Hearing them speak so passionately really emphasised to me the impact that the approach has had in Swansea over the last 5 years.\u00a0 In understanding how and why this has happened though, I wanted to share here a transcript of Serena Jones\u2019 (Exec Director for Operations for Coastal Housing) outstanding presentation, because for me, Serena says it all:<\/p>\n
\u201cThis pandemic has brought into sharp focus what matters to all of us and going back to the way things were before simply is not an option. Local Area Coordination presents an opportunity to turn the world of community development the right way round. It is tried and tested, has an international evidence basis and is a genuinely preventative approach \u2013 living and breathing the motto \u2018get a life, not a service\u2019.<\/em><\/p>\nAt Coastal Housing, we\u2019ve invested many years in continually studying how systems of work are designed to meet what matters to the communities we serve. And it\u2019s the design of Local Area Coordination that makes it so special. <\/em><\/p>\n\n- Coordinators are recruited by citizens in the communities they then work in \u2013 relationships are formed from day one (well, before day one!)<\/em><\/li>\n
- Coordinators are locality, not needs orientated \u2013 they relate to people and communities, not problems or labels<\/em><\/li>\n
- Coordinators are organised around populations of between 8-12,000 with boundaries designed by communities, not authorities <\/em><\/li>\n
- Coordinators walk alongside people to surface strengths and connect people to others who share similar passions<\/em><\/li>\n
- There are no thresholds or eligibility criteria<\/em><\/li>\n
- Relationships aren\u2019t time bound or limited<\/em><\/li>\n
- There is a deliberate reframing of institutional language (introductions, not referrals) \u2013 subtle reform agenda is so powerful<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
For the last five years or so here in Swansea, we have worked as a leadership group to keep true to these principles, keep citizens stories and experiences front and centre and have grown local area coordination which meant that when coronavirus hit, the citizen led hyper local networks were largely already in place. <\/em><\/p>\nHaving been involved with Local Area Coordination here in Swansea pretty much from the outset, I think there are a few ingredients that make the recipe for success<\/em><\/p>\n\n- Council leadership<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 the leader and the cabinet have continued to believe in local area coordination and provided the necessary political leadership for it to thrive (hats off to Mark Child \u2013 personal leadership on this has been exceptional)<\/em><\/li>\n
- Strategic partnership group<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 all Swansea based housing associations invest both money and time, along with other statutory and voluntary groups and have both championed local area coordination and facilitated good working relationships with coordinators. Academic input too from Swansea University has been invaluable. This group has ensured local area coordination has maintained high fidelity to the model.<\/em><\/li>\n
- Local Area Coordinators<\/em><\/strong> themselves \u2013 who have largely had to unlearn old ways of working and have thrown themselves in, whole heartedly, to community life and development. They have been exceptional.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
We\u2019re at a unique crossroads in history. This public health crisis has been, and continues to be, one of the biggest challenges of this generation. We\u2019ve seen bureaucratic organisations unshackle themselves to do what\u2019s right, we\u2019ve seen communities self-organising to take care of each other and we\u2019ve seen that when the chips are down, it is our micro neighbourhood and public infrastructure that we can depend on. <\/em><\/p>\nLocal Area Coordination isn\u2019t a community development programme that abseils conditional cash in to a neighbourhood for a limited period and abseils out again, it\u2019s about the long haul and the hard yards. It\u2019s about being alongside people navigating the toughest of challenges and asking questions like \u2018what do you care enough about to act on?\u2019 It\u2019s about being alongside people as a fellow traveller and nurturing the connections that bring purpose to life. <\/em><\/p>\nWe\u2019ll never have an opportunity like this again. For all the trauma this pandemic has brought, it\u2019s also shown us that many of the old ways were not the right ways and I hope that in the future, all communities in Wales will experience the incredible impact of Local Area Coordination.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\nWatch the full video below:<\/p>\n