1. STAR Communities First
Gemma Hicks,
Deputy Cluster Manager
Community Involvement in STAR
June 2015

2. STAR Cluster was formed in March 2013
It brought together three existing CF areas:
Splott and Tremorfa
Adamsdown
Roath (Plasnewydd ward)
Very ethnically diverse

3. Community structures were different in each area
Splott & Tremorfa: a formal Local CF Partnership Group (LPG) using three thirds principle
Adamsdown: a community forum set up prior to CF; engaged with CF but independent and responsible for drawing down community funds
Plasnewydd had a local residents group with a small membership

4. What did we do? All groups were consulted over cluster structures:
Drop in sessions
Online surveys
Joint discussions
Initial preference was for:
Groups to remain independent; but have a small board
Community members to be engaged in decision making through informal and formal mechanisms
Local presence - hot desk arrangements in Tremorfa and Plasnewydd; office bases in Adamsdown and Splott
Commitment to information through newsletters, social networking
and – massive; gives us greater reach
Commitment to community events encouraging community spirit (our Local Heroes award)

5. What happened next? (1)
Adamsdown Forum met less and less; eventually folded
The Splott LPG continued to meet and decided to develop an informal Splott/Tremorfa Action Group to focus on local action and developing community initiatives
The Plasnewydd Forum was less developed and continues to work independently of CF although they are supported regularly by CF to develop projects
No formal cluster-wide structures at all

6. What happened next? (2)
Lack of involvement in formal cluster-wide structures; but numerous ways of being involved:
Street reps
Volunteering
Via links with community groups and community services
Links with public agencies via Cardiff’s Neighbourhood Partnerships

7. 2013/14 Community Involvement Plan
First of our three CIPs
Mainly focused on branding, community engagement through events, celebrations etc,
Setting-up local presence, attending existing LPG’s, forums etc

8. 2014/15 Community Involvement Plan
Team grew
Continued to engage with the old forums, other community members, via social media
Specific Community Involvement projects began to emerge; these have been added to the Learning and Prosperity elements of the Delivery Plan:
Street Reps and Community Ambassadors (Community Voices project ) features in Learning
Street Reps (Community Volunteering project) features in Prosperity
Timebanking featured in Prosperity
Community Recognition was added to Learning

9. Young Ambassadors Work with Children’s Commissioner
Contribute to policy
Plan own activities/provision
Young activists

10. Street Reps A group of over 60 people
Very much led by the community members
Activities have included:
Event Planning
Lobbying
Campaigns and awareness raising
Street Parties
Signposting local people to other CF initiatives e.g., work club, Jobs Growth Wales placements
Developing own projects independently of CF e.g., Lego club, Splott Scrimpers

11. Timebanking Community not keen at first
Rolled-out in advance of the pilot being completed – very popular!
Range of activities for earning and spending time credits
Young and old
Links with
Prosperity
Cardiff – first
Timebanking city?

12. 2015 -16 Community Involvement Plan
Independence of CF -

13. 2015 -16 Community Involvement Plan
Independence of CF -

14. 2015 -16 Community Involvement Plan
Independence of CF -

15. Monitoring of CI projects with RBA
Effort #
4 newsletters per year
50 weekly social media updates
6 external awareness raising events
Quality Measures
# homes receiving newsletter
# contacts through social media
# of people signing up for further information
Impact - Who's better off #
# newsletter recipients who become engaged
# social media recipients who become engaged
Impact - Who's better off %
% newsletter recipients who become engaged
% social media recipients who become engaged
Awareness
Effort #
# of drop in and engagement opportunities
# of people engaged
Quality Measures
# of attendees from target groups
Impact #
# attendees who become participants
Impact %
% attendees who become participants
Engagement
Effort #
# participants
# of projects led by community members
Quality Measures
# participants rating the support as good or excellent
# of attendees from target groups
Impact #
# participants/attendees who feel more able to contribute directly to local service delivery
# participants/attendees who feel more able to influence decisions/ local services
# participants involved in delivery of local services
Impact %
% participants/attendees who feel more able to contribute directly to local service delivery
% participants/attendees who feel more able to influence decisions/ local services
% participants involved in delivery of local services.
Co-delivery

16. The Community Involvement Plan continues to evolve....
To reflect changing need and community feedback projects have changed slightly; new projects for 2015/16:
Youth Voices (includes Young Ambassadors, youth fora and councils)
Timebanking continues
Community-based Volunteering (including street reps, digital champions and much more)
(These projects continue to monitored in the Delivery Plan)

17. Any queries?
If you have any questions contact us at STAR Communities First on: –
@STARcomms1st
splott.communitiesfirst