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This page will help you in your understanding of community development, show you resources if you are trying to set up or develop a community group and has resources to improve your personal skills in community development

This page will be updated as new resources for community development come to light. Please use the 'post a comment' facility on this page to give feedback.

What is Community Development
Community Development work involves working with communities to:
* Identify their strengths, needs, rights and responsibilities
* Plan, organize and take action
* Assess the effect of any actions taken
It also involves working with agencies to increase their capacity to understand and work with communities.

Click on these links for further definitions on community development
Community Development Xchange
Community Development Foundation

Click here to download the CEHI Factsheet on Community Development

Examples of working in the community
These examples illustrate the differences and similarities between community consultation, engagement, involvement or participation, capacity building and community development.

Community Consultation
* Fit Families Evaluation Download file
* Door knocking exercise Download file
* Needs assessment of Black, Minority and Ethnic Groups Download file
* Vision 2030 Consultation Download file
* Operation Goldfinch Download file

Community Participation and Engagement

Community Capacity Building
* Health Trainers Download file
* Breast Feeding Friendly Download file
* Gateshead Visually Impaired Forum Download file

Community Development
* Supported lunch club Download file
* Birtley Villas lunch club Download file
* Gateshead Deaf Forum Download file
* Swalwell’s Little Angels Download file
* Gateshead Visually Impaired Forum Download file

Resources to help set up or develop community groups
Support for community groups and voluntary organisations : www.gvoc.org.uk
Gateshead Voluntary Organisations Council (GVOC) provides advice, information and training to voluntary and community groups in Gateshead on a range of issues including funding, constitutions, finances and legal charitable structures. It also promotes volunteering and community involvement in local strategic planning.
Click here for where to go for help at GVOC

Support for Social Enterprises : http://www.gateshead.gov.uk/
Gateshead Economic Development Service (Gateshead Council) can help you with all aspects of setting-up a social enterprise from initial friendly advice on choosing the right idea, to expert guidance on legal matters, training, funding and marketing.

Resources to develop personal skills in community development
The core competencies for community development are outlined in the National Occupational Standards. Matching your strengths and weaknesses to the standards would be a useful start to identifying what your learning and training needs are. Click here for the National Occupational Standards for Community Development.

Local resources
Gateshead Community Network can assist with community consultation and offers access to a wide variety of community and voluntary sector groups via its membership. Click here for more information

National Resources
SKiLD
Federation for Community Development Learning
Community Development Foundation

Work books
Developing Healthier Communities A course book which can be used for self study

Please follow the link to Gateshead Community Network for more information and contacts on local community development

The fact sheet for Community Development has recently been updated. Please click below to download the revised fact sheet.

Download fact sheet

This section of CEHI contains details of Plan Do Study Act cycles that have been carried out to improve service delivery in Gateshead. What is a Plan Do Study Act cycle? Read on...

Download a blank form that will guide you through the Prioritise Plan Do Study Act (PPDSA) process. Complete the boxes to create a record of the project. The record of your actions then forms the basis for the Study and Act phases of the model.

Download a Prioritise Plan Do Study Act blank form.

The Highfield Healthy Communities Collaborative and the local Children's Centre teams jointly organised an event on the theme of an Italian Restaurant. The event was targetted towards parents of young children with the aim of encouraging them to try healthy pasta-based recipes.

The Blaydon Healthy Communities Collaborative team organised a "Breakfast Challenge" event at the Blaydon Centre in November 2006 using the "Plan Do Study Act" or PDSA cycle. This event invited people to taste and compare a traditional fried breakfast with a healthy breakfast including grilled bacon and steamed mushrooms.

Download a report on the event which uses a standard form based on the PDSA cycle

Sexual Health Awareness Week (12th to 18th February)
No Smoking Day (14th March)
Breastfeeding Awareness Week (13th to 19th May)
Cancer Prevention - Fruity Friday (25th May)
Heart Health Week (2nd to 10th June)
Immunisation Awareness Week (10th to 16th September)
World Mental Health Day (10th October)
Alcohol Awareness Week (10th to 16th December)

These health promotion campaigns will be promoted across the borough of Gateshead in 2007. To register to receive an awareness pack of resources please complete the attached Campaign Resources form.

Download campaigns and dates (PDF 70KB)
Download campaign resources order form (Word 30KB)

Gateshead PCT's Health Promotion Resource Service have recently launched a new look for their website at www.ghpresources.nhs.uk. The resources team provide up to date resources and information to support the delivery of health promotion programmes and campaigns across Gateshead.

Read more about the work of the team in their newsletter or telephone 0191 433 5684.

The Healthy Communities Collaborative seeks to bring improvement in the health of local people, increase partnership working, build social capital and develop an awareness of the potential for community action. In 2002, five teams were established, each based in a specific village or local area of Gateshead. Initially, the focus of the teams’ work was “Preventing Falls in Older People� and the teams comprised older residents, carers and health, social care and voluntary sector staff. Subsequently, three further teams have been added and a second topic, “Improving Access to a Healthy and Affordable diet�, working across all age groups, has been included.

Local government is rediscovering its responsibilities for public health. Article by Andrew Cozens on IDeA Knowledge web site
http://www.idea-knowledge.gov.uk/idk/core/page.do?pageId=5444991

Baby bites, a wishing well garden, a breast feeding directory, a men’s health group – just a taster of over fifty community development activities revealed in the Gateshead 2006 community development census.

The census collates community development work undertaken in more than twenty different statutory and voluntary groups. How developed is your community?

Out Now
A census of community development activities in Gateshead 2006: A report for Gateshead Public Health Partnership by Jackie Gray, Consultant in Public Health Medicine, Public Health Directorate, Gateshead PCT, September 2006

Download Report (Word:73KB)
Download results of community development census (Excel:69KB)