Community Development Foundation responds to findings of Independent Expert Panel

6 December 2010

Community Development Foundation responds to findings of Independent Expert Panel

The Chief Executive of The Community Development Foundation (CDF), Alison Seabrooke, has issued an open letter in response to the findings of an Independent Expert Panel on Community Development, which was launched today at the House of Commons.

The open letter is online at http://www.cdf.org.uk/

The letter is a call to the government, the voluntary and community sector and for communities themselves to prepare for the changes that are coming. We must recognise the depth of resource that there is out there– paid workers in voluntary and community sector, community organisers, activists, housing officers even simply our neighbours – all vital if communities are to flourish in the face of adversity.

The panel, which CDF helped to set up, gathered together some of the leading authorities on community issues. They considered the context, future role, and the support needs of communities who are facing a challenging mix of reduced funding and increased responsibility.

Alison Seabrooke highlighted some key findings that CDF will fully support, which include:
Learn from experience. The Big Society cannot just be about new activity. It must also be about learning from and building on what has and hasn’t worked in the past.

Evidence the impact of work with communities. Demonstrating the wide-ranging and far-reaching impact of work with communities, through compelling evidence, will only become more crucial in the current economic and political context.

Diversify funding. Community development must learn to diversify its sources and forms of support – for itself and the communities it seeks to help.

Alison Seabrooke said "The panel discussed the variety and richness of resources available to communities – the people, the knowledge and their local organisations. We at CDF are helping communities make sense of these. The economic situation will encourage us all to work more entrepreneurially, and although challenging, it gives us an opportunity to demonstrate the impact that our communities can and will have in the solutions".

Download

Alison Seabrooke's open letter to the government, the voluntary and community sector
http://www.cdf.org.uk/c/document_library/get_file?uuid=f6e325f0-c0e2-4df0-87c3-32b710f88416&groupId=10128

The report of CDF's Expert Panel on Community Development
http://www.cdf.org.uk/c/document_library/get_file?uuid=1840022a-90d3-4ef4-b14d-c3d7eef2ea85&groupId=10128

Notes:

CDF is the leader in community development strategy and delivery. Managing programmes that fund projects in our communities, CDF carries out research into what works, and uses that to improve policy and practice. The recent announcement on arms length bodies confirmed that CDF will cease to be a public body but will continue as a charity and will gain support from the government to move to a social enterprise model. CDF has a unique partnership with both government and those making change on the ground. CDF strengthens local voices, helps shape communities and changes lives. www.cdf.org.uk

The chair of the panel, John Benington, is Emeritus Professor at the Institute of Governance and Public Management at Warwick Business School, formerly worked in Coventry as part of the original Community Development Projects of the late 1960’s.

The panel members are drawn from a diverse range of organisations and individuals that all have knowledge of and insight into community development, social policy and more broadly into the issues that face local communities. They include:

John Low (Joseph Rowntree Foundation),
Professor Marj Mayo (Goldsmiths),
Professor Anne Power (London School of Economics),
Lorna Prescott (Chair, Community Development Exchange),
Jagwant Johal (Trustee, CDF),
Councillor Adele Morris (Southwark Council),
David Brindle (The Guardian),
Graham Parry (Groundwork Manchester).

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