CASE STUDIES
Examples of Community Power in Action...
1. BALL HILL COMMUNITY ACTION GROUPS
Destination Ball Hill - Local people taking action on the issues that matter to them
The people behind Destination Ball Hill are local residents, community leaders and business owners dedicated to improving their neighbourhood. They are working in 5 issue groups and are headed by a strategy core team. The teams are tackling various issues plaguing the area, ranging from litter, bank closures, lack of meeting spaces to environmental concerns.
At the heart of Destination Ball Hill's mission lies the desire to rebuild a sense of pride, foster community growth & co-create their area. With the support of Connecting For Good they have been embedding important community organising principles such as listening, building relationships, leadership development, collaboration and coalition into their work.
The Five Issue Groups
1. Environment Team: This group has been actively engaging in a range of activities aimed at making Ball Hill cleaner and greener. The team has been organising monthly litter picks, joined by residents, businesses and local Cllrs. They are also strategizing to clamp down on fly-tipping and to get residential & commercial bins of the pavement for both hygiene and access reasons.
2. The Creatives: In their pursuit of transforming Ball Hill into an outdoor art gallery, The Creatives have been developing the "Love Ball Hill Campaign." Through artistic expression they want to shine a light on the people who are the heartbeats of this popular high street. Their aim is to infuse the area with vibrancy and creativity, fostering a greater sense of pride among residents.
3. Business Network: The Ball Hill Business Network wants to make the area a better, cleaner, safer and more attractive place for businesses, customers and residents. Recognising the importance of a thriving local economy & wanting to give back to Ball Hill the Business Network is championing initiatives such as the banking hub campaign and advocating for increased security and free parking.
4. Community Hub Team: With a focus on collaboration and community engagement, the Community Hub Team is exploring potential partnerships to set up a physical meeting space as well as working towards establishing an online presence for Destination Ball Hill. They want to build a welcoming meeting space to raise the profile of the area, give back to the community, offer a space for services, information, engagement & meeting as well as signposting existing opportunities.
5. Air Pollution Team: Armed with data and insights, the Air Pollution Team is tackling air quality issues head-on. Through partnerships with researchers from the University of Warwick & Stoke Primary school they monitored air quality and asked the residents about their perception, concerns and solutions. Their data reflected the voices of hundreds of Ball Hill-ians of all ages. They shared this data with experts at their Citizens’ Jury and later presented their findings & recommendations at an Citizens’ Assembly. The outcome of the assembly were recommendations for a people powered Green Space & Transport Plan. Since then the team has been following up on the recommendations with various departments of the City Council. Their first aim is to add urban green spaces as well as instating a walking bus for the school by redesigning their parking lot.
Get involved with Destination Ball Hill
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Check out their socials
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2. COLLABORATION STATION
Vicky, Collaboration Station core team
Get involved with Collaboration Station
1. Email Laura if you have an idea that you want to bring to Collaboration Station or if you would like to find out about how you can use your time and skills to support the growth of Collaboration Station
2. Follow along on Facebook for the latest updates
3. Read the Collaboration Station blog posts
4. Come along! Register for a FREE ticket
2. CREATIVE KINDNESS
Chris Reid
The Creative Kindness seeds were planted at the beginning of February 2019. There were 5 of us at the start. After going to a Connecting For Good gathering we hosted a Ideas Factory to hear people’s ideas about how we could tackle loneliness and isolation in our own ways
We knew we wanted to bring people together so that they could have others to talk to….to improve their day. We thought that creativity and kindness was a way to do this. We decided that we could make simple things out of paper, such as bookmarks, we could add positive messages on there and leave them in places where people can find them. We felt we had a win-win situation!
Never in a month of Sundays did we believe any of us were community leaders!
Growth
The group didn’t begin really to build its membership until we moved to Central Library in May 2019. Being in the middle of the library we were noticed more, we could invite people to join us, have a cuppa and if they felt comfortable then to join in with the activity.
As Creative Kindness Central became larger we decided to move into other areas of the city to enable us to reach more people, Linda began our first satellite group 2 weeks before lockdown.
Since then, we have started another 5 - Tile Hill being the most recent. We have launched CK Families which runs in the school holidays. We also run a group for senior school children. Having a strong core team has helped us to grow
Partnerships
We have take part in pop up events across the City. Peace Orchard, Coventry University, Christmas Workshops /Interviews with CWR, Litten Tree Showrooms Art Space, Friends of the Memorial Park and In Paint We Trust to name just a few.
We have networked with various Community Groups and Projects: Fab Lab, the 10,000 Stars for Peace which is part of a Global Initiative, Coventry Banners (Herbert Art Gallery), Hope Punk and Grapevine.
Peace Orchard displayed our wonderful Wooden tree (designed by Mark, made by Astley’s)
Food for thought
Valuing the role of community groups
Creative Kindness feel it would be extremely helpful to community groups if city leaders could create a paid position where groups could be helped with funding applications and the admin needed to keep going. This would enable leaders and volunteers to concentrate on working with the groups that they so obviously have a passion for.
Applying for funds is hard work and takes up a lot of time, time that could be spent connecting and creating
How has your experience with Connecting For Good shaped your leadership journey ?
The team at Connecting For Good has been coaching and supporting us from day one. They believed we could do this they helped us to build a core team. Supported us to develop connections with others to strengthen our mission.
We have accessed different training sessions - from Changemaker University, public narrative sessions to helping us run online zoom sessions during lockdown.
They are still supporting us today.
If you have an idea or passion about tackling loneliness or isolation…talk to them.
Get involved with Creative Kindness
1. Email us to find out about the latest groups/ joining the team
2. Follow along on Facebook/Instagram for the latest updates
3. Support the 10000 Stars for Coventry Campaign
3. RECONNECTION TOUR
LOCAL PEOPLE CONTRIBUTING TO NATIONAL CONVERSATIONS
The #ReconnectionTour was a partnership between several community organisations and Engage Britain, looking to shine a light on stories of isolation and disconnection, and celebrate the power of community and reconnection in making a difference to people's lives. Connecting For Good were asked to host the final stop of the tour
On July 2nd 2022 more than 90 people showed up despite the rain to celebrate incredible local stories of connection, mutual support and people power.
The Coventry tour stop was hosted by local Connecting for Good change makers.
Outcomes
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To give local Change makers a platform to showcase their organising/initiatives and build their support base/core teams
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To demonstrate that local people can and will take action on the things they care about
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Engage with those in positional power and secure their presence on the day and a follow up
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Longer term aim: widening our ecosystem, building collaborative capacity and shifting power
The Reconnection Tour has allowed for community groups and charities across the country opportunity to share their insights. This now feeds into national work on how communities and politicians best work together, grow stronger and make lasting change;
- Enabling ordinary people to directly influence government policy;
- Tackling the cost of living crisis in our communities;
- Helping community organisations and volunteers survive then thrive;
- Building community and shaping our local places together.
Following on from the tour, Ashley from Resting Spaces joined Fee and Sian to attend the Reconnection Summit in Manchester