Local Area Coordination in England and Wales

June 2024

Updates on Local Area Coordination, the work of the Network and
the areas implementing the approach.

In this edition we’ll be covering:

• Hello and welcome
• Publications
• ‘Celebrating the strengths of our members at the Local Area Coordination Network National Gathering’
• Events, training, and campaigns
• Useful blogs

Read all about it.

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A note from from Nick Sinclair,
Director of the Local Area Coordination Network

Hello and welcome to July’s Local Area Coordination Network newsletter. A big thanks, as always, to Lily for putting it together so nicely.

July has been a bumper month in the world of LAC, particularly as we’ve just had our annual National Gathering of the Local Area Coordination areas in England and Wales that make up our Network. Tom writes about this in our main article (so I won’t go into detail here) but, needless to say, it was a great success and a real privilege to witness and hear the energy and passion of our members.

This week, we launched a video of May’s virtual roundtable which we co-hosted with colleagues from the Department of Health and Social Care (Adult Social Care). The roundtable sought to raise awareness of what Local Area Coordination is and to encourage more councils to explore how this could work where they are. The video features brilliant presentations from Sam Tapper at DHSC, LAC pioneers Eddie Bartnik and Ralph Broad, Derby Council’s Neil Woodhead, Hull University’s Professor Joe Cook, York City Council’s Joe Micheli, and South Tyneside’s Vicki Pattinson. It also includes personal thoughts (and a beautiful poem) from Hazel, who reflects on what it has been like to have a Local Area Coordinator alongside her.

Last week, we held another online session with around 20 councils and organisations who are interested in LAC, many of whom were following on from the roundtable. Sarah Bogunovic from Surrey gave a brilliant overview of their work and the difference that LAC has made, while Tom shared how LAC works, as well as the vital role of the Network. We are now following up with many of the attendees who wanted to further continue the conversation. We are certainly seeing a surge in interest which is great!

As we enter into a new period of government, we are hopeful that there will be an increasing focus placed on the idea of “national renewal” and what it really means to people and families at the community level. We want to see more focus on the principles that help people to remain in control of their own lives as happy, connected, and contributing citizens with a sense of belonging and purpose. This is certainly what Local Area Coordination is helping people to achieve every day, and we want to see more of it!

Enjoy the newsletter, and I wish you a very pleasant summer.

Nick Sinclair