developing plans for the future
Over the last year the WWOOF UK Council and staff team have spent some time considering how we can develop WWOOF, both to better serve its members and promote organic growing and sustainable living. This led to a document; we rather grandly it call a ‘Strategic Plan’, partly put together by our Fundraiser Adam Cade. Adam also organised an online survey of hosts and WWOOFers, the results of which have also been fed into the plan.
Following a useful forum session on planning open to all at our September AGM in Dorset, it was agreed that we should make the Strategic Plan, as so far developed, available and seek the views of WWOOFers and hosts. A fuller summary of the Plan is available here www.wwoof.org.uk/news/strategic-plan1 and we’d welcome your comments, which can be submitted directly online.
In looking at the development of WWOOF over the next few years we’ve so far identified five key areas on which to focus. These are:
- recruiting more hosts, up to 150 within three years, to improve the WWOOFer to host ratio; also better supporting existing hosts through, e.g., the Regional Host Coordinators, by providing guidance, networking, etc.
- make WWOOF a household name so that ‘WWOOFing’ is more widely recognised; to make more use of social media and improved links with like-minded organisations
- promote more local WWOOFing by actively supporting hosts and WWOOFers to organise more events, group or individual, involving WWOOFers from the local area
- develop WWOOF’s educational role by providing online materials to prepare WWOOFers for WWOOFing and encouraging and developing hosts to provide informal learning opportunities for WWOOFers who want to learn about organic techniques or sustainable lifestyles
- communicate more effectively with members through social media, the website and the newsletter so we better understand the needs of members and can develop WWOOF UK accordingly
In addition to these five key aims there are some other areas we plan to develop. These are:
- engaging with and supporting the new international Federation of WWOOF Organisations (FoWO)
- encouraging more WWOOFers (and hosts) from under-represented groups, for example older WWOOFers or minority communities
- reviewing our plans annually to ensure they are up to date and meet the needs of members
- learning from the activity of ‘competitor’ organisations such as HelpX
The WWOOF Team would welcome feedback on the above or the wider Plan as it appears on the website. We hope to finalise the planning process and use it to build targets we can work towards over the next few years later this spring. Please email info@wwoof.org.uk
