Basic Introduction to Community Work - Central

Section 7 – Community Involvement
In this section of the course we will be looking at how and why we
involve and engage with the communities we are working in and
supporting.
As we have discussed communities are made up of different people
with different needs and wants (diversity), and community groups are
set up to work with some or all of these community members,
depending on the community group’s objectives, and occasionally
there may be a statutory requirement to involve the community
depending on the make up of the group or funding conditions.
Involving people can be an effective way of raising people’s
awareness of a group’s activities and services and informing them of
what the group is planning to do and how they can get involved.
In 2005/6 the Scottish Executive commissioned the Scottish
Community Development Centre to develop National Standards for
Community Engagement in relation to Community Planning, however,
these standards have been written in a way that most if not all
community groups could adopt them to ensure that their own
group/organisation has a better relationship with the community, and
that the community are fully aware of the services being provided to
them.
The National Standards for Community Engagement are based on
the principles that highlight the importance of:
• equality and recognising diversity of people in communities,
• a clear sense of purpose;
• effective methods for achieving change;
• building on the skills and knowledge of those involved;
commitment to learning for continuous improvement
All of which are similar to the principles of community work.
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