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Community Beacons of Brighton – Sue

Tantrum's Sue Mechen showing off some of the dance outfits.

Tantrum and Mini-Tantrum are a community dance group for young women in the Queen’s Park and Craven Vale area. The group performs full-length dances in a range of styles – from contemporary to hip hop and they practice at The Edge Community Centre every week.

Our Community Development workers Amy and Claire put forward Tantrum project leader Sue Mechen as one of our Community Beacons of Brighton for the wonderful work she does making the group happen. Sue facilitates Tantrum and set it up 4 years ago after recognising a need in the area. “I decided to do it at a point in my life when I needed a focus and wanted to do something for local kids.” She told us. “The boys had a football team and there was nothing for the girls to do, so one day when I was volunteering up at the food bank I told people about this idea I’d had. One of the people there was a professional dance teacher who said it would be impossible. That just made me want to do it even more so I told myself ‘yep, I’m going to do this’.”

Four years on the project is a great success, with both groups performing regularly at community events across the city. Tantrum started out as one group then split into two when the project leaders recognised the need for different age groups to represent the different capabilities.

A key difference between Tantrum and other dance groups in the city is that all the sessions are led and all the decisions are made by the children themselves – with the adults helping them out when needed. And the cost. Members are asked to pay £1 a session if they can afford it and the subs collected are saved up and used to cover the costs of trips in the school holidays – this summer Mini-Tantrum have decided to go to the cinema and then Mcdonalds afterwards and the older girls will take a trip to the funfair on Brighton Pier.

Sue is proud of the impact the club has had on the members “We wanted to get the kids together to do something in the community and parents around here can’t afford £5/6 for a dance session. We didn’t think that was fair so we keep the subs low so that anyone can join. Tantrum might not be performing at a professional level but it gives everyone the chance to dance and perform on the stage. It might not be an even playing field but we want to show that we’re just as good as anybody else.”

There are currently 11 members of mini-Tantrum and 9 members of Tantrum but with some members leaving to concentrate on their GCSE’s next September there will be space for new members. Sue says “We try to keep it to a maximum of 12 otherwise it can get a bit messy – so sometimes there’s a bit of a wait to get in. The kids come mostly from Queen’s Park, Craven Vale, Moulsecoomb, Whitehawk and Coldean with a few from a bit further afield. People find us through word of mouth – and we won’t say no to anyone who would like to join”.

Project leader Sue also fulfils the role of treasurer and works in collaboration with Secretary Emma and Chairperson Kerry. They are a constituted group and make any necessary decisions together. The grown-ups are adamant that the children make all the important decisions though, from the music and routines through to the costumes they wear. “I let the kids run the club themselves. The adults initially came up with the rules and we oversee everything, but apart from that we just let them get on with it. That’s why it works –and it’s still going strong 4 years later.”

She does however sometimes have to step in “I do always keep an ear out for risqué lyrics – I have to make sure the words are suitable for 10 year olds. Recently we had to swap an Ed Sheeran number for an instrumental version as we thought the lyrics were a bit inappropriate” Sue told us.

Sue is grateful for the support she receives from TDC Community Development workers Claire Burchell and Amy Allison. “If it wasn’t for Claire and Amy Tantrum wouldn’t exist. They helped me find ways to do it, starting with an initial meeting to talk about what we needed to do. They’ve done so much and if I get in a bit of a pickle they always help. They’ve sent me on courses, helped with funding and any worries I have I’ve gone to them and they’ve been great. They’re the most amazing people – both of them, and they’re always there when we need them.” Claire and Amy have helped Tantrum secure funding from organisations such as the Healthy Neighbourhood Fund and The East Brighton Trust which has helped towards new uniforms, an iPod and a new amplifier. Next thing on the list is a computer for the group.

Tantrum have performed at events all over the city – they’ve danced at the Brighton Centre in December for the annual Dance Active event since it started and always get involved in the Take Part festival at The Level and the Due East Festival in Whitehawk. They recently performed at community pub The Bevy at a party to celebrate East Brighton Trust awarding half a million pounds to community groups in the area. Sue tells us “We’re very active in performing in the community and this is great for the kids. One girl was so shy before, and now has so much confidence – her mum told me it’s all down to the dance group.”

