HELPING LOCAL PEOPLE DOEXTRAORDINARY THINGS.
James Hampson - Connecting Communities Co-ordinatorHelen Smith – Community Building Co-Ordinator
Lisa Brown – Community Builder
Forever Manchester Community Builder Team Training
Ground Rules• Have Fun• Keep an Open Mind• Be Positive but don’t be afraid to challenge• Get to know each other• Laugh • Don’t be afraid to ask questions and share your
thoughts if you have them• Tweeters!!
• @4EverManchester• @TPAction• #BeBoldTrafford
Aims for today
• Recap on Asset Based Community Development
• Reminder of Community Building Tools
• The Big Questions• Future planning• Team building
Introductions
• What brings you to todays session?• What do you hope to get out of the session?• What are you bringing to the session and
ongoing community building work?
Forever Manchester• Community Foundation for Greater Manchester• Been active for 25 Years• Raise and distribute funds to communities of
Greater Manchester• 2011 We discovered a different way of working• Developed the UK’s first dedicated ABCD
Community Building Team• Now apply the ethos of ABCD to all aspects of our
business including grant making• We work with Communities to help them do
“Extraordinary things together”
Classic Needs Map
Racial tension/hate crimes High crime rates. Significant fear among older people
High levels of Debt
Smoking relatedHeart diseaseRespiratory difficulties
Obesity across The life course
High levels of drug and Alcohol use.
High unemployment Poor educational attainment
Poor housing/environmental issues
High morbidity
Anti socialbehaviour
Gender inequality
Problems with this approach?
The consultation on the joint strategic needs assessment (JSNA) in Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria concluded that “improving self-worth is at the heart of issues related to healthy lifestyles. If people value themselves, then other behaviours like healthy eating and giving up smoking will follow. Whilst many communities recognise that their health is worse than the average, reinforcing these negative images could have a negative impact on people’s self-worth.”
• Apathy• “Its not for me”• Suspicion• Communities become passive recipients of services• Isolation• Creates Competition for funding• “Ugly Contest”
About Asset Based Community Development
• Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) Institute was founded in 1995 after 3 decades of community development research
• Formalised by Professor John McKnight and Professor Jodi Kretzman at Northwestern University, Chicago
“When people have been mapped by their deficiencies, it is often difficult to pinpoint what they care about enough to act upon” Kretzmann and McKnight, 1993
Asset Based Community Development
ABCD is a different way of thinking about how to work for change – starting from a place of possibilities, strengths and capacities as opposed to problems and deficiencies.
ABCD operates on the assumption that people, regardless of their behaviour, their families and their communities have valid and valuable resources for their own empowerment.
It also assumes that people have internal motivations to act which can release these resources for the good of themselves and their wider community.
About Asset Based Community Development
• This is not ‘Big Society’, or a call for more volunteering; it is a set of approaches that starts with the positive as a basis for developing innovative and sustainable solutions
• It’s not an approach that just looks on the bright side, but instead uses knowledge of ‘assets’ to make new connections and enhance social capital
• A strength-based approach focuses on what works and how to generate more of it, rather than focussing on the deficits and problems
About Asset Based Community Development
Community Builders should first seek to answer these 3 questions about their communities• What can the community do for themselves?• What can the community do with the help of
services/professionals?• What can only be done by
services/professionals
Principals of Community Building Start with discovering people’s strengths Start with relationship building Local led action is more durable and
sustainable than professional programmes Social justice is at the heart of every
community building effort When the conversation shifts from “isn’t it
awful” to “what’s possible?” Real community building begins
Classic Needs Map
Racial tension/hate crimes High crime rates. Significant fear among older people
High levels of Debt
Smoking relatedHeart diseaseRespiratory difficulties
Obesity across The life course
High levels of drug and Alcohol use.
High unemployment Poor educational attainment
Poor housing/environmental issues
High morbidity
Anti socialbehaviour
Gender inequality
Neighbourhood Asset Map
Physical Space
Local Economy
StoriesInstitutions
Associations
Individuals
My Community
InstitutionsSchools
Universities Community CollegesPolice Departments
HospitalsLibraries
Social Service AgenciesNot for Profits
MuseumsFire Brigades
MediaFoundations
IndividualsGifts, Skills, Knowledge,
and traits of:Youth
Older AdultsArtists
Welfare RecipientsPeople with disabilities
StudentsParents
EntrepreneursActivistsVeterans
Ex-offenders
Local EconomyFor-profit business
Consumer ExpenditureMerchants
Chamber of CommerceBusiness Associations
BanksCredit UnionsFoundations
Institutional - purchasing power and personnel Barter and Exchange
Micro-BusinessCorporations and Branches
Physical SpaceGardens
ParksPlaygroundsBike Paths
Walking PathsForest/forest Preserves
Picnic AreasCampsites
Fishing SpotsDuck Ponds
ZoosWildlife Centre
Natural HabitatsHousing
Vacant Land & BuildingsStreets
Associations
Animal Care GroupsAnti-Crime GroupsBusiness OrganisationsCharitable GroupsCultural groupsDisability GroupsEducation Groups Elderly Groups Environmental Groups Family Support Groups Health Advocacy Heritage Groups Hobby Groups Interest Groups Men’s Groups
Mentoring GroupsNeighbourhood GroupsPolitical OrganisationsRecreation GroupsReligious GroupsService ClubsSocial GroupsWomen’s GroupsYouth Groups
Stories From ManchesterAlt Community Challenge
Team
Lostock Men’s Shed
Cool 2 B Kind
Great Lever Idea Works
Lostock Allotment
The ALTernative News
Cash 4 Graft
From Needs to Strengths
What are Assets?
There are 5 key Assets in every community…1)Individuals2)Associations3)Institutions4)Physical Assets5)Connections
ABCD Methodology
Discovering Strengths
Organising & Mapping
Linking & Mobilising
Community led Initiatives
Sustaining the Process
Community Building Tools
• Asset Mapping• Bumping Spaces• Learning Conversations• Head, Heart and Hands• The We Can Game• Connectors Clubs• Creating Space
The Big Questions
• Spend time talking in your groups
• Share what Questions you may have
• As a table decide on 3 big questions you would like to explore
The Future• In your teams talk about how you can begin to
work together as community builders• Is there anything you want to do?• What are you going to do to move this forward?
– In the next 3 days– The next 3 weeks – The next 3 months