Community Planning and Consultation

For communities seeking to make a difference and influence their futures, CCB’s community planning service is the first port of call.  Community planning from CCB  supports community groups with a toolkit, planning framework and guidance to get started – and can signpost to voluntary and public sector organisations who can provide additional resources, as needed. From linking environmental projects to potential funding streams, to writing a parish plan from scratch, the service has the breadth and depth of knowledge to support your community project.

CCB’s community planning is led by Sarah Ward, Community Planning Development Worker, who sees her role as supporting individual communities’ own community planning groups to deliver successful outcomes.

Stage one -  CCB’s Community Planning Development Worker will visit any group in the community that wants to understand how the community planning process works. This might include parish councils, residents associations and other local community groups.  Sarah’s team offers specialist help across the broad range of community planning areas – from:

• Getting started
• Designing a successful launch event
• Recruiting volunteers
• Setting up a steering group
• Designing a project plan and obtain funding.
• Consultation with key people to ensure buy-in
• Ways to get everyone in the community involved
• Forging links with local authorities
• Making contact with agencies and community groups
• Identifying action points and designing action plans
• Identifying funding sources
• Setting up an implementation team
• Making projects happen
• Monitoring and reviewing success

CCB’s Community Planning Development Worker can link you with organisations that will help you develop consultations and research through our network of voluntary and community organisations.
We have an annual conference  each year – bringing together community planning groups in the spring. We host regular ‘Meet the Expert’ evenings, for  Community Planning groups to share their experiences and meet local authority experts on specific services. Parish Plan Surgeries are also available for groups to talk with individual officers who may be able to help develop consultation and action plans .

The Greenham Common Trust provides help in kind with: photocopying, designing  questionnaires and data analysis, plus the design of final documents and web pages.
To maintain contact with communities a twice yearly newsletter is produced to share good practice and information - plus regular webex sessions are held to keep in touch with groups – and introduce agencies that may be able to help at key junctures.

If you would like to contact Sarah Ward, CCB’s Community Planning Development Worker:

Email:sarah.ward@ccberks.org.uk
Mob: 07966 236 408
Website:  http://www.actionforall.org.uk/com-plan/home