Blog post on ABCD across Greater Manchester - Helping local people do extraordinary things TOGETHER......

Mancunian Matters - Building Community the Mancunian Way

In my last blog, I talked about an early life blighted by chronic asthma and my eventual victory over self by taking control and concentrating on what I could do, rather than what I couldn’t.

This week, I turn not to individuals and self-management of illness, but the wider issue of communities feeling…

Check this amazing book of stories and pictures which provides an account of Forever Manchester's 10 Year Fair Share Trust programme! 

Click here to view 'I Grew That' http://issuu.com/lengrant/docs/fairshare_issuu_combinedlr

Feedback from TWITTER:  Let us know what you think! gary@forevermanchester.com or post here or tweet @4evermcr_thenws …

Sale Living Magazine article

I am so excited about a recent article on Sale Living Magazine focusing on our work in Sale. We are planning to help my home town of Sale become a dementia friendly town - happy to link to others working on this!

We decided to ask residents, 3rd…

A conversation between members of the Hosting groups at ABCD Europe:

Cormac R: I’m worried about where things are going in the UK, especially in terms of how people most marginalised are being treated. There are serious issues of social justice to be addressed here. I am also concerned…

Written for Practice Management Magazine Fling Open Your Doors offers practice managers some practical advice on how to connect to their communities, find and work in partnership with their hidden assets!

Read this great blog by Len Grant

An evaluation without numbers? Well that’s pretty much what I’ve just completed for the Manchester-based charity, Forever Manchester. There are plenty of stats and spreadsheets in their…

Asset-Based Community Development Europe

About Us

ABCD Europe is affiliated to the ABCD Institute at the Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, founded in 1995 by Prof. John McKnight and Prof. Jody Kretzmann.

The ABCD Institute is at the centre of a global movement that considers local assets to be the primary building blocks of co-operative and sustainable communities.

ABCD Europe will support community building work at…

March 11th 2013 was a bitterly cold day and an even colder evening - yet,despite wind and a hint of snow,nearly 40 people came along to the event organised by local people, aiming to begin widening the awareness of the activity that our group of volunteers are nurturing in the Bedford Ward, which lies (roughly) between Balham and Tooting Bec stations.

The event was hosted by St Anselm's Church (the plan is to use different venues throughout the ward to allow as much access as…

Check this out - time as A Fair Share Trust Programme Manager -

Fair Share Trust - Impact Evaluation

More to follow!

Gary

Empowerment

»Empowerment aims to reduce the number of people who are powerless.«

»Empowerment, in its most general sense, refers to the ability of people to gain understanding and control over personal, social, economic and political forces in order to take action to improve their life situations.«

Michael Marmot (2005) Status…

»Civil society ought to aim at empowerment, and democratization, that is, expanding to the limits the capacity of the people to participate in making the decisions that affect their own lives, their communities and the world. That is the task for civil society.« That's the core element of all ABCD activities!

Noam Chomsky ‏@daily_chomsky

Some…

Lisa Brown’s story

Lisa Brown Customer Involvement Officer from First Choice Homes Oldham has been an integral part to the development…

A couple months ago, when I stood outside the local chippy on Alt estate, a regular bumping space for Helen Smith, Forever Manchester's Community Builder, we met local resident Paul. 

We introduced ourselves to Paul and asked if he'd mind answering a few questions about the estate and some of things he likes to do in his time. 

Without hesitation, Paul said "I want to start on on-line radio station for the neighbourhood". "I've got some ideas and have already started to…

Into 2013 rain, wind and snow have not defeated us, and we have been able to progress our work in Balham and also in Barking and Dagenham, having visited both areas during the last week or two. A brief update on progress follows.

Balham: Unfortunately, the Christmas street fair we had intended to join in with (see Deborah's last posting) was cancelled, and so the group decided to postpone activities until the new year. We met recently at the house of one of our volunteer members (and…

I don't think I could begin to count the number of times in my working career when I and other paid people have sat together in offices in meetings (in office hours), planning for and talking about people in the abstract: how we will help "unemployed", "learners", "non learners" "offenders", "ethnic minorities", "community", "community groups", "people with disabilities", "adults", "children"..... the list could go on endlessly.

I do know that if I added up the time I spent, I'd be…

Interested in working with a passionate and gifted community on a Birmingham outer estate, for at least the next 2 years, supporting community development with an ABCD approach, and the development of the 'Big Local' investment programme?

Please find more details at: http://db.tt/HHA18qZ3 or email me at hodgehillvicar@hotmail.co.uk.

Deadline for applications is 8th January!

We are delighted to have started facilitating our ABCD (see main body of the website for information on this approach) work, with a small group of people who live in the Bedford Ward of Wandsworth. This blog is intending to share a little of what went on at our first meeting, held in a local social club, one evening last week.

However, before we do that, one of the main aims of our blog (and indeed of the ABCD movement) is to share stories and we heard one last week that we all found…