Ripple Effect Mapping - Reflections a year on
Active Gloucestershire commissioned an evaluation[1][2] of their partnership with us which ran from August 2020 to August 2021, looking at how we might take “a strengths-based, place-based approach in communities to increase physical activity.
What does that actually mean? Well, it does not mean putting on physical activity events or classes for people or only talking to people about exercise, it means starting with people and what can be done by them, speaking to them, listening and discovering what they enjoy doing, or would like to do, and the things they care about. There is no agenda just whatever it is that matters to them and is fun. It involves encouraging people to think about what they are good at - what they can do for themselves or for others, not telling them what they are doing wrong or need to improve.
We try to look with the people who live there at what their neighbourhood already has to offer, what they love about it and what would they like to see improve rather than presenting them with endless statistics about what is wrong.
Two of our community builders were funded by Active Gloucestershire to go into two neighbourhoods in Gloucester, with the aim of building connections that, in turn, would help to build increased physical activity.
We have examples of increased physical activity, new groups and people connecting with their neighbours, some of which were captured in the report. It was great to see the ripple effect of small connections leading to even more connections and activities.
The study also highlighted some interesting findings gathered from meetings with residents in each of the two places.
Impact on Physical Activity
If we work with people to find out what they are good at and what they are interested in, we can encourage greater physical activity as people get out and about more.
Individuals’ own solutions or preferences for getting active are likely to be different than if we had designed solutions for them
Working with a “specialist” network such as Active Gloucestershire meant we were able to increase the understanding of what is available for the area to become more active but also meant Active Gloucestershire saw new and different ways in which they might support people become more physically active
People need nice spaces that feel safe to get out and about and this is often what they are most interested in creating in their community
What we learned about ourselves as an organisation
This study was conducted in the very early stages of the company’s existence. GCBC started in December 2019 and was rapidly faced with the restrictions of lockdown making it difficult for community builders to find their feet. There was a lot of community activity very much focussed on the immediate crisis. However, residents of the area identified some key “ingredients” of community building that had been important to them:
encouragement, connection, better community consultation, access to funding, hope for a brighter future
The study also, quite rightly noted that much of the work tended to be about small-scale connections with individuals which was valuable. However, more could be achieved if community builders had worked better with more experienced community organisers and organisations in these areas who know their area and have a wealth of experience which we need to hear and value.
The partnership with Active Gloucestershire – We Can Move
Despite the differences in our organisations, our starting point was a real overlap in our vision and mission.
Often, we are required to demonstrate how we made something happen on our own, claiming the success (and future funding!) for ourselves. We learned that partnering up with other organisations is essential for this work bringing our different skills and contributions and aligning our aims through our values – in this case working with people’s strengths.
Addressing issues such as increased physical activity means looking at a range of complex interlocking issues with lots of agencies and people in communities each having part of the solution. Collaborating is key and there is a future in seeking funding and support for such collaborations.
This leads onto another key point. Working out our impact cannot be based simply on counting things or attributing success to one organisation in this environment. It is hard to isolate the contribution of one organisation or individual. We need a mixture of measures and the feedback of people who live there is the most important.
What will we do differently as a result of this study?
We are already learning from this work:
We try to spend more time getting to know what is already going on, who is already making things happen in a place and understand where they think we can add value to a place,
When we go into new areas, we spend time building a coalition of the willing – people in the community but also the police, schools, local community organisations, the Council, NHS because we know we do not have all the answers or all the resources that can support this work. (Young people are vital in community approaches)
We are thinking constantly about sustainability and how we can build relationships and trust for the future rather than carrying out one-off project and leaving.
We are developing and will be testing new ways of assessing our impact, including our version of ripple effect mapping but also working with the communities to get their assessment of what has happened and learning together what works
We know that we are not the only ones trying to work in a strengths-based way and it is difficult for all of us not to try to impose our ideas on communities or individuals, so we have joined with others to learn more from each other as part of a Community of practice.
We continue to learn and adapt. We are grateful to ARC West (nihr.ac.uk) for their independent view and for the detail with which they collated information from residents about our work and we are really pleased that Active Gloucestershire continues to support us and to be part of learning together.