Basic Introduction to Community Work - Central

Section 4 – What is Community Work
There is no set agreement about what community work is as it means
different things to different people, agencies, and organisations.
Within Scotland, community learning and development is provided by
local authorities and voluntary organisations. Local authorities are
active in three main areas;
- Youth Work
- Adult Education
- Community Work
Voluntary organisations tend to specialise and operate in one of
those areas.
However, for the purpose of this course we will have a simplistic
interpretation of community work and define it as:
The process of supporting and enabling ordinary people to
develop their own knowledge and skill base, and improve their
own communities by undertaking collective action.
The support is normally provided by full time employed community
workers who can be employed by different statutory, voluntary, or
community groups and agencies, and could be employed to focus on
general or themed areas and issues.
These could be groups and agencies working in the following areas:
Mental and physical disabilities.
Housing and homeless issues.
Domestic abuse and violence.
Promoting faiths and religion.
Youth issues and activities.
Arts and Environmental.
Campaigning and lobbying
And much more...
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