She adds “We never get paid for what we do and are always happy to perform for community events so it’s always nice when we are treated to refreshments – it makes the kids feel valued.” And making sure the members feel looked after is key to how Tantrum works – “It’s important to make all the members feel special. Everyone gets a cake on their birthday and I give them a choice of two – either a strawberry and cream Victoria sponge or a chocolate sponge. And a card is presented to them by the rest of the group. It makes everyone feel special. We’ve been running for 4 years now – so I’ve made a lot of cakes!”

When asked about their hopes for the future, the group have their hearts’ set on one particular event. They are keen to perform at the Let’s Dance show at Brighton Dome next year – a prestigious annual dance show organised and managed by Dorothy Stringer School which sees young people from all over the city perform to a huge audience. “The girls love performing and to be on stage at the Dome would be a dream come true.”

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Tantrum is for young people aged 11 – 16 and takes place on Tuesdays 5-7pm at The Edge Community Centre. Mini-Tantrum is for ages 6-10 and is on a Wednesday 5-6.15pm. There are spaces for girls and boys to join both Tantrum and Mini-Tantrum from September, so if you know someone in the area, do get in touch.

In the meantime, check out the group on facebook where you can see a collection of videos of past routines and head to the Tantrum website to find out where they’re performing next.

Chinese Elders – Dementia Session

By Sue Sayers, TDC Senior Community Participation & Development Worker.

As part of the ongoing work for the Dementia Action Alliance, I was delighted to present a Dementia friends Awareness session to the Brighton Chinese Elders Group last Friday the 27^th July. PC Tang was there to interpret to a group of 20 Chinese men and women who were all keen to increase their understanding of dementia and how it impacts those who are living with it.

One interesting question was posed by the audience – do you still dream when you have dementia? If you do not dream does it mean you have dementia? That’s something for me to find out the answers!

At the end of the session all the participants agreed to become Dementia friends and received their forget-me-not pin badge – agreeing to tell others what they had heard in the session – thus joining the 2 million people across the UK who have joined this social movement lead by the Alzheimer’s Society.

For more information go to https://www.dementiafriends.org.uk/ or contact Sue Sayers on 07412 709 310 or [email protected] if you would like me to deliver a Dementia Friends awareness session to your community group or organisation, or in your neighbourhood.

Tarner Festival 2017

On Saturday 15^th July, TDC teamed up with Tarner Community Project and Audio Active to put on the 2017 Tarner Festival at Tarner Park.

With a live music stage hosted by Kustom Vibes, lots of stalls serving delicious food and plenty of activities for local people to take part in, the festival was a great success.

Local MP Russell Lloyd-Moyle popped by to say hello and this fantastic mural was created during the day by local young people! There was also a pop-up bar, face painting and dressing up, plenty of arts and craft activities plus some exotic animals for local children to meet. Thanks to everyone who came, got involved and helped make the event so much fun.

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Protect Youth Services campaigners win Star of the Year award

Congratulations to our Star of the Year winners Protect Youth Services. Photograph by Sam Stephenson for The Argus

On Sunday 2nd July, finalists of the Argus Youth In Action awards gathered at the American Express Community Stadium in Falmer for the annual awards ceremony – a fantastic event which saw our region’s children and young people celebrated and lauded for their incredible achievements.

Over the past few months, nominations have poured in from all over Brighton & Hove for each of the 12 categories – applauding young people and their leaders who have inspired and supported other people in their communities.

This year’s awards saw the Trust for Developing Communities co-sponsor the event with our business partner, the British Airways i360. A speech was given to the room by Adam Muirhead, TDC Projects Manager for work with young people, and Sean Watkins, Head of Marketing at the BA i360 who spoke about our work across the city. Following that, Adam and Sean jointly presented the ‘Star of the Year’ award which we are incredibly proud to say went to the #ProtectYouthServices campaign group – a group of teenagers who managed to prevent hundreds of thousands of pounds from being cut from youth services in this year’s Council budget. When Brighton and Hove city council announced an 80 per cent cut in funding to youth services last November the group mobilised to take action – demonstrating, lobbying councillors and collecting over 2,000 signatures for a petition demanding the cuts be prevented. Their impassioned campaigning meant that the proposed cuts of 80% were drastically reduced to a much less painful 15%.

