Ever wondered what an ecosystem looks like when it’s made up of people who have experienced marginalisation and come together to act on their aspirations for change? Here it is!
At the heart of our Connecting for Good Cov social movement are community-led initiatives responding to specific local needs.
Some ideas develop into a new space or activity. Other times, it’s a campaign with a clear objective. Some focus on geographical areas, and others on issues or shared experiences.
Working with Grapevine’s community organisers, the people with the ideas build their initiative’s infrastructure.
We provide training in community organising and movement building techniques, and further coaching and training as needed—equipping teams with the confidence and skills to take their initiatives forward.
As the groups grow and gather strength, their influence expands.
“The people power is out there,” says a core group member. “The tools are there to organise and unite.”
Five years into Connecting for Good Cov and we are meeting monthly to move from ‘supported by Grapevine’ towards ‘part of a network/eco-system that supports each other’.
New blog from our organising team
This where you might like to read our community organiser Gemma’s latest blog, bringing you in to the place we’re at now and explaining what we hope to achieve next, with a further three years of funding secured from The National Lottery Community Fund.
Because relational work like this takes time but is more likely to have a sustainable impact that lasts far beyond funding and projects and lives in communities.
Read Gemma’s blog to delve behind the scenes of our community organising in #Coventry. Here is an excerpt:
“‘In solidarity’, has been my email sign off to the ecosystem for some time. At that gathering, I saw it in action.
“Attendees shared their work around trans rights, environmental justice, disability rights, tackling the justice system for survivors of sexual violence, organising to better a local neighbourhood, and making the city more inclusive and accessible through creating resting spaces, a sensory library, a network of craftivists, and campaigning for more and better public toilets.
“Different focuses, with a common heartstring that things should be better for everyone, and we can make an impact together.
“Afterwards, fuelled by ample cake, people rushed to speak to one another, to weave the threads between their work, to make each other stronger.
“The bar person offered to stay open later to give us more time to mingle, and was even recruited to one of the campaigns!
“As an organiser within the team, I knew about all of this work but, WOW, to hear it all in one place, shared proudly by the people doing it, was incredible.”
More about us
Take a journey back with us over our 30 years by clicking this link.
Check out our other Shifting Power work across Coventry and Warwickshire by following this link.