Are you looking to grow the number of children and young people you are working with? Organising a taster/friends night is a great way of increasing numbers across your Company, it’s a tried and tested method and something we would encourage you to consider.
To empower groups to run successful taster nights, we’ve put together a range of guides, resources & top tips to support & encourage you.
Taster/Friends Night Guide
There are a number of things to consider and steps to take, that will ensure your taster/friends night is a success. This includes setting targets, planning your programme, promoting the night and preparing to welcome new members.
We’ve put together a Taster/Friends Night Guide that is designed to walk you through each of these steps. We’ve also created an Action Plan (Word Doc) / Action Plan (PDF) that you can use alongside the guide, which we hope will support you as you work towards running your taster/friends night.
Taster Programmes
We’ve created some example programmes that you can use for your taster/friends night. These programmes are tried and tested and have been put together by leaders who have run successful taster/friends nights using them.
Each of the age group taster programmes provides two programmes, the first of which is designed to be your taster/friends night and the second provides a programme for the week following this, helping to ensure that children and young people settle in and become fully embedded as part of the group.
Check out our age group taster programmes:
Promotional Materials
It is important to let people know about your upcoming taster/friends night and do all you can to promote the event. A key to this is that you are inviting children or young people along to a specific night (day/time), this can be done in a number of ways.
Below are some links to support you in promoting your Taster/Friends Night
Other Resources
A range of other resources to support you
- Join the Adventure Activity Sheet – Under 11’s – an activity sheet designed for Anchors & Juniors age groups, ideal for using as part of recruitment efforts. The ideal print size is A3. You can print yourself where possible, or use an online print company such as Instant Print, we suggest selecting ‘Flyers & Leaflets’ / Finished Paper Size ‘A3’ / Paper Type ‘Uncoated’ / Paper Weight 170gsm / Print Type ‘Double Sided’).
- Join the Adventure Carrier Bags – available to purchase from BB Supplies, the small carrier bags can fit leaflets/sheets up to A4 in size. The carrier bags are ideal for keeping a number of items together ready to give out as part of your recruitment efforts, ideal for giving out to classes or year groups at school, asking existing members to give out to friends, giving out at fetes or other events. We recommend including a printed copy of the ‘Activity Sheet’ above, along with small bag of sweets, colouring pens/pencils and other promotional items.
Help & Support
The BBHQ Staff Team is available to provide you with support and encouragement, so please do get in touch with us on 0300 303 4454 or by email at support@boys-brigade.org.uk if we can help in any way.