This week has seen the successful launch of a new association in our village. Le Royaume des Neuf Fiefs.
It’s aims are to animate and entertain the young people in our village including sports, cultural activities, education and leisure.
I applied online for the association at https://mdel.mon.service-public.fr/authenticated/gestion-association-auth.html and made a declaration which included details of our Statut, appointed benevole members (Presidente - Moi, Treasurer and a secretary) and the process verbal of our first meeting putting everything into place. We had to send off scanned copies of our justificatifs...passport, EDF bill, driving license etc too.
Associations in France are created under the law of 1st July 1901 and a decret of August 1901.
Once I'd applied on-line I was able to track the application online and received emails on its progress although it did fall into a black hole at one point. I called the sous prefecture in Beziers and they said they hadn't received it yet. I called back the next day and this time remembered to mention it was an online app...ahh Madame said...you should have said that...now how do we find those? Let me call you back.
Which she duly did she told me politely but authoritatively that she had amended my objet as I had included forbidden words...'cette association a objet pour' and Paris would reject it. I was supposed to omit that and just say Objet 'animer le village...' of course I accepted her changes graciously and was relieved she hadn't just rejected it. She told me it had been passed onto Paris.
Paris publishes all newly created associations in the Journal Official and so 3 weeks later on 25th June our new association was a legal entity in France.
Next job was to get a bank account. Easy - I applied online at La Banque Postale. Except that apply online means you fill out all the info, then someone phones you back to ask you for it all again. Then they send you all the forms out to sign and return, then it enters a black hole for several weeks whilst you anxiously wait for the account to open.
The association is funded through adhesions (membership payments) but mostly by subventions (grants) from the Mairie, CAF and fingers crossed the Conseil General. No funding can be given though until the association has a bank account and the all important RIB. So as La Rentree drew nearer and the account wasn't opened I had to order the items needed for the association and hope that the first subvention would be soon accorded.
In the last week in August I received the RIB and duly applied to the Mairie for the first subvention and to the CAF for the second. I met the Maire and some of his team last week and presented the project to him and on Thursday the Conseil Municipal voted unanimously to accord the subvention. Am I chuffed? Yes I am!
As well as introducing a fantastic parent/toddler group:
We also have introduced a variety of after school activities:
A gardening club
As well as an introduction to football, a sports club, a library club, young reporter and an arts/crafts club.
I know there are faults in the French language text but given it's not my first language and I've put most of it together myself I am pretty happy that the context has been well understood and I now have a friendly army of volunteers wanting to fix my French mistakes ;) so it's a good learning opportunity for me too.
Our activities kicked off successfully this week (despite the weather) and the next stage for the association is to secure further funding from the Conseil General which involves meeting the Maire of another nearby bigger village...one thing is for certain...my French is certainly going to improve!
So if you are thinking that your village is missing something...why not create an association and start something new? You will definitely meet new people, learn more French and have fun!