repeated. I feel that needs highlighting at the start, because I shall mention some more. Unfortunately they may be difficult to resolve. I mention them more for your entertainment than with any expectations.
Saturday began with a somewhat chaotic registration. The registration documents came sorted by room number and had to be re-ordered so that people's rooms could be identified. The forms were then collected and re-ordered back for use at reception. Details were completed upon a laptop computer so that keys could be picked up at lunchtime. Unfortunately, what had been intended to be a time saving process, due to the lack of a printer, printer driver or computer expert the process was far from smooth.
Meanwhile, after the forms were collected and coffee drunk, we gathered for the welcome / house keeping session, where the. Woodcraft organisers also took advantage of the weekend to circulate forms to update their database. A number of workshops had been organised for the day and we were asked to register for the ones we wished / could attend. Workshop subjects that day were on Alcohol / substance abuse, Non-violent communication, Teamwork, an international art project, Dance, Group management and planning for the “Global Village” event, that is the international camp next year. Unfortunately the list indicating what was on and in which room was wrong!
The Teamwork workshop was very interesting. For me it highlighted many things that we could do better. Because of our philosophy we tend to have no or limited hierarchy. A side effect of this is that tasks are not parcelled out and there is much duplication of effort. Worse it is sometimes discovered that a task has been left undone and needs doing at the last minute. Part of the solution to any problem is knowing what the problem is. While I can't see us changing our philosophy I can see us working harder to distribute tasks.
The children meanwhile were looked after in an excellent crèche. As I didn't bring mine it is difficult to give a full report especially as I was unaware of their presence during the workshops.
After the first session we were ushered into the magnificent ding room for a wonderful lunch. The vegetarians had a good choice. Although the initial quantity of vegetarian food needed had been under estimated this was quickly corrected with the staff identifying meat and meat free quickly and clearly. They also asked that we indicate our preference for dinner. The vegetarian alternative for dinner was to be stuffed peppers. Not exactly kids food. This was pointed out and the chief quickly revised his menu to include a pasta dish.
Over lunch we all picked up our room keys so that we were then able to set out on what turned out to be expeditions to find our rooms. This might sound an exaggeration but it is a challenging task at Wortly Hall and many got lost.
In the afternoon I attended the non-violent communication workshop - again a very useful resource. One leader found it particularly helpful. She had been accidentally, she stressed accidentally, hit in the face the previous week. However the child had not apologised or acknowledged that such things should not happen. She had been wondering how to talk or relate to the child since.
Then it was time for coffee and for parents to check on their children, who by now were frolicking in the snow outside.
After coffee I joined a number of people waiting for the group management workshop. After a while we realised that perhaps it was actually in a different room! This led to a somewhat shaky start. We identified a number of things that lead to management problems, such as the venue for group nights. Unfortunately many of them were out of our control. It was hard but we managed to finish on a high note by remarking that we somehow managed anyway.
Then it was time for another excellent meal. The children had apparently had a drama workshop while we were in our training workshops.
After the evening meal there was an additional workshop on the Global Village. I didn't attend, instead I used the time to ensure that my CRB form was correctly filled and witnessed. The CRB checks are an important part of our child protection policy and I can catch up on the Global Village work in the next couple of weeks.
Following that workshop there was a ceilidh. Most of the adults joined in and those children who were not playing hide and seek in the corridors. The band played until 11pm when everyone was ready to drop. We retired to the bar where the traditional singing started. About 2pm I called it a day.
We had been asked to ensure that we had had breakfast by 9:00 so that we could start the morning's sessions on time. Everyone made it! The session however did not start smoothly due to computer problems. Condensation had formed on the projector lens, which left Ian Andrews having to extend his talk about United Cooperatives and it's relationship with the wider cooperative movement. Eventually it was decided to abandon the projector and the speaker, Jess Cawley from the Folk, managed without the technology. This consisted of a talk about the early woodcraft years; how the links with the cooperative movement started; finding and control issues that inevitably. The particular point of friction being that the Woodcraft folk found it impossible to agree with the structure envisaged by the Co-operative Union and some Societies, which in turn led to the funding issues that existed during the days of the Cooperative Youth Movement.
We were then divided into two groups, those from the old Yorkshire Society area and those from the United Northwest area. At this point I should say that the Woodcraft folk in the Northwest area have enjoyed substantial financial support from the Society for quite some time. The same was not true a few miles away in Yorkshire and I am sure that this was the reason that separate area meetings were arranged this time.
In the meeting that I attended we talked about the democratic process of United Co-op and how important it was to attend the members meetings. How the board took and responded to questions. Also the way that profit was used in a tangible way to benefit society. We discussed co-op trading and the strategies available to the society. Much was said about Tesco's and how we should respond to their actions. The Co-op Trading Group (CRTG) was praised on the quality of the wine labelling and the ethical stance on Fair trade.
It was also mentioned that while local co-ops may not stock catering size packs for when we camp in the past local managers have been more than willing to take such orders in advance and source them for some of our groups. It was a lively session and to be fair some of the ideas mentioned were more workable and usable than others.
A number of people didn't know when the Members meeting were or how they would find out about them. I think that it is fair to say that a many resolved to make space in their diaries not just for future members meetings but also for the local co-op group meetings.
Finally there was a brief review of the weekend. It had been such a success that there was little to say. Then the children entertained us with a drama they had produced before we wound up the weekend with lunch.
Jon Spence
Rochdale Woodcraft Folk Group