Joining form... some suggestions please!

[SnooziSuzi]

Hi all,

I am fulfilling one of the (many) actions assigned to me as association secretary from the last meeting which was to design a joining form for new entrants to our associaiton.

Basically, in order to go someway to stopping the time wasters who take on a plot, do a bit of digging then never come back, I am trying to put together a form which they would fill in before being considered for an allotment.

This would go someway to having a request in writing and also understanding whether they are likely to do any work or not!

Does anyone have any suggestions as to what I can put on my form?   So far I have got:  (don't worry - the formatting is tidy on the actual form!)

Name   _______________________________________________________
Address   _______________________________________________________
   _______________________________________________________
   _____________________________Postcode__________________

Telephone   ______________________ Mobile Number ___________________
Email address   _______________________________________________________

Preferred Allotment Site:    New Hills   
         Cross Lane
         Daisy Hill   

Preferred Allotment Size:         Full Plot     £16 p.a.
               Half Plot    £10 p.a.

Please indicate your level of gardening / allotmenteering experience      
Beginner     Some Experience      Expert   
               
Please detail any physical conditions which may restrict the amount of work you are able to carry out on your allotment.  i.e. back pain
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Please detail the number of hours work you can devote per week
Less than 2   2-5 hours    6-10 hours    More than 10 hours per week


I know I haven't captured everything, and that's where I'm hoping to get some suggestions from you lot!

Thanks,
Su

[SnooziSuzi]

[pg]

I suggest:

- you specify actual size of half or full plot in feet/metres/paces! I've seen allotments in neighbouring towns of differing sizes.

- is it necessary to state experience? It might come across as a bit of a test. So rating oneself as having no experience might be seen as something that would stop you getting a plot.

- include some marketing/positives on your form or with it. Why should I join? How many people are there already? No waiting list - tell me! Then having an allotment looks like a two way process rather than a back to school thing pass/fail.

[SMP1704]

Perhaps asking what type of plot they are willing to take on e.g., jungle, not touched for ten years; previously cultivated but left for a year or two, a field of grass, completely worked just needs a light hoe.  Or provide a description of the majority of vacant plots and ask if the person is willing to take that on and bring the plot back into cultivation.

[twinkletoes]

I think one of the points made by pg re experience is relevant. As a reasonable newbie (got my plot a year ago) I might have been put off as I was relatively inexperienced but have discovered I am able to get plenty of friendly advice from older/experienced plot holders or come on to this website. 

The other bit that I think could be tweaked is the question about how many hours you can do - again, I would not have been able to answer this. I work all week and aim to go to my plot (weather permitting) on my way home most evenings for an hour or so and I am usually able to put in 12 hours over the weekends.  However, an inexperienced allotmenteer may believe a couple of hours a weekend is enough(!) and hence ends up dispirited when they realise that they will need to give more time (especially if they are taking on a weed infested jungle). 

Perhaps instead of a questionnaire a "working day" could be arranged where the applicant can help a recent newbie to do some digging on a their new plot (that is usually overrun with weeds and brambles).  They can then judge for themselves how much time they think they will need to put in and whether they have this time to spare and indeed whether they really want to take on an allotment after all - be it half a plot or a whole plot. 

I don't think a description of the plot helps an inexperience allotmenteer very much - do any of us newbies really have any idea just how hard and time consuming it can be to get an overgrown jungle into shape?   We just know that we want an allotment and when we see the plot - it needs lots of work!! I'll take a bet that there are very few plots that a newbie takes over that just needs light hoeing.

Twinkletoes

[SnooziSuzi]

Thanks guys,  this is golddust!

The reason I had the experience and time available to cultivate thingie was because, whilst we don't really want to discourage anyone from being a gardener, I think that a lot of newbies think that an hour a week or less is acceptable!

I think what I may do is do an FAQ handout to accompany the form which will explain all of the nasty work needed as well as the good, rewarding stuff and, as someone had said on another thread, get them to agree to do a certain amount of work (eg 2/3 of the plot is considered cultivated) etc.

I certainly didn't expect to have to excavate 10 years of buried rubbish on my plot before I could even make a start - that's before attacking the weeds!  I found a buried plastic bag of glass fiber the other day  :o how anyone could think this stuff would decompose is beyond me!

