community development

What is Community Development?

There is a plethora of terms, often somewhat confusing, relating to community development.  Community development is best used to refer to a process, or a way of doing something, which entails the mobilisation, participation and involvement of local people on common issues important to them. The Welsh Assembly Scheme (Sept 2000) recognises it as 'people working together, on issues they identify, to bring about change through collective action'.  

The Community Work Forum (CWF), a grouping of employers, trade unions, training providers and practitioners, produced revised standards and definitions for community development work in 2002. These National Occupational Standards for Community Development Work are outlined on the next page and the full version of the Standards can be obtained from www.paulo.org.uk or www.fcdl.org.uk   

What is CVS Community Development?  

CVS community development workers facilitate community development through two main avenues. Firstly they seek to empower, and build capacity within organisations that already exist, or may be establishing, that have mobilised on a community issue important to them. They do this through supporting community groups, charities, trusts, social enterprises etc with a specific issue that may be hindering their effectiveness or ability to deliver community benefit.    

Some of the types of support offer:  

• Starting up a new community group or charity
• Good Practice Guidelines
• Good Governance
• Developing Constitutions, Terms of Reference, Memorandum of Association
• Roles and Responsibilities of Trustees
• Charities Commission, Companies House reporting
• Business planning
• Finance, Community Accountancy, Tendering and SORPs
• Access to resources
• HR and Employment Law
• Health and Safety
• Policies and Procedures, Fact sheets
• Marketing
• Monitoring and Evaluation
• Funding and Fundraising Support Searching Funderfinder (chargeable to Non-Members)
• Bid Application Writing
• Sustainable Funding Strategies
• Development of a new funding project
• Training for voluntary and community groups.  

Secondly CVS Community Development Workers also help facilitate mobilisation of volunteers on specific community related issues to bring about change within the community delivered by the community.  

What is Community Work?

Community work, on the other hand, is often used as a general term and refers to initiatives or activities that are delivered at a local level that may not actively involve members of the community as participants but merely as users of services.