How to become a member
Any lawful resident of Five Ways, aged 16 or over, may become a member of the Co-operative. To do so you have to purchase a share, which costs just £1. This is a one-off payment, and will entitle you to membership privileges for as long as you live in the Five Ways area.
Only shareholding members are entitled to vote at our General Meetings. As our Management Committee is elected at the Annual General Meeting, this is the opportunity for ordinary Five Ways members to vote on who is to manage the co-operative for the ensuing year.
Of course being a member means that you yourself can stand for election to the Management Committee, or its subcommittees, and so share in reponsibility for managing our estate. We encourage all members to take an active part, and being on the management committee means you’re able to ensure that Five Ways does its very best for our community.
Why be on the committee? By Debbie Wells, Chair
Five Ways is a tenant management organisation and is only as great as the people who work for us and the contribution we make as residents to the management of the properties. The TMO always needs new members; there are people who have been involved in the organisation since before we took over management and people who have joined at various times in the last 30 years.
Each of us brings something unique to the committee in terms of our life experience, knowledge and skills. You may think that you have nothing to offer but you do! One of the things that those of us who have been on the committee long-term are most proud of is the opportunities that the committee has given to members to learn new skills: some of these skills are valuable in terms of enhancing a person’s employability skills; indeed some people are now working in Housing Management, others have gained experience and knowledge which has led to them becoming skilled in Human Resource Management, financial control or repairs and maintenance issues.
One of our original aims was that the TMO should give something back to the people who give their time to help to run the TMO. We who have been active in running the TMO have all learnt new skills which have benefited us in life generally as well by enabling us to communicate more effectively, to develop and present a reasoned argument and to have more confidence when speaking with authority figures such as politicians, police officers, and government officials.
On the committee we have the ability to mentor new individuals and to support people who may be less confident in communicating in a committee setting or with reading documents. We are all just local people and we have all been new to the committee at one time or another, so please don’t feel that you have nothing to contribute and nothing to gain. If you would like to speak to a committee member one to one just contact the office and it can be arranged. We look forward to working with you!