Running an association

Associations are a big part of French life. There are associations for everything; gymnastics, judo, painting, learning English. It is even possible to set up an association to test a business idea without the risk of setting up an actual business. In essence associations are clubs, however, as with all aspects of French life the government had to get involved, and in 1901 a law was passed governing the activity of associations. Basically, a commitee of volunteers runs the association, this commitee must be made up of at least a treasurer, a president and a secretary. An AGM must be held once a year and accounts must be kept. The association can then employ people if necessary.
As an English speaker and teacher, I was asked to teach in our local language association. Set up some 20 years ago by an Irish woman living in our village, the association offers English and Spanish classes to children and adults. Unfortunately, membership had dropped off in recent years and my wife and I became determined to try and re- dynamise it. It transpired that the commitee was made up of friends who were more or less voluntary, and in reality the Irish founder did most of the secretarial, tresorial and presidential work. As she is also an employee of the association this is frowned on by the powers that be. So we set about reorganising the committee, a pupil's mother became President, my wife took over as treasurer and another friend became secretary. The next issue to tackle was the falling membership.
We had only discovered the association four years after arriving in the village, and when we spoke to people about it they were surprised to learn of its existence. We felt, therefore, that a campaign of information was necessary. We put up notices around the village, and to create a reason for these notices we opened an English library and an informal club for those whose English was good enough not to need lessons.
The launch of the association year is in September when the schools go back, the famous French 'rentrée'. Each village holds its 'Forum d'associations', where associations present themselves to potential members. This year ours was held in the brand new 'salle de spectacle'. There were hundreds of associations, and stories of dirty dealings abounded. Apparently the year before there had been rival Yoga associations who had shifted signs in a bid to have a stand closer to the entrance. This wasn't really a concern for us being the only language association in the town. However, being seen was a priority and we decorated our stand with posters and flags. The event lasts all day and it is amazing how busy it is. We were surprised, and a bit disappointed, to see that most people had their target already well prepared. The sports associations are very popular and quickly fill up. We had our loyal clients and managed to capture some new ones. We had leafleted the local area a few weeks before to try and inform the maximum number of people possible.
Our success was mixed we have been able to create three groups for children in English and the club seems to be popular. However, the library has been slow and we were unable to create an adult group. We are crossing our fingers for 2010 hoping that the new clients will tell their friends and the association can gain some momentum.