Event title
Location
- Mercure Manchester Piccadilly Hotel, Manchester
Date
- Tuesday 12 and Wednesday 13 November 2024
Event details
This event will bring together people who believe in the power of community. Attendees will include inspiring leaders, policymakers, thinkers, and doers, whose ambitious work transforms local communities.
The event will feature best practices and new approaches community organisations are taking to survive, adapt, and thrive, and how collectively