The launch of the new Community Led Approach

Active Calderdale has recently developed a new Community Led Approach which is currently being rolled out and introduced across Calderdale.

The Community Led Approach (CLA) has been developed to create conditions where local people and organisations are the key focus in influencing, shaping and making decisions on projects that can create opportunities for their community to move more.

We have identified 3 key objectives as part of this new approach, which are:

1. To work with the community including residents and local place-based assets, to co-design interventions that enable more residents to be physically active.
2. To support community assets to come together to develop collaborative projects that increase the number of people who are physically active in the local area.
3. To enable communities to make decisions about how funding is best invested to help more residents to be physically active.

Progress

The first round of workshops have now been delivered across Mixenden, Rastrick, Cornholme and Park, and we are now well underway with supporting local groups and organisations with their funding proposals ahead of them reaching the community panel.

Following the workshops, we had a great number of people come forward to be a part of the decision-making for their community and we’re pleased that we’re days away from an established Community Panel in each of the first four areas. From the applications that we have received, we have taken extra care to ensure that the Community Panel is representative of each area and of Active Calderdale’s priority groups and that it includes local residents, local organisations and local Councillors.

We’ve received an exceptional response to our first round of CLA workshops in the above four areas, with each event being very well attended. Not only were the workshops planned to introduce the new Community Led Approach, but they also became a dedicated space for collaboration, with opportunities for new connections and relationships to be built.

So far, attendees have heard from various guest speakers, including local residents sharing their own stories around physical activity, and organisations sharing insights into relevant work in their areas.

When asked about what they particularly liked about the workshops, some of our attendees said:

"I liked the community and organisations coming together. It was nice to see such a massive turnout!"

"The wide range of interests, ideas and backgrounds from everyone in the room. I liked the practical nature of actually having the opportunity to formulate our proposals."

"The workshops were so inclusive and informative. I enjoyed experiencing the collaboration between everyone involved."

Next Steps

The next steps for the Community Led Approach, involve our continuation of supporting organisations with funding proposals and the setup of projects as required.

We recognise that each area we’re working with will have different requirements, which is why we value engagement from the community to keep the CLA moving forward and to ensure that it is well established to provide each area with opportunities to last.

We’re excited to continue introducing the CLA into the rest of our priority areas across Calderdale over the coming months, which include:

• Warley
• Elland
• Ovenden
• Illingworth
• Town Ward - Siddal, Boothtown & Halifax Town Centre
• Sowerby, Sowerby Bridge & Ryburn
• Brighouse, Hipperholme & Lightcliffe

#PlayYourPart

Have you recently attended one of our Community Led Approach workshops? Or, were you unable to attend but would still like to #PlayYourPart?

We’ve created your local Active Facebook groups to allow you to keep the conversation going, ask any questions about the new approach, and for you to use the group as a space to share ideas with your peers in the community. All you have to do is click the link to your area below and request to join.

• Active Park Ward
• Active Rastrick
• Active Mixenden
• Active Cornholme

We’re pleased to share that we have received interest from residents and organisations to become Active Champions, with some already signed up and ready to get going! You too can also become an Active Champion in your area! For further details on what this entails and the benefits to you, visit email us at activecalderdale@calderdale.gov.uk

You can also find many different ways in which you can help others to feel the benefits of moving more, by checking out our #PlayYourPart booklet HERE.

Make sure you’re following Active Calderdale on all of our social media channels for the latest news, and for information on the rest of the local Active Facebook groups coming soon.