We used the Competence Cafe in Manchester to draw out views on dissemination and valorisation, with some interesting conversation on how to measure impact recorded here.

Elaine Dunn from EPNAVCO explained how the funding for the training had come through an Our Place initiative in Ellesmere Port (see video of Elaine below). Twelve local residents were put through the training and they have produced a wide range of content about life in Ellesmere Port throughout the programme: check out communityreporter.co.uk for their written stories, audio and video content.

We’re so proud of all that the reporters have achieved so far and are looking forward to an on-going realtionship with EPNAVCO to support the reporters as they develop further.

Welcome to the Institue: Helen Davies, Gemma Dunn, Kevin Goldie, Paul Whittingham, Tom Ormiston,  Nancy Foster, Sarah Tarry

“We now have over  1000 Community Reporters on the database from across the UK and a further 600 across Europe so it seems to make sense to develop the network and recognise the achievement  of the Community Reporters.”

Gary went on to explain how he feels that Communty Reporting is different to citizen journalism. “Community Reporting is a community development tool with individuals producing the content/stories they want to in order to encourage dialogue and discussion and establish online and offline networks. We feel this is different to citizen journalism where the emphasis is more often on individuals reporting on other people’s news.”

The Institute of Community Reporter (ICR) will be  the accrediting body for the Community Reporter programme. It will accredit courses, issues certificates and manage the Community Reporter badge scheme. The ICR will also:

• Provide access to online training resources and support for running local meet ups
• Host Community Reporter content on the communityreporter.co.uk web site
• Curate content at a European, national, local and organisational level to feed into policy and consultation

There will be three types of membership, Bronze, Silver and Gold.  Platinum members will be for authorised trainers who have completed the ICR training programme. For more information on the Institute of Community Reporters see here or contact gary@peoplesvoicemedia.co.uk .

Its  goals are  to:

• Develop dialogue and discussion between communities and  agencies in order to ensure that communities have a voice across Europe
• Support the creation of content that is relevant and locally produced which is then distributed through online and offline channels
• Distribute good new stories about the community in order that communities can learn from each other, support each other and better understand each other
• Share knowledge about Community Reporting, its content and good practice

Gary Copitch, Chief Executive of People’s Voice Media said, ” Community Reporters are  prodcuing content from  across Europe. Not only do we have reporters in the countries represented today but we also have interest  from Sweden and France. So it seems the right time to launch the Network.”

If you are interested in joining then please contact Gary by email gary@peoplesvoicemedia.co.uk

One of the reporters in 3VTV  South Wales Jesscia Jones has produced a great film on looking at the positive side of  Blaenau Gwent.  Its great to here the “good news” stories from communities and not just the negatives.

Also take a look at this great film from Frank about a community reborn

and another one showing the positive perception  of Salford

They worked in small groups to devise, plan, shoot and edit their own films on any topic to do with customer service – and the range of content they produced is fantastic! From reminiscence about the changing face of customer services over the years to an excellent training video about language barriers and an impressive realisation of the ‘oversight chain’ the women all showed great creativity, flair, committment and competence.

They received recognition of their achievements at a special celebration ceremony and we wish them all well in the future.

We spent the day facilitating the collection of case studies that reflected on the process so far. In the main, there seemed to be a positive response to the initiative and what it is trying to achieve. Members of the group involved were excellent interviewers and interviewees as you will see from the range of films that they managed to create and publish online by the end of the day. Steve Scott from GMCDP said, “Thanks for today and look forward to working together in the near future.” One participant added, “You really put me at my ease – and I was quite nervous so thanks!”

The trailblazer ends in December 2012 so, if you’re interested, keep an eye out on the Breakthrough UK site for more information.

The observer noted that

“David the tutor has created a participative and engaging environment in which learners are enjoying their learning which is clearly challenging them and enabling them to gain and develop a range of skills.  The peer to peer discussions and support are particularly effective and a learner commented that a ‘team’ had been developed within the couple of weeks the course has been running.” 

The report went on to say that this training stands out as good practice.  The observer  said  “The very effective use of ICT and web based resources.. stands out as good practice within Salford.  This is enabling learners to get hands on experience of skills such as filming and editing and downloading supporting software / exploring sites in the classroom”

Te observer noted that  “The particular strengths of this curriculum and style of delivery is that it empowers participation at an individual and potentially at a community level.  Learners are developing skills to make a positive contribution and this is an innovative and useful curriculum.”

Well done to David and all the trainers at People’s Voice Media.

Today people across the globe will be marking Commonwealth Day, an annual celebration that has been held on the second Monday in March since 1977. From Antigua to Australia, the day will be commemorated in each of the 54 Commonwealth nations.

Community Reporters have been exclusively invited to this day the report and interview the days attendee’s. The reporters won their ticket by entering a competition to tell us about an important/special day in their lives. All of the entries we had we’re fantastic and we had to pick 5 lucky winners!

The Community Reporters that won our competition are: Frank Redfern, Dawne Keating, Kevin Eccleston, Alex Hayes and Kyle Wolfendale. See there stories by clicking on there names.

In the UK, the annual inter-faith Observance, organised by the Royal Commonwealth Society, is being held in Westminster Abbey. The event isBritain’s largest inter-faith gathering and representatives from every major religion in the Commonwealth take part.

Today’s Commonwealth Day Observance takes on an extra special significance, as it kicks off the Commonwealth’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations in front of Her Majesty The Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales, the Duchess of Cornwall and the Countess of Wessex.

1,000 children from schools and youth groups will also attend the Observance. Each student present – including the three young people who will present posies to The Queen, the Duchess of Cornwall and the Countess of Wessex – has submitted an entry to the Royal Commonwealth Society’s ambitious digital history project, the Jubilee Time Capsule, which will be sealed later in the year and presented to The Queen as an innovative legacy of the Diamond Jubilee.

The students’JubileeTime Capsule entries will be displayed in the Abbey in a short film before the Observance starts and includes stories about migration, family weddings and The Queen.

In-keeping with this year’s Commonwealth theme, Connecting Cultures, there will also be performances from some of the Commonwealth’s most renowned cultural icons, including South African jazz musician and civil rights activist Hugh Masekela, and Canadian singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright.

This combination of history, culture and digital innovation promises to truly get the Commonwealth’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations off to a spectacular start!

If that is the case then housing organisations really are missing a trick.

Most of the work we’ve done with housing associations/ social landlords has not been with people at the top looking to get their information out, but with the people actually living there, looking to create media content about what matters to them.

The housing association has a valuable part to play in supporting residents to develop their skills but once they know how to make videos or record audio then the sky is the limit.

We’ve worked with a lot of communities that have used these skills to tell their stories, some directly to their housing associations about what change they want to see.

There are some examples in this video:

Our focus on working with housing associations looks much more at using social media/ networks as a tool for helping them to achieve their social objectives, by:

• Developing creative engagement techniques
• Supporting different ways for residents to feedback on services
• Increasing skills and confidence levels of residents
• Informing and involving residents in changes and developments taking place in their area through innovative consultation methods

You can download a leaflet that gives more info about our work with social landlords.