Gemma Jennison is a Safeguarding Development Officer for Community VISION (Voluntary Infrastructure Support Involving Organisations and Networks) CIO, a charity in North Lincolnshire that provides support to a wide range of Voluntary, Community, Faith and Social Enterprise organisations,including governance and policies, safeguarding, funding, volunteering, accountancy, digital inclusion, training and marketing.

Project Highlight: Building Bridges, Breaking Barriers: Promoting Social and Community Cohesion Workshops.

‘People working together in a strong community with a shared goal and common purpose can make the impossible possible.’

Community VISION developed a half-day training workshop titled ‘Building Bridges, Breaking Barriers: Promoting Social and Community Cohesion in Your VCFSE Setting’. The workshops were aimed at all VCFSE organisations and wider partners, and were delivered both face-to-face and online. In addition, the workshop has been modularised into three separate modules and is available online, which provides a longer-lasting legacy beyond the funded program delivery. 

The training delved into some of the different factors that affect how we respond to events, including:

• The science of stress on our brain and behaviour
• Group identity and belonging
• How our thinking patterns influence perception and decision-making
• Understanding what community and social cohesion is, and what it looks like, and any potential threats to this
• How to foster and promote understanding, empathy and collective action
• Promoting cohesion with effective engagement
• Responding to higher-level safeguarding and other concerns

This can be accessed at: Building Bridges, Breaking Barriers - Mod 1, 2 & 3

A diverse group of local practitioners completed the training, each bringing different community experiences and insights and worked towards practical ways of fostering and promoting inclusion and community cohesion.

The early results of the training and the wider work of Community VISION have already demonstrated:

• Enhanced capacity for local organisations to address challenges within our communities.
• Greater collaboration and increased willingness to share knowledge and resources.
• Elevated visibility of the voluntary sector’s role in creating social cohesion.
• Development of new, transferable skills for volunteers and staff - giving them tools that benefit both their organisations and the broader community.
• Increased the capacity of VCFSE organisations to recognise and respond to actions that may be divisive to communities to promote social cohesion.

Improved opportunities for peer support and learning.

Community VISION plays a crucial role in supporting and strengthening VCFSE organisations, enabling them to adapt to challenges within our communities, develops collaborative approaches and increases the support available for local people.

While the workshops were successful, Community VISION is clear about the barriers to continued impact:

Funding: The biggest obstacle to repeating or expanding the work providing increased capacity building within the VCFSE is financial.  The VCFSE reaches the most disadvantaged people within our communities, and to ensure they have effective support mechanisms in place which need to be both reactive and proactive, funding is required.  This not only enables these organisations to provide effective support to local residents but also helps them overcome community challenges by meeting place-based priorities and brings in additional resources therefore increasing support and activities available for people who need it. 

Volunteer shortages: Many groups struggle to recruit and retain volunteers. Austerity and changing attitudes have made an unpaid commitment harder to sustain.

Operational pressures: Rising costs are threatening the sustainability of many small organisations.

Community VISION are committed to building a voluntary sector that is resilient, skilled, and collaborative. Their goals include:

The continuation of capacity building support to the VCFSE in line with their needs to ensure a strong and thriving support network is in place for residents and communities.

Access to training and peer support through the provision of group activities and training.

Increased skills and support networks.

Championing sector-wide advocacy, pushing for more investment in volunteer support and sustainable infrastructure.

Community VISION believes that there are more things that unite us than those which divide us.  Sometimes people just need additional support and skills development opportunities to help them see the world differently, which improves both individual and collective action.