REM Report
Ripple Effect Mapping – coming soon
New research about the effectiveness of community building in supporting greater physical activity
We have been really lucky to work with Active Gloucestershire as part of “We Can Move”; testing out the ways in which community building can support an increase in physical activity. Active Gloucestershire provided funding for Community Builders in two Gloucester city wards (Barton and Tredworth, and Kingsholm) and commissioned the University of Bristol to co-evaluate this project over the course of 12 months (from July 2020 to July 2021).
People in these areas generously contributed their time to interviews and “Ripple Effect Mapping” sessions which looked at their experience and the connections that were made. There were people involved, two had never done anything like this and community activists who have been doing this for years. It was wonderful to see just how much activity is generated by working in this way and the energy and enthusiasm that people have for doing things together in communities.
We learned a lot about how community builders can best work with a range of residents who want to achieve things in the place where they live, how community building which starts without an agenda but is led by what people want to do for themselves can lead to multiple positive outcomes – including increased physical activity and how strong partnership working between a funder and grassroots community delivery can work well by building on the different strengths of each organisation.
We are looking forward to sharing a summary report soon and meeting with people in Barton and Tredworth and Kingsholm to discuss the results and where to go from here!