☂ Umbrella Chapter Handbook

The idea

What a Chapter is.

A small local team running Umbrella where they live: a school, a campus, or a whole city.

Every Chapter is run by people who live there. At minimum you need:

The floor

The seven requirements.

This is the whole list. Meet these and you're a Chapter in good standing.

1. Hold at least one meeting each month.In person or online. Just keep the group connected.
2. Run one awareness campaign each semester.Anything from the Ideas Library counts, as long as it reaches people.
3. Stay in contact with one counselor or youth organization.Someone you can point a person to when it goes past peer support.
4. Promote Umbrella & Haven responsibly.Be honest about what this is. We're peer support and we aren't a crisis line.
5. Follow the moderation & safeguarding guidelines.These ones aren't negotiable. They're the reason anyone trusts us.
6. Report concerns to the national team.If something feels off or someone's at risk, tell us. You don't handle it alone.
7. Complete an annual review.A short check-in, once a year, on how your Chapter is doing.

That's it. Seven things.

The ceiling

The Ideas Library.

Past the seven, how you run your Chapter is up to you. Steal from this list, and add your own.

This is a starting point. If you come up with something that helps people feel less alone, that is an Umbrella idea. Try it, tell us how it went, and we'll add the ones that worked here for every other Chapter.

Getting started

Opening your Chapter.

1. Fill out the Chapter application. About ten minutes.
2. Complete the safety & peer-support training we send you.
3. Find a couple of co-leads and a handful of volunteers.
4. Hold your first meeting and pick your first campaign from the Ideas Library.
5. Connect with one local counsellor or youth org. Then you're official.