Community group development
Community group development
Author
Introduction
The Covid-19 pandemic has increased the number of grassroots community projects and mutual aid groups all over the UK. These groups play a crucial role in civic life, tackling injustices and helping the community. In many cases, they are led by volunteers with lived experience of the issue they are addressing. However, being informally organised and with no legal status, they are often unable to access formal support or funding. This impedes their ability to grow and make an impact and the volunteer leaders, without access to further resources, can burn out.
2021 Award
Esther Foreman (CF 2013) founded The Social Change Nest CIC in 2020. It helps new and existing grassroots movements to secure funding and develop the infrastructure they need in order to grow and make an impact. In May 2020, she launched an Accountable service to ensure that community groups are held accountable to the communities they serve through the co-creation of administrative and governance systems. This makes the community groups more likely to be eligible for funding and other support.
She has been awarded one of our Activate grants to develop this service and support more volunteer-led community groups to grow into fully-fledged, sustainable projects creating long-term social impact. She will use the funding to ensure that the groups using the Accountable service respond to the evolving needs of the communities they serve, and additionally contribute to the governance of the service itself; to co-create a support package of toolkits and workshops that increase representation of people with lived experience in leading these groups and that provide communication and campaigning support; and to deliver a series of events with funders and community groups on civic engagement, to help the groups expand their reach and impact.
Esther's Churchill Fellowship to Australia, Canada and New Zealand explored how activists can use their personal experience to effect change.
2021 Award
Esther Foreman (CF 2013) founded The Social Change Nest CIC in 2020. It helps new and existing grassroots movements to secure funding and develop the infrastructure they need in order to grow and make an impact. In May 2020, she launched an Accountable service to ensure that community groups are held accountable to the communities they serve through the co-creation of administrative and governance systems. This makes the community groups more likely to be eligible for funding and other support.
She has been awarded one of our Activate grants to develop this service and support more volunteer-led community groups to grow into fully-fledged, sustainable projects creating long-term social impact. She will use the funding to ensure that the groups using the Accountable service respond to the evolving needs of the communities they serve, and additionally contribute to the governance of the service itself; to co-create a support package of toolkits and workshops that increase representation of people with lived experience in leading these groups and that provide communication and campaigning support; and to deliver a series of events with funders and community groups on civic engagement, to help the groups expand their reach and impact.
Esther's Churchill Fellowship to Australia, Canada and New Zealand explored how activists can use their personal experience to effect change.