The first stage was buying in some Facilitation Skills training which was to include training in the use of a technique called guided visualisation. The training course was targeted at community activists, volunteers and staff of voluntary sector and public sector agencies who work with in the community. Attendees of the training were expected to use their new skills to deliver workshops in the community which would engage a range of groups in developing a vision for the Borough, or their neighbourhood or community in 2020.

 

46 trainees attended over 3 separate sessions, and they worked with over 400 people in a range of community and voluntary organisations. Visioning sessions were adapted so that facilitators could engage young people, people with disabilities and even whole church congregations during Sunday Service!

 

In addition Dosti were also asked to support the delivery of visioning workshops with local businesses and public sector workers. Through these activities a further 400 people were involved.

It got people talking and thinking about the new community strategy. As with the development of the previous Community Plan, publicity has been circulated to thousands of people and advertising put in the local press. The difference that this engagement made is that people have come together to think individually and collectively about the future of their neighbourhood or community.

 

The key to reaching out to people has been through the 46 trained facilitators pro-actively talking to people within their organisations and groups. The majority of visioning events were as a result of a group or organisation’s direct contact with a facilitator. 

 

People have found the process refreshingly different and easy to take part in. The following are examples of feedback from facilitators:

It provided access to a wide audience. Facilitators have used their day to day contacts and their skills in working with different groups. As a result we actively engaged members of youth groups, people with disabilities, older people, black and ethnic minority groups, and faith groups.

 

Community groups were empowered through the process. They were encouraged to use the visioning workshops to think about their own organisation, and to develop constructive actions plans for their own work which support their vision for the future. An example of this followed the very first workshop, where a member of a Bengali group asked if the facilitator could run a workshop specifically for members of his group. He had found the process easy to engage in, and felt it could help his group to develop a plan and vision of their own, something he felt they were lacking.