Community Support Delivery Group Workstream 1: Self-Help, Prevention & Community Resilience Community Capacity

Workstream 1: Self-Help, Prevention & Community Resilience – Community Capacity activities Asset Based Community Development Local Area Coordination Community volunteering Community ownership Slow burn, high impact

Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) Asset based working promotes wellbeing by building social capital, promoting face to face community networks & encouraging civic participation. High levels of social capital are correlated with positive health outcomes, wellbeing and resilience. A growing body of evidence shows that when we begin with a focus on what communities have (their assets) as opposed to what they don’t have (their needs) a community’s abilities in addressing its own needs increases. Action Our intention is to deliver a series of workshops around ABCD to clarify what it is and what it isn’t, Where it’s happening and how we build on it.

Local Area Coordination The LAC approach is designed to help people to stay strong rather than waiting for them to fall into crisis before intervening to fit them into services. Local Area coordinators work with individuals, families and local communities to build on and share assets and skills, capacities and passions to make local communities more welcoming and to value everyone’s contributions. A Local Area Coordination programme is already well underway in Derby and two new LACs are being recruited to start work in North Derbyshire. Actions To develop a shared approach across Southern Derbyshire. Coproduce a communications strategy. Develop a shared approach to monitoring and evaluation . Develop proposals for the expansion across Southern Derbyshire, based on best practice principles.

Community volunteering A significant volume of research exists assessing the health and social benefits of volunteering. There is good evidence that volunteering can have a positive impact on both the recipient and the volunteer themselves in terms of improved self-esteem, wellbeing and social engagement. Volunteering has the potential to play a number of important roles from creating community solutions that are more responsive to local needs through to helping people navigate the service. Actions To maximise the impact of formal volunteering opportunities across communities and partner organisations. Lead a dialogue around informal volunteering and how best to maximise the impact of this within communities. Deliver a series of workshops to clarify what it is and what it isn’t, Where it’s happening and how we build on it

Community ownership Within the context of this workstream community ownership has two distinct but linked focuses. Promoting and supporting activities that bring people together to focus on particular issues (e.g. building dementia friendly communities, Safe Places schemes, Winter Friends). Supporting geographic communities to take responsibility for the delivery of facilities and services vital to their communities. Legislation is in place that gives communities the right to bid to take over local state-run services and resources. Actions To work with key partners to build an understanding of community ownership in relation to the transformation agenda.

What next? Develop the working group – I am looking for colleagues who are willing to get involved. Delivery of workshops – We need to find out what is going on under these headings – What’s working and what isn’t. Report back – There is an expectation that the work group reports back to the delivery group in January. Within this report there will be recommendations for next steps. Get Involved? If you would like to get involved please feel free to make contact.

Contact details Neil Woodhead – Social Capital Development Manager, People Directorate neil.woodhead@derby.gov.uk @LACderby