A New Way of Working
A moving movement.
Someone asked me the other day, ‘ who do you work with at the collective?, is it just residents?’. My answer to them was simple. “We’ll work with anyone who is open for change”.
Yes, one of our main focuses we work on is the ‘direct community building’ with residents, neighbours, community groups but equally for me, influencing system change has to be a component we can’t ignore or shy away from.
It has been refreshing to be part of wider movement of people/ organisations across the country recently, that are open for change, and want to operate more in a strength-based way of working.
One such local organisation has been Gloucestershire Police. They are very much committed to working with local residents to help them lead change in their community. Whilst the Police have a responsibility for enforcement, they also see the value of their role in building the capacity of the community, as this, for example, helps everyone feel safer in their streets or gives ownership back to the residents.
We are working with Lou and Hayden from the Neighbourhood Policing Team through workshops/ training to help develop the understanding of asset based community development and the practical outworkings that are needed. We have seen this then enables the vital process of discovering the interests and passions of local residents to mobilise their involvement in their neighbourhood. Systems change at it’s heart.
This relationship follows a 2 year ‘Test and Learn’ project with Barnwood Trust, where 3 Officers spent time learning about the Community Building approach. Following this, the Gloucester Community Building Collective is now partnering with the Gloucester Neighbourhood Policing team to encourage them to apply the principles to their roles in the community, so Lou, Hayden and others can go on and share their learning with colleagues.
We see the opportunities though training/ workshops/ partnerships with the big and the small organisations as not a barrier but has a vital cog in the wheel of strength-based working. We know that system change can be unpredictable and long term in a quick fix culture but that drives us on. What we have seen is, the more people we influence through relationships, workshops, training and working better together, the more likely people are willing to be open for change and be part of the wider movement of like-minded people who want to see all people use their gifts, passions and skills wherever they are.
As someone said recently, “The power of community building relies on the contribution of many to a shared purpose”, this is not just true for residents but importantly for wider system-change that we are seeing through our forming partnerships.
Are we willing to move together in this direction and commit to reaching others beyond ourselves? Are we willing to release some control and see positive change happen?
Lets make the change together, are you up for it?
We ARE!