The Rock Blog

Obviously all higher education branches are located within a constituency and most will have ‘links’ to a close association. The type of help the local association gives differs from money and rooms to nothing at all!

To improve membership retention, it is vital that we create a link between the branch and the association so that members have somewhere to go when they leave higher education and ‘Student Life’. This will involve the Area Chairman needing to make contact the local associations and finding out what help can be given.

At UCL, we send CF members an email when they leave with information about the local association and how to get involved. To often, graduates fall into a vacuum once they leave university and that is both a weakness of CF and the Party. We need to improve communication and engagement with the wider Conservative body.

Alumni clubs and events are often a good way to form bonds local associations with the student body, particularly if the alumni stay in the local area! Often at university level, the step up to association level is not appealing as more often than not association members tend to be on the ‘maturer’ side! Familiar faces are always helpful when approaching a different organisation.

Finally, it is also important that we build a stronger sense of purpose and identity for CF so we don’t suffer from a drain of talent and experience. We need to offer more appealing events to members, address their social needs and choose more relevant locations and functions for the local membership. We should be building a network of friends and contacts within CF and enjoy our time as the present Future!