Want to host something free, somewhere safe?

Hosting here is small. You do a thing you were going to do anyway, in a public place, at a set time, and you say others are welcome. That's it. No group to run, no numbers to hit, nobody to answer to.

Only post something you would happily do on your own.

Reading on a bench. Walking the dog. Knitting at the pergola. A slow run. If it only works with other people, it isn't a good first thing to host, because the first few times it will probably be just you.

Assume it is just you the first few times. That is normal, not failure.

Most new notices have nobody the first two or three times. The people who come later come because you kept turning up. Bellerive parkrun is hundreds of people on a Saturday now. Parkrun itself started with thirteen runners and a friend holding a stopwatch.

What makes a notice easy to walk up to

An exact spot. "The pergola near the playground", not "Kangaroo Bay". Nobody should wander around looking for a group.
An end time. It tells a nervous person that leaving is built in.
How to spot you. "Red jumper, big bag of wool." One line saves someone the worst ten seconds.
What the first five minutes look like. This is the part a first-timer reads twice. Say whether watching from a bench is fine, and how someone leaves without a fuss.
The same time each week. Things that happen at the same time each week get found. One-offs are fine too.

Before the first one

Before the first one, send it to one person you know. Then the first time is never truly solo. Every notice has a "Come with me" button that sends it to one person. Use it on yourself.

When someone new turns up

Say hello, give your name, and don't ask why they came.
Give them one easy thing to do, or make it clear that doing nothing is fine.
Say out loud that they can leave whenever they want.
If you notice they came alone, you don't need to mention it.

If you're happy to do those four things, tick the host's promise when you post. It shows on your notice as "says hello to newcomers", and it is the single most reassuring line on the board.

What protects you

Your notice shows a first name and how to spot you. Nothing else about you is visible to anyone.
Nobody can see how many people looked at your notice, and neither can you. There is no zero to stare at.
Nobody can message you. Everything happens at the place, in public, with other people around.
Notices can only be at public places on the Eastern Shore, in daylight or lit hours outdoors. You cannot be talked into somewhere private, and neither can anyone who comes.
If anything feels wrong, you can take your notice down in one tap, and every notice has a report link that a person reads.

Afterwards

We will never ask you whether anyone came. The only thing you can tell the board is a good thing: that a first-timer turned up. And when a one-off ends, your notices page asks one question: same time next week? One tap posts it again or makes it weekly.

Part of a community organisation?

Neighbourhood houses, sheds, clubs, services and faith groups can be verified and post their free, open things as official notices, with a link to their site.

Run a local business?

A café walk group, a knit night at the yarn shop, a chess table at the bookshop. Businesses can host too, under a pledge that keeps it free and free of pitches. In return they are named on one page, for as long as the fixture runs.

There's a one-page version of this to print for the fridge.

Start something Needs an Australian mobile, once. What we keep and why.