New ways of building the party

By Kerry Feetham, Leicester Socialist Party Branch Chair.

As a relatively new party member who joined last summer, I became aware that our branch seemed a little sparse at meetings. As I got more involved, and got to know the regular comrade attendees, I realised that we had members who just found it difficult to attend an evening meeting. This is a problem for the party as a whole, but also in the fact that many members were left isolated, and disenfranchised, and this affected mainly women. Travel, child care, and night time meetings were real issues for our members.

Myself and Branch Secretary Helen Gadsby, got our heads together and dreamt up the monthly “Saturday Forum” with great support from our branch. This was to enable members who wanted to be involved, a voice, but in a more informal discussion group and setting. We have chosen typically a pub, but with child care provision from fellow comrades. So far this has been a great success, with lead offs from Becci Heagney and Steve Score including “How a socialist society would work” and “How to build a socialist society” – from theory to practice.

A simple idea has turned into a really useful forum for exchanging ideas, learning, and knowledge building in the branch. By making meetings more accessible, and considering the needs of comrades, we have a new sense of collectivism and vitality.