I found this piece of news today, if any of your group are interested, this might be a nice way to meet other like-minded groups in the UK and make a name for your new chapter:

http://blog.okfn.org/2008/10/09/workshop-on-finding-and-re-using-open-scient...

I have a few contacts there that I might be able to introduce people to, if anybody is interested.

--Andrew Whitworth