Anyhoo, back to the subject in hand... I will make the form less oppressive and remove the two items above.  Is there anything you think I might have missed?

[asbean]

Also the amount of work involved depends on what you grow.  With 2 1/2 plots now, we know that the "orchard" where the fruit trees and bushes are doesn't need as much attention as the beds where we grow the veg.

I think the FAQs is a good idea - our latest plot is on a site where we knew there was a rabbit problem, but in our first two weeks everyone we spoke to were complaining of mice, and fewer rabbits.  Also we found out that the water is turned off from October till March, nice to know in advance as we are putting the polytunnel up next weekend (weather permitting).

Maybe a welcome pack would be a good idea.  As experienced gardeners/allotmenteers we immediately took measurements, compass bearings, checked the soil condition (surface weeds only, well cultivated and lots of worms) and noted if it was on flat/sloping ground.  We were the lucky ones, the plot next to ours was in this condition three years ago - on Saturday they strimmed it sort of clear ready for the next occupants.  If a newby took that plot over they'd be daunted before they start.  So some sort of help/advice offered at the first stage would be good, maybe in the form of a leaflet.

All in all I think information given to the incoming allotmenteers is more important than finding out how much work they are planning on putting in.  One of my sons was the least committed when we took on the first, and didn't know the difference between a spade and a sieve, but he is now passionate about growing veg, and an expert on growing spuds.

[OllieC]

Just one wee point - when I carried out a survey on here, 75% of people had some kind of back problem...

http://www.allotments4all.co.uk/smf/index.php/topic,34263.0.html

It's possible that those with a bit of a "physical condition" need the kind of "gentle" (ha ha!) exercise you get from going at your own pace & are less likely to quit? Does the DDA apply to allotment groups? I'm sure you've checked but could imagine someone misinterpreting this question in these over pc days...

Good luck with it! It's so frustrating to see plots not put to good use.

[froglets]

Hi,  Do you have a set of rules drawn up for the site?  If you send that out with application forms & have a line on the form which points people to read the rules, point out that you do enforce them  ::)  and ask them to sign one box for the application & one to say they will abide by the rules, you may make people think a little about their committment.

I'm assuming the rules have something about having to cultivate the plot etc if left unattended, plot may be retrived by comittee & reallocated.  that sort of stuff.

[quizzical1]

If I had commited to putting in so many hours a week/month when I got my plot at the start of last October, I would not have been able to fulfill it, as 2 weeks after starting, I twisted my already arthritic knee, and have not even been back to work since. I have managed a few hours here and there on my better days(and with frequent doses of painkillers), and we did manage to get spuds, broadies, runners and french beans harvested along with onions shallots and garlic, and the leeks are still coming along fine. I would guess that in all I have probably not managed more than about 40 hours in the whole year, and half the plot is still to be cultivated.

[sarah]

i sometimes wonder wether it might be a good idea to offer people on the waiting list an 'apprenticeship' with a willing existing plotholder. this would give committees a good idea of commitment levels and also give prospective plotholders an idea of the work involved.  prbably not wholly practical but something like it would be very useful and would save a lot of people drowning when they jump in the deep end as it were.

as for the form snoozi, i think you have covered the relevent details really. i dont think you can get reliable info from much more.  regardless of experience or time commitments people will either make a go of it or they wont.  usually its only time will tell.

[manicscousers]

well, if we'd been asked about physical conditions, we would've had none, now, we have so many we would be a 'bad risk '.we just find different ways to do things,  :)
one of our new 'rules' is a 3 month temporary membership, after 3 months, both the newcomers and the allotment group can see how things are going, if they still want to carry on and, barring problems they may have had and told us about, they are given full membership,
communication is pushed, they only need to slip a word to someone about problems and we will understand, we've all had them , it's the not knowing if someone is going to bother that niggles  :)

[SnooziSuzi]

i sometimes wonder wether it might be a good idea to offer people on the waiting list an 'apprenticeship' with a willing existing plotholder.

Thanks for the feedback; this is an excellent suggestion and one I may sow the seeds of (excuse the pun) at the next open meeting!  ;D