Adam said of the award “Having been on this journey with these amazing young people this capped an incredible evening for us. Thank you so much to the Argus and to BA i360 for making it all possible.”

And talking to The Argus, Tilly Wilson,17, one of the young people involved in the campaign said: “It’s great to know that with all the stuff that we did we got somewhere and reduced the cuts.
“It involved great teamwork to make this campaign as effective as possible and put youth services at the forefront of people’s minds.”

Well done to the Protect Youth Services campaigners and to all the other extremely deserving winners of this year’s Youth in Action awards. What a fantastic way to celebrate all the wonderful young people doing things to make our city a better place.

NHS Health Checks outreach

In May 2015, we were very lucky to have Peter Sutcliffe join team TDC as local outreach co-ordinator for the citywide community health checks project. Peter’s role was to raise awareness amongst 40-74 year olds of their entitlement to a free 20 minute health check every 5 years – helping to assess their degree of risk of developing a range of illnesses.

Through the relationships Peter slowly built with Practice Managers over the course of his contract, he convinced more than one surgery which had previously never offered NHS Health Checks to start offering them (to the point of being some of the most prolific in the city). He also identified that the traditional letter invitation was not working to get people to attend NHS Health Checks and persuaded surgeries to try out a range of methods such as phoning, texting, targeting leaflet drops and setting up pre-arranged appointments to see what would motivate people to attend.

With the end of the project Peter has now moved on to pastures new. But before he left, we asked him to tell us what the project involved, the impact it made, and describes some of the challenges in encouraging people to take ownership of their own health.

“Virtually the first member of the public I offered an NHS health check to – at a street event – stared at me in a surprised, offended and slightly angry way and said ‘Why would I want a health check, I’m a vegan.’ I guessed then that it wasn’t going to be a simple job.

NHS health checks is a national screening programme for the over-40’s that is trying to prevent cardio-vascular disease (diabetes, heart problems, etc.) by testing people’s cholesterol, blood pressure, BMI and offering advice on lifestyle, diet, exercise and so on. Unfortunately, the numbers taking the check aren’t high, particularly in less affluent areas: so Public Health contracted TDC to try to get greater take-up, particularly in those areas, and I’ve spent the last 22 months fulfilling this commission.

Initially I thought my job would be coordinating resource taken out to different parts of the City but it soon became clear that the cost of nurses working in community centres was prohibitive and therefore limited – most of the checks had to be done in GP surgeries. So the work has consisted of organising odd days of checks in Moulsecoomb, Whitehawk, Hangleton, Craven Vale, etc.; but mainly trying to get into all the surgeries in the City to persuade them to prioritise checks over the thousands of other things they have to do; and convincing people to go and get checked. At both ends it’s been a bit of a struggle: if you’ve ever tried to either arrange a meeting with a practice manager or persuade a smoker to get some advice about giving up, you’ll know what I mean.

On the other hand, I’ve spoken to thousands of people around the City, at events, knocking on their doors, over the phone and that’s been fascinating, sometimes successful, sometimes frustrating – trying to talk about health checks to fans outside the Amex stadium before a match, in the driving rain, was a funny highlight.

With regard to health, I’ve learnt that people want very simple, straightforward communications – except when they don’t. Then they want much more detail. Similarly, people like someone to show an interest in them except that they often don’t like to be bothered.

Encouraging behavioural change often comes with great difficulties and despite reaching great numbers of people, the project never quite reached a tipping point – the point at which momentum took over and people were requesting healthchecks without any prompting.

Obstacles within our public health system certainly played a part in this – closing surgeries, difficulties in recruiting and retaining staff, the huge pressures to deliver on so many targets… My perception is that attitudes are changing slowly as people accept they need to be more informed about, and responsible for, their own health. And surgeries are accepting that they need to do more, and be proactive in inviting patients in.

Saying all this – and it’s important to be honest about the challenges in a project like this – I can think of dozens of people that I spoke to and organised a check for, who benefitted from their check. And if a single person avoided a serious illness because of my work, it has been worthwhile.”

