Members of CHGN share the values of the
network and wish to give priority to community-based and faith-based approaches
to health and healthcare. There are three types of members:
·
Individual Members
·
Member Organisations
·
Associate Member Organisations
1)
Individual Members can -
·
Access to the community health knowledge base on
our web site.
This presents theoretical
and practical information about the whole breadth of community-based health
care. Individual health topics include a convener’s overview and personal
perspective, details of Network members’ experiences, related web sites,
guidelines, good practice, practical tips, the evidence base and practical
training resources. This adds up to a huge amount of relevant information, all
easily accessed under simple-to-find topics. We realize this is work in process
and there is much more information needing to be added to the site.
·
Benefit from being members of a growing family of
people who share values, interests and passions.
·
Receive our monthly e-newsletter.
These
give hot-off-the-press topical information and contributions from other
members.
·
Ask questions and contribute their opinions or
experiences.
This
can be done through our discussion
forums, topic pages and “Ask an Expert” (to seek responses to individual
queries).
·
Share how faith has enhanced their community health
practice and been of benefit and blessing to their community.
Individual
Membership is free for any interested health or development worker, but we hope
that members from resource-rich countries would be prepared to make a donation
of £20-100 (US$ 40-200) each year to support the costs of the Network. (Please
could
2)
Member Organisations
Member Organisations are community
health and development agencies – that are operational i.e. they conduct
programmes directly and provide services at the community level.
3)
Associate Member Organisations
Associate Members are organisations
that support community health in a wide range of ways – they may be networks,
academic institutions, information providers, or agencies that supply practical
services to community health programmes. They are not normally operational at
community level.
Any organisation that broadly agrees
with CHGN’s aims and objectives (See “about us” on CHGN’s home page) can apply
by email to become a Member Organisation or Associate Member Organisation.
Once such membership is agreed, the
organisation appoints an organisational representative who is given access to
upload and update the organisation’s information on CHGN’s web site.
Benefits
of being a member organisation or associate member organisation include:
·
Meeting training needs of staff.
As our
capacity develops, the Network will enable member and associate organisations
to access ‘hub projects’ (e.g. for exposure visits) and training consultants
(for on-site seminars) through which health staff can gain experiences, learn
new skills, and expand their vision.
·
Visibility.
Member
and associate organisations can present their projects and news in a simple to
edit own-page format within the Network’s web site. This will be very valuable
for smaller organisations without a website of their own
or who would like information about their programmes to be more widely known.
When individual members who belong to a member organization submit their
personal experiences of community health interventions, they will be searchable
on their organization’s web page. (Of course no organisation needs to have this
visibility if they prefer not to.)
·
Advertising for staff and volunteers.
Member
organisations can invite short-term student placements at their programmes
through the web site.
Member
organisations can post job adverts on the CHGN site.
·
Helping to shape the future of the Network.
Here
is an opportunity for a wide range of faith-based community health
organizations to work together for one another’s benefit – to the end that we
can see improved health on a global scale. Being a member lends an
organization’s name to the venture and gives the opportunity to take a lead in
forming it.
We urge Member Organisations to make
annual donations to assist covering the financial costs of CHGN. Payment is not
a condition for membership, but we suggest an annual payment of £20-100 (US$
40-200) according to the means of an organisation. See “Giving” menu item on
the top line of CHGN’s home page.
In the case of associate members we
would hope that any membership fees might be waived on both sides as we develop
a working partnership for mutual benefit.
As the Network grows and develops
through more individuals and organisations joining, we expect the value and
number of benefits to grow also.
November 2007