Events

The Community Voices Network offers a wide range of events and activities to help members find out what is happening around the country, learn what works and help influence community regeneration policy in Scotland. See below for some of the events coming up.

What’s on

See our latest newsletter for upcoming events

Recent events

Housing and Regeneration
(Glasgow 2008)

50 members participated in an event about Housing and Regeneration held in Glasgow. Improving housing is a key element in regenerating communities – but building communities isn’t just about new houses, it’s about linking community regeneration to the renovation of the housing stock. Click here for info on workshops.

25 years of regeneration in Castlemilk

39 members of the Network toured community initiatives in Castlemilk on a cold day in February. Members had the chance to see how regeneration initiatives had evolved over the years. Members visited a community centre, childcare services, the youth complex and an historic building which was refurbished to provide facilities for range of community organisations and local people.

What is Community Empowerment?
(Dundee 2007)

The purpose of this event was to get the views of the members of the Community Voices Network on the proposals outlined in the paper published by Communities Scotland ‘Making community empowerment a reality’. Alasdair McKinlay from Communities Scotland explained current proposals in his presentation. To focus everyone on the issue of Community Empowerment, John Low from the JRF presented different approaches to empowering communities in different areas across the UK.

Improving communities - Dealing with antisocial behaviour
Glasgow (October 2007)

Over 40 members came together to hear about different approaches to tackling antisocial behaviour. Participants found out about Operation Reclaim where the police working with other partners have set up diversionary activities for young people and reduced crime in the North of Glasgow by 37% on Reclaim nights. Participants also found out about how the community wardens in Fife have set up a junior warden scheme to engage young people in the process of improving the area. Click here to see the presentation.

Community regeneration led by the community
Renton (September 2007)

Participants saw at first hand how the local community owned Housing Association is improving housing and leading the physical regeneration of the village. At the Carman Social Inclusion Centre, an independent community owned organisation which provides social and community meeting space, IT facilities, internet cafe, and a community café, participants found out how Renton had set up a community development trust. The Centre also manages the Housing Support and Care at Home project which provides services to elderly people in Renton and Alexandria to enable them to remain in their own homes.

Getting people into work in Fife
Fife (August 2007)

20 members of the Community Voices Network found out how ‘Trans Fife’ is helping to get local people back into work. Trans Fife is a successful community transport organisation with a fleet of 14 accessible buses providing services to people in remote communities in Fife. But it’s much more than a community transport operator. The organisation has also developed some unique approaches to getting local people into work. Since the event a number of members have continued their contact with Trans Fife to find out about possible transport solutions to their areas.

National networking event
Glasgow (June 2007)

This event was designed in response to member requests for more time to network with each other. A marketplace, meet the member sessions and learning workshops where members presented the regeneration initiatives they are involved with. For more information on workshops click here

Regenerating Communities - the policy and the practice
Edinburgh (March 2007)

This event was an opportunity to find out more about practical approaches to regeneration from projects which are making a difference in communities – find out more about the community regeneration initiatives here

Getting people back to work
Glasgow (February 2007)

Although Scotland currently enjoys the highest employment rates for many years, there are still clusters of high unemployment and areas with large numbers of people who are unable to work due to poor health. One of the key targets of the Scottish Executive’s regeneration policy is to get more people back into work.

To view the presentations

SURF Annual Awards Ceremony and Dinner
Glasgow (December 2006)

Every year the Scottish Urban Regeneration Forum (SURF) highlights projects and initiatives which have made outstanding contributions to community regeneration by making awards for 'Best Practice in Urban Regeneration'. This year, four members of the Community Voices Network were invited to sit on the judging panel for the SURF Awards to identify the projects which had made the biggest difference to their communities. The award ceremony was attended by around 30 members of the Community Voices Network, all keen to find out about the shortlisted and winning projects included in this year's SURF Awards for Best Practice in Urban Regeneration.

Visit to Inverclyde Community Development Trust
Port Glasgow (November 2006)

Over the last twenty years, the Inverclyde Community Development Trust has grown from a small, community-based organisation to an Inverclyde-wide organisation employing over 100 staff and providing a range of services. The organisation now has an annual turnover of £2.5 million and it is the biggest social economy organisation in Inverclyde. Members of the Community Voices Network visited Inverclyde Community Development Trust to find out more about how the Trust has tackled regeneration in communities in Inverclyde.

Community regeneration policy – what’s it all about?
Edinburgh (November 2006)

23 members of the Community Voices Network met in Edinburgh to find out more about regeneration policy and to meet the policy makers who are responsible for regeneration policy. Richard Rollison from the Regeneration Unit at the Scottish Executive explained the Scottish Executive's priorities for regeneration. Jill Mullholland from the Community Regeneration Unit in Communities Scotland explained the process for ensuring that national priorities were being delivered at the local level. Each Community Planning Partnership has drawn up a Regeneration Outcomes Agreement (ROA) which identifies how the partners aim to address these priorities in their area.

Community led approaches to regeneration
Aberdeen (September 2006)

While policies and funding change all around us, some of the most dynamic and sustainable approaches to improving communities are those which are developed and led by communities themselves. Read the report or view the presentations.

What is an Urban Regeneration Company (URC)? The network visits Raploch (May 2006)

The purpose of this event was to learn about different approaches to community regeneration. 10 members travelled to Stirling to find out about one of the first urban regeneration companies and in particular how the URC had involved and provided opportunities for the local community.

Community Exchange : Dundee goes to Aberdeen to share experience of community engagement (May 2006)

As a result of networking at the National Conference, community reps from Aberdeen expressed an interest in learning from the experiences of community reps in Dundee. As a result the Network facilitated a community exchange. 5 elected community representatives travelled to Aberdeen to share their experience of community engagement with a group of community activists in the former SIP area of Aberdeen. The participants discussed the different approaches to community engagement taken in Dundee and Aberdeen and were able to compare and contrast the different approaches.

Events in the first year

Developing Community Facilities – what works? (January 2006)

A learning event which ‘case-studied’ the development of a successful community led community facility. 35 members of the network visited the Bambury Centre in the East End of Glasgow to find out how the community had developed successful community facilities in their area. This event resulted in 5 community groups making further links with the Bambury Centre to learn more about the process of setting up community facilities in their area.

Getting Better Community Involvement in Community Planning (February 2006)

The purpose of this event was to allow members to find out about different approaches to involving communities in Community Planning across Scotland. 68 members of the network from across Scotland participated in this event. They were able to explore the reality of how community planning partnerships are involving communities and to develop ideas about what needs to change to improve community involvement.

Digital Inclusion – responding to the Scottish Executives review of Digital Inclusion policy (December 2005)

This was an opportunity for members to ‘meet the policy maker’ and feed in views to the digital inclusion policy development process. As a result of the consultation, the Network made a formal response to the Scottish Executive review.

Visit to the Scottish Parliament - to find out how issues such as modernisation of the planning system are dealt with (March 2006)

The purpose of this event was to inform members about the policy development process. Five members of the network sat in on the Communities Committee at the Scottish Parliament while they debated planning reform. Later that day the members visited the planning department of the Scottish Executive to find out how planning law in Scotland is changing.

Community Regeneration in Action in Dundee (March 2006)

The purpose of this event was to enable members to learn about community regeneration initiatives in Dundee and to find out about community decision making in practice. Five members of the network visited community initiatives supported by the Community Regeneration Fund and got the opportunity to meet the community representatives elected to make funding decisions.

Making a Difference in Communities – The Community Voices Network first national conference, Glasgow (March 2006)

Deputy Minister for Communities, Johann Lamont opened the conference which was packed with workshops and networking opportunities for over 100 people active in improving their community on a voluntary basis. The feedback from the conference was overwhelmingly positive - 98% of participants rate it as ‘very useful’. Read a summary report here.