If you’d like to find out more about the NHS health check programme – call your GP! And ask your surgery why you haven’t been invited for a health check! (Unless you’re under 40 or over 74 and already being treated for a cardo-vascular disease, in which case you don’t need one). Or perhaps even join your local Patient Participation Group and offer to help your practice manager to get everyone in your neighbourhood in for a check…

Bevendean Health Day

On the 31st of May Bevendean celebrated Health Day . The event was hosted by Action for Bevendean Community, and coordinated by the local TDC community development worker, Sayanti Banerjee. All the community groups funded by the Healthy Neighbourhood Fund demonstrated their work at the event and it was wonderful to so many residents joining in with the celebration.

The Mayor of Brighton & Hove attended the event and local residents and community groups were pleased to be able to present their work to the Mayor and Council Officers Sam Warren and Michelle Pooley. Service providers from across the city participated – promoting their services in Bevendean neighbourhood. The groups included Carers Centre, Active for Life, Sew Fabulous, Bike for Life, The Bridge, LGBT HIP, the local Pharmacy and Neighbourhood Care Scheme.

The community groups engaged with residents and used this opportunity to recruit new members and volunteers and the residents got a chance to hear about the great work going on in the neighbourhood to promote healthy living. The Bevendean Food Bank provided tea/coffee and refreshments. with the Friends of Farm Green providing a healthy snack for each attendee. Friends of Farm Green also organised a mobile zoo in the park that began straight after the Health Day – an opportunity for families with children to engage with community events over school holidays.

Thank you to everyone who took part in making the health day such a success!

Celebrating 50 years of Moulsecoomb’s 67 Centre

Last week we marked the 50^th birthday of Moulsecoomb’s 67 Centre with a big birthday bash to celebrate the centre, the good times that’ve been had there and all the friendships it has inspired. Built in 1967, the 67 Centre is a Youth Centre with a programme of activities and where young people can access advice and information.

It was wonderful to see so many familiar faces at the party, and great fun to see people checking out the hundreds of archive photos that we’d collected to see if they could spot themselves and their friends!

Party guests enjoyed table tennis, table football, snooker and pool as well as the chance to play a selection of retro video games, whilst TDC volunteer Jordan provided music on the decks. Drinks were provided by a pop-up bar from community pub The Bevy plus we all enjoyed fish and chips as well as a selection of classic sweets. Community costume resource Gladrags brought along their pop-up costume booth for us all to try on some fabulous and quite silly outfits!

The Moulsecoomb Treasures breakdancing crew threw some impressive shapes on the dance floor then held a breakdance lesson in which they taught everyone else some moves too! TDC’s project manager and Youth Team lead Adam Muirhead talked about the difference the 67 Centre had made in the community and prominent guests Councillor Mo Marsh, Mayor of Brighton & Hove and Jenny Jones, Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb – who is originally from the area – both spoke of the impact of the club on young people’s lives.

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Thanks to all who came along to help us celebrate half a century and to everyone who has helped make the 67 Centre what it is over the years.

Community Beacons of Brighton – Jordan

This month’s Community Beacon of Brighton is a familiar face – you’ll recognise Jordan from the June page of our TDC calendar.

It’s Volunteers’ Week this week, a chance to celebrate the people who generously donate their time to make a difference to others. TDC volunteers make an invaluable contribution to the work we do across the city, bringing added value to our services through their skills and time. Last year we supported 391 volunteers to work alongside our workers and in neighbourhoods, delivering over 6,799 hours per week between them.

Jordan, one of our youth volunteers, has already committed hundreds of hours to Moulsecoomb and Bevendean communities and is an associate member of our Board.

He also recently mixed a fantastic DJ set at the bash we held to celebrate the 50th birthday of the 67 Centre. Here is a snap of him behind the decks.

When we asked Jordan what he loved most about our city he told us “Brighton and Hove is such a lovely place, filled with such a calm atmosphere and such caring people. There are a wide variety of options that you can do and see around the area – it’s filled with so many different attractions old and new.”

