Hi, I’m RJ. I’m a relatively new member of Flourish House, I really like it here and was curious to know more about how everything works.
The opportunity to find out more about the folk that are involved with membership presented itself so I decided to see what I could learn.
It turns out that the membership team’s responsibilities are way more varied than I originally imagined. If you’re a member new or old, you’ve certainly benefited from the hard work of Stacey, Steev and the members that lend them a hand.
Some of the things they’re responsible for are more obvious than others, things like tours and inductions to our community are things all members are probably familiar with. But it was explained to me that raising awareness of the clubhouse in the community through systems like outreach; as well as processing applications are the responsibility of the membership team as well.
I couldn’t help but think, without this kind of work would I have ever been introduced to Flourish House by the Scottish NHS to begin with. My life would look very different to how it does today.
On top of introducing people to Flourish from awareness to induction, the team also play a role in supporting existing members. Keeping track of what members are involved in both collectively and on an individual level provides us with information that contributes in part to providing the funding that keeps our clubhouse running; while also allowing us to celebrate members birthdays, and reaching out to get in touch with those who haven’t been in for a while, just to make sure they’re ok.
Hearing all this made me wonder, what could I do to help? Obviously some of the behind the scenes stuff is confidential, but could I contribute to tours, inductions, outreach?
Yes. Because these roles involve meeting new people, sometimes in new places, and perhaps being part of the first impression that people get to make about Flourish House. Friendliness and some amount of confidence would be beneficial. As well as enthusiasm and a willingness to try something new. I remember how anxious I was during my tour and induction; I was so impressed by, and grateful to the members that helped introduce me to the building and the people that I knew I wanted to become a part of the community.
I was curious about the people behind all this work too. Both Stacey and Steev told me that one of their favourite parts of the role was meeting new people, new members.
Steev added that he appreciates that in explaining to new people what Flourish is, answering questions, he is able to examine and remind himself of what Flourish House is all about. I guess, when Flourish is part of your life, it’s good to take a step back and remind yourself of how special a place it is.
Stacey told me that while working in her role she enjoys the knowledge that what she does is an important part of keeping Flourish House running. I think I can understand this viewpoint too, Flourish House feels like a unique, overwhelmingly positive slice of our universe, having the knowledge that you contribute to enabling its existence must be a nice feeling.
My last question before I drifted away was about food, all this hard work must be draining, so what do our membership staff like to have as a snack to keep them going during the day. Steev said apples and isn’t picky about a specific type. Stacey liked Skittles as a sweet snack, sunflower seeds as a savoury one. I personally like Granny Smith apples as well as sunflower and pumpkin seeds, it’s great to know just a little bit more about these members of staff.
I want to say thank you to Stacey and Steev for their hard work, and for taking the time out of their busy day to talk to me; as well as all the members that help out in the membership role.