Service Opportunity – Assembly Localities Project
National Spiritual Assembly
nsa@bahai.org.uk
21 March 2016
2 Bahá 173 B.E.
To all believers in the United Kingdom
Dearly loved Friends,
The National Spiritual Assembly would welcome expressions of interest from friends able to serve as the volunteer Coordinator of an ongoing project concerning Local Spiritual Assembly boundaries.
Clear definitions of local Assembly boundaries are essential, not least for the accuracy of the electoral roll. To be able to efficiently translate any address into its appropriate Assembly locality, there has to be an unambiguous definition of the electoral wards that make up every Assembly locality.
For most of the UK, the last major boundaries exercise took place around 15 years ago. Current local Assembly boundaries were established at Ridván 2001, with some refinements in subsequent years. To ensure that local Assembly boundaries are clearly defined and continually updated, the National Spiritual Assembly has decided to create a Master Register of UK Assembly localities, and to institute an annual exercise to review Assembly localities in the light of new boundary definitions being implemented by the independent electoral commissions in each region.
The National Spiritual Assembly would like to appoint a volunteer to lead this project. The volunteer will need a painstaking eye for detail – and an interest in geography may be helpful! The work can be undertaken remotely from home, and flexibly at times which would suit the volunteer. It will require familiarity with Excel, Word and email; and Skype if the work is to be undertaken remotely.
The first estimate is that there may be 40 days of work to complete the Master Register. There is no specific deadline for its completion though it would be helpful if it can be ready for late summer as it underpins the accuracy of the electoral roll for unit conventions in December. However, if the work is to be extended beyond this, that would be acceptable also.
Given the size of the task, it would be ideal if the volunteer were able to commit to a minimum period of service of two years. Expressions of interest would be welcome too from those able to offer shorter terms of service.
If you would like to learn more about this role, please contact the Coordinator of Services by email – services@bahai.org.uk – or by calling the National Office. Expressions of interest in this role should be sent to nsa@bahai.org.uk.
With loving Bahá’í greetings,
Patrick O’Mara
Secretary