And about the hours he spends helping out in his community, Jordan explained “I volunteer mainly because I want to go out of my own way to help others. I get many different types of experience from it and I enjoy it massively – I have learnt lots of different things with the places I volunteer at. Volunteering is a big thing to me and not only does it make an impact on the people I am helping but it also makes a huge impact on myself.”

We also asked him about the difference he thinks youth work makes to young people. He said “The main difference is the outcome of the young people. When youth work happens around them they change immediately. Young people are mainly now getting in to all sorts of trouble and youth work has improved this massively.”

So this Volunteers’ Week – we extend a huge thank you to Jordan and to all our volunteers for everything you do to make our city of Brighton & Hove the wonderful place that it is.

Community Beacons of Brighton – Stan

There are people all over our city doing great things for the benefit of others. At TDC we like to celebrate these people as our “Community Beacons of Brighton.” TDC development worker Sue Sayers got in touch to tell us about one such person, Stan, who works tirelessly with a number of local charities and organisations, helping them in many different ways. We caught up with Stan to ask him about some of the work he does.

So where to begin with Stan’s community involvement…? Well, he’s a public governor of Sussex Foundation NHS Trust, is trustee of Possability People and supports local charity Cruse Bereavement Care plus local dementia and diabetes charities. He’s a part of the Expert Patient Programme based at Brighton General Hospital and has recently been elected as chair for his local PPG (Patient Participation Group) network. And as well as all this he’s a school governor and gives talks at Brighton University (Brighton & Eastbourne Campuses) focussing on living with diabetes and other long-term health conditions.

When we asked Stan why he’s involved in so many local groups his answer was simple “I do all this because I care“.

He elaborates, “Brighton is a wonderful city, I feel proud of it and of all the people working hard on behalf of others. The organisations I support are honest, straightforward and above all, they care too. Charities are making a wonderful effort but are facing many difficulties at the moment.”

Stan hopes that charities will collaborate and connect more in the future for the benefit of everyone. He says “everything is connected, we all have to work together and progress things together. It’s about finding common ground. My ambition is to connect everything together – it’s the only way forward”.

With so many things going on, Stan spends a lot of time working with others. He told us “I’m a people person – people always come up and speak to me. And I’m always at the end of the phone so they know how to reach me if they need to”.

But how does Stan fit everything in? He chuckles, “I have to keep on top of my diary to keep up with everything”.

It was such a pleasure for us to catch up with Stan and find out about the impact he is making on groups all over the city. And when we asked him if he has any thoughts on how he keeps up this level of community activity he offered us this advice “You mustn’t be negative in anything you do, it makes for a much happier future if you take that approach”.

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The UK Care Guide offers a great resource with advice and an infographic on coping with bereavement. Find the article on their website – Dealing with Bereavement – 21 Important things to Consider.

TDC Supports Unity Statement

Brighton and Hove Stands Up to Racism!

TDC has joined dozens of other organisations to sign Brighton & Hove Stands Up To Racism‘s Unity Statement in support of their stance against racism.

The group was set up following the reported increase in racially motivated attacks after the Brexit vote, when a number of organisations in B&H made a joint statement standing up to racism.

A new statement has recently been released in light of the general election, specifically saying:

‘We stand against all attempts to use the general election to divide us on the grounds of ethnicity, race and religion.’

TDC are proud to have signed the statement and would encourage other organisations to do so. Here is the statement in full:

Unity Statement 18th April 2017 – for signature and circulation

Across the USA, Europe, the UK and Brighton & Hove, racism is growing.

Donald Trump’s election campaign and the EU Referendum debate involved relentless racist rhetoric that denigrated refugees, migrants and Muslims. We have seen the appalling murder of MP Jo Cox – labelled a ‘traitor’ because of her support for refugees – and the recent vicious attack on Reker Ahmed, a 17-year-old refugee, and his friends.

Racism is on the increase around the UK. The city of Brighton and Hove is not immune.

In Brighton & Hove there was a 2.5-fold increase in racist and religiously motivated hate crime in 2015–16, compared with 2013–14. ( Strategic Assessment of Crime and Community Safety 2016 – Brighton & Hove City Council and Community Safety Team)

We already know from our ‘unity stalls’ and organising meetings that people are being racially abused and assaulted. This is happening on our streets and in central Brighton. There is usually a group of perpetrators and they are most likely to be unknown to the person abused. The person abused is left feeling vulnerable, anxious and depressed.

With the announcement of a ‘snap’ general election on 8th June there is the serious prospect of a further rise in racism. Hate crimes soared by 41% following last year’s EU Referendum, and much of the toxic scapegoating that fuelled this rise now threatens to dominate the general election.

We stand against all attempts to use the general election to divide us on the grounds of ethnicity, race and religion.

We oppose Islamophobia, anti-Semitism and the scapegoating of refugees and migrants.

Migrants are not responsible for the NHS or housing crisis. They play an indispensable role in society and public services. Refugees have fled from war and terror and we welcome them. Diversity and multi-culturalism are our strength and we will not tolerate racism!

We have a long tradition of anti-racist and anti-fascist organisation and activity in Brighton & Hove. We recently set up a local branch of Stand Up To Racism (SUTR) – a national campaign launched in October 2016 that is supported by many leading political figures, trade unions, student unions and community groups – see http://www.standuptoracism.org.uk/about/

Our aim is to support refugees, migrants and ethnic minority groups and to give confidence to anti-racists. By taking the anti-racist message into workplaces, schools and colleges, and on to the streets, we counter racism and isolate those who would use it to divide us. We hope to create the broadest campaign possible so that we can make a difference.

We encourage all anti-racists to join us, work with us and sign this Unity Statement.

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Please email [email protected] to add your name / organisation

We will issue a media release listing all the signatures on 18th May.

We are organising a pre-election ‘Question Time’ panel event on 20th May 14.30–16.00 at the Synergy Centre, 78 West Street, Brighton, BN1 2RA

Thank you for your support

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For links to useful contacts who can help in reporting hate crimes please go to – Reporting Hate Crimes Can Make A Difference.

Working in C-ODE – our community development course

At TDC we are committed to the delivery of good quality community development work and in respect of this, we provide a range of training programmes, such as our popular “Working in C-ODE” course.

C-ODE stands for Community – Organisations, Development and Engagement – it is for anyone working in communities and results in an accredited level 2 or 3 Certificate in Community Development.

Participants of the ‘Working in C-ODE’ course develop practical and analytical skills enabling them to work with a range of communities. They gain an understanding of community development values and purpose, working within community groups. Many participants have found it a stepping stone into employment.

The 2016/2017 intake is made up of a diverse group of individuals all involved in community development work in some way. We spoke to participant Helen Clarke to find out about what the course entails, why she decided to learn about Working in C-ODE and how she has found it so far.

We asked Helen a few questions…

Which community projects are you involved with?
For several years I have been involved in community groups in Hollingbury based at The Old Boat Corner Community Centre. I have been Chair and more lately Treasurer for Together (the charity behind Carden Tots) and in the past year I have become more involved in the Community Centre as a whole and work with a small team to promote the Centre.
In more recent years I have coordinated the Hollingbury Healthy Neighbourhood Fund on behalf of the TDC, by pulling together a panel of local residents to ensure funding is allocated to local groups and that the funding criteria are met.
I continue to support the Lunch Club at the Old Boat by giving them encouragement. I am a parent helper with Preston Park Youth Cycle Club and have in the past been a committee member at Dorothy Stringer PreSchool.

Community development Training Brighton. Working in C-ODE course — Helen (second from right) sharing information at a Community Buildings Network meet-up hosted by TDC

What made you want to join the C-ODE course?
I wanted to do the course to gain a recent qualification and to learn more about the practice of Community Development. I have been out of full-time employment for 10 years now as I have been raising a family. Throughout that time I have been involved in several community groups and this felt like a good route for me to take. Training Co-ordinator Kaye Duerdoth explained to me that the course would enable me to be more confident about community development practices I was already doing, but didn’t realise I was doing.
I hope that the qualification will aid me in finding employment in September once my youngest starts school.

What form of teaching does the course incorporate?

The teaching style of the course is varied. Tutors Helen and Kaye take in turns to teach sessions and share assessment of the assignments (which is all online). There is a wealth of knowledge provided through the online Moodle system, as well as the chance to chat with other students/tutors through the Forum. The classroom is informal, with ground rules set by the group on the first session. Helen and Kaye use various methods to engage with the group and to encourage participation; group skills work, small group discussions, big group activities, lots of flip chart group work etc. There is very little formal lecturing. They are both available to chat at any time either by email or phone and are both very approachable.
Prior to the course we were all given a questionnaire asking about our different learning styles, ie reading, listening, watching etc. the course was then tailored to best meet the needs of everyone.
We are also encouraged to learn from each other and to share our experiences weekly, in small groups, by reflecting on our community practice from the previous week.
There are a number of written assignments, each around 1,500 words – with one due approximately every 5 weeks. All the information required for these assignments is provided. Learning to fit this in around everyday life can be challenging and is something that should be taken into consideration before signing up. It is possible, however good time management is useful.

What benefits are you getting from the C-ODE course?
The course is a huge benefit. I enjoy going and have learnt about the Community Development Process and Values and Principles and that these should be present in everything I do. Not only does it provide me with the opportunity to do something for myself after so many years of caring for young children, but it is giving me the confidence to know that I am capable. I have also made new friends and we all learn from each other and give each other encouragement.

Who would you recommend the C-ODE course to?
I would recommend this course to anyone who is already involved in community practice in one way or another. You do not need to be a paid employee (although some people are), you might be a volunteer, committee member, a campaigner, a community centre employee, a youth volunteer – whatever you are doing, this course is relevant to you.
One thing that was very apparent from the beginning was how relaxed the whole group seemed to be. It was a welcoming, easy atmosphere and we all seemed to be able to speak openly with each other from day one. I am sure some of us will stay in touch after the course has finished.

Read more about TDC’s C-ODE course here and if you are interested in taking part in a future course please register your interest by emailing [email protected].

Consulting with diverse communities on health & wellbeing services

The Trust for Developing Communities (TDC) is one of several community organisations commissioned by Brighton and Hove Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and the NHS to consult with diverse communities of identity on topics relating to their experience of health and wellbeing services. The aim of this work is to alert government health services to the needs of diverse groups of people within our city, with recommendations made at the end of each consultation on how both organisations and communities can improve access to services. TDC, due to our work with BME communities, is one organisation very well placed to consult with the individuals the commission was looking to gather feedback from.

On 15^th March Jane Lodge, Head of Participation and Voluntary Sector Partnerships for Brighton and Hove Clinical Commissioning Group, brought all of these voluntary sector organisations together at the Ralli Hall in Hove, along with their CEOs and commissioners, to celebrate the achievements of the past two years. Each organisation gave a short presentation to inform the audience about the successes and findings of the consultation work, highlighting areas of change and improvement to NHS services which have come about as a result.

Every quarter throughout this consultation period, the CCG rolled out health related topics to the organisations involved. TDC then consulted with BME communities to gather their feedback on subjects such as healthy eating, active lifestyles and access to GP services. Sayanti and Sabiha, two of our BME workers, identified the BME respondents through previous group work, partnership work, referrals and through visiting local community centres and events. Over 30 BME groups were consulted and through engagement the workers supported the groups with other development needs as well. In addition to the CCG suggested topics, organisations were also invited to consult on an issue of their choosing – with TDC focusing on domestic violence.

Members of the Moulsecoomb Bangladeshi Women’s Groups outside St George’s hall

Some of the positive comments about participating in the consultation included: ‘We feel valued and being able to influence the decisions concerning healthcare’ And ‘Community and Voluntary sector organisations have an important role in bringing about changes in attitudes – they are more accessible’.

As well as providing reports to the CCG and NHS, the process also helped TDC’s community development workers raise awareness about community and voluntary sector and statutory organisations and helped signpost people to other relevant services. The consultation has given an opportunity to bridge the gaps between services and communities, encouraging cultural exchange and social cohesion.

The consultation has resulted in many positive changes – building better links between communities, improved signage at the hospital, and an increased sense of communities feeling valued.

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Find out more about TDC’s Equalities and Inclusion work with diverse communities.

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