How to run a craft group

Whether you would like to run a small or large group I've made some notes from my experience of how to run a local craft group

• A facebook page is a must nowadays, its somewhere for people to go and see updated messages, future dates and message you (the admin) if they have a query
  Dont feel that you have to run this alone, choose someone to help with admin especially if its gets busy or your away on holiday
• The venue - choose this wisely, I tried a few different ones and came to love the village hall in Warkton the most, why! Not just because its quaint and in a super visual pretty place but the size was just right.
  You need to see what the hall can offer you, ours has a small kitchen to one side with all cups plates cutlery and kettles provided (some venues do not do this as I've learnt in the past)
  The toilets are outside which kind of makes it a fun topic especially in winter!
  On beautiful summer days we've been known to set up tables outside for a lunch break or just to take in the fresh air
  Our hall enables us to use the large 6' tables and chairs already there, theres also smaller 3' ones which are great if someone brings along a sewing machine and they need a table slightly out of the way, these smaller ones are great for the tea table too
  Our hall is rented, but doesnt include electric and is ran on a meter so in colder months I always need to make sure that I have a bag of £1 coins to add to keep us toasty, which sometimes can be an extra £8-£10 on top of your rent
• Insurance - I'm lucky to have insurance that covers me for my events, which also covers me to run the craft group, its about covering yourself for public liability
• I'm lucky that with restarting the group I contacted the old crafters and they were happy to restart, with starting the new facebook page this led to new crafters I'd met over the last couple of years been interested and them sharing with their crafty friends, so the numbers soon started to grow
  Is there a limit on numbers! you decide!
  There are 10 large tables available which to me is 20 people with 2 sharing one large table
• Arrange your space so that everyone can chat together if needed and not be left out
  I do this by arranging the tables in the middle of the room with the refreshments table to one side
• Charging a price per person covers you for the hall rental, your insurance you've paid out for, free refreshments and in my case homebaked cakes plus the dedicated working space you are offering
  I previously offered lunch as well but found this so stressful and it wasnt cost effective for me

• I also like to think that if someone is paying then they want the full package, our group runs from 10am until 4pm, so I like to get there about 9am and get the hall all set up so crafters can just come in and get started (with the kettle on of course)
• I had a batch of leaflets made up with the years dates on them to give out so people could add them to their diaries or stick to their fridges, theres nothing worse than someone missing out by forgetting when it was on
• Most important of all - be inviting, be fun, have music on in the background, get the chatter flowing, share ideas and help new crafters to bloom

I hope this helps answer some questions about running your own group, if you have anything else you'd like to know please just ask