A Southerly Aspect
fresh perspectiveArchive for southern uplands
building effective capacity
Last week South Lanarkshire Rural Partnership held their annual Communities Conference. For some unknown reason, I was asked to facilitate a workshop on ‘Community Capacity Building’, this being one of the themes of their new Leader programme. Aside from feeling I didn’t make a very good job of facilitating the workshop (It was our local panto the week before and I’d been treading the boards for four nights on the trot. That, coupled with a stinker of a cold was the major factor affecting my lack of effectiveness!), it really got me thinking. Just what is this ‘community capacity building’ that we keep talking about? And how can we ensure that it’s effective? Skinner (Strengthening Communities, 2006) defines it as ‘Activities, resources and support that strengthen the skills, abilities and confidence of people and community groups to take effective action and leading roles in the development of communities’ For me, the success of community capacity building lies in the way the activities, resources and support are delivered. Training courses, seminars and workshops all have their place, but surely there’s nothing better than getting stuck in and having a go!
In Douglas, we’ve been having some cracking meetings recently with a group of people who are keen to develop a former coal yard site in the centre of our village. The group has been meeting now since around September of last year. The site in question is owned by the local estate and the group would like it to become something of a focal point for our community, triggering the regeneration of the village. From a ‘Communities on the Edge’ perspective, it’s exactly the kind of thing we’re all about!There are about ten local enthusiasts involved at the moment.
We’ve lost and gained a few others along the way, but a pretty distinct core has emerged over the last few months. I think it’s important never to underestimate the message that an open door sends out. It’s too easy to get lost in the enormity of a project like this, and perceptions of a clique or ‘closed shop’ can develop quickly in a small community. So continually checking in with local people, offering them opportunities to contribute and encouraging participation is a really important part of the process.
The group made the pretty huge step of agreeing to formally constitute in order to take the project to the next stage just last week. It may not sound like a big deal, but it means lots. It means that for the first time the group will have a formal identity, and members of that group will be committing time, energy and very probably some sleepless nights over a number of years before any building work starts!
The next stage in the process is about feasibility. It’s a term that makes everyone sigh with boredom, but it’s a really important stage in the development process. We’ve been supporting people to become really familiar with the ins and out’s of it all and as a result they understand and appreciate the need for this next stage. It’ll be an interesting and challenging time. But I’m pretty excited! So yes, making progress, obvious progress, but there’s also the less obvious stuff like the change I can see in the individuals involved. They’ve learnt so much about so many things in the past few months (a relatively short time!) and it’s a privilege to have been a part of that. It’s most certainly been about getting stuck in and having a go. Skills and knowledge has been amassed through a learning experience which has been tough, exciting and fun. As well as the skills and knowledge which has been collectively accrued, the group has become stronger and more resilient, ready for the next challenge which no doubt awaits!
Surely this is effective community capacity building?
for one night only…
Tomorrow night, as a one off, I’ll be appearing as a barman at a fund raiser for our local community centre! No fancy cocktails, but service with a smile guaranteed!
On a more serious note, it’s an essential effort to raise a wee bit of cash for our financially unstable village hall. We’re not alone in our predicament – last week I had the privilege of being able to attend Scotland’s first ‘Village Halls Summit’ in Aviemore which was a tremendous gathering of people from all over Scotland who had come to raise and talk about their issues and concerns, to celebrate the massive part that these vital meeting spaces play in the lives of the community and to try to develop a way forward for the often vulnerable groups of people who are brave enough to take responsibility for their local halls.
With keynote addresses from Richard Lochhead and appearances from many of the funders who support village halls, it was a pretty high profile occasion. Look out for a full report of the event at http://www.scvo.org.uk/VillageHalls
In the meantime, I’m off to pick up the bevvy!
my name’s john, and i’m a community animator
If there’s one thing that’s stirred up more conversation than anything else in the past year since I took up my post with the Southern Uplands Partnership as a ‘Community Animator’, it would have to be my title!
‘One who gives new spirit and life to’* was not a phrase which featured in my job description, nor do I claim to live up to that awesome task, but it’s a phrase to which I return often in an attempt to reassess myself and my role in the light of progress.
In that year I’ve also managed to coin my own phraseology, which I think describes the work that I do. I ‘animate local people into action’, if you like, stir up activism and try to help communities to discover and realise their potential. However, my work with the Communities on the Edge project has been every bit as much about a process of self discovery and personal growth than anything else, and I look forward to reflecting on my journey with you in the coming months.
For those who are unfamiliar with the COTE project, you can find out more here.
‘Awareness’ has been a key theme for me recently. Self-awareness, the awareness of others around me, peoples varying perceptions and misconceptions. I’ve also become aware of the way I see the community in which I live and have begun to understand the way others view that same community. It’s been a hugely rewarding and challenging time. The challenge, I suppose, lies in the question ‘So what do I do with this new awareness?’
I’ve always been a firm believer in a positive attitude. It’s such a productive energy and can overcome the most daunting of hurdles. And when that’s combined with a passion for place, an appreciation of all that is good about a community, the results can be overwhelming. I recently had the privilege of visiting The CatStrand, a community facility in New Galloway created by the people of the Glenkens Community and Arts Trust. Their magnificent building is a living, breathing space, which is testimony to the hard work, enthusiasm and positive energy of one small community.
Back home in Douglas, South Lanarkshire, Communities on the Edge promotes an asset based approach to rural community development. It’s a process, which challenges traditional needs-based models of rural development, but it also challenges communities to appreciate the uniqueness and diversity of their own place. It’s a process which resists getting caught up in identifying needs and creating wish lists, but emphasises the good things about an area around which people can come together to develop ways in which to build on the assets in order to sustain and enhance them for future generations.
More and more, I see my job as enabling local people to see their communities in a different light, in an alternative way. The transformational effect that different ways of looking at things can have has impacted on me greatly over the past year. It’s now my turn to help others have that opportunity.
Perhaps ‘one who gives new spirit and life to’ isn’t so far off the mark after all . . .
*Anne Hope and Sally Timmel, ‘Training for Transformation’, ITDG, 1984
