New Empowerment Case Studies Published

Four new case studies have recently been published to the Creating Excellence website, each highlighting how empowerment can work at a local level for different communities across the south west region.

• Neighbourhood meetings improve dialogue between police and the community in Gloucestershire and equip local residents with chairing skills
  Find out more about Fijian born Osea Mala Mala Nitabua, a retired schoolteacher living in St Pauls, Cheltenham who now chairs his local Neighbourhood Coordination Group meetings - thanks to a successful project funded by the Targeted Support for Empowerment and Participation Improvement Programme. This project is part of a Gloucestershire County Council initiative to work with the police and voluntary and community organisations to help empower local residents, particularly from hard to reach groups, through these neighbourhood meetings. The meetings, set up by Gloucestershire Constabulary as part of their neighbourhood policing agenda, provide a forum for the police to liaise with the council and the communities they serve.
  

• Empowerment training run by Somali women in Bristol opens up opportunities and increases voter turnout and dialogue with council.
  Nura Aabe is a young Somali mum living in Bristol. After engaging with empowerment training delivered by the Black Development Agency with funding from the Targeted Support for Empowerment and Participation Improvement Programme- she now also works as an interpreter for Bristol City Council and the NHS, liaises with the National Autistic Society, she encouraged 60 BME and Asylum women to vote at the last general election, writes magazine articles and is now applying to study Psychology at the University of Bristol.

• Extensive older people's empowerment programme reduces isolation and increases health and wellbeing in Dorset
  Find out how older people in Dorset are being empowered to become involved in identifying and shaping services and activities to improve their own health and address their wellbeing needs. The Dorset Partnership for Older People Programme (POPP) is an excellent example of a multi-partnership initiative which reaches over 53,000 older people each year, has already created 599 volunteer opportunities to date and has saved the public sector money in preventative health savings.

• Locally rooted, community-led organisation attracts almost £1m to Lyme Regis and engages hundreds of volunteers
  Read about how empowerment works for a small rural town with the Lyme Regis Development Trust - an excellent example of an organisation which has successfully engaged and empowered local people to get involved in local issues and mobilised opportunities and resources for the community. Their story highlights the importance of community led, locally rooted organisations in enabling people to take up empowerment opportunities and demonstrates just what can be achieved when investment is made in such ‘anchor’ organisations. Over the last ten years the Trust has attracted over £895,000 into Lyme Regis for community projects, engaged hundreds of local people as volunteers and developed an asset base worth in excess of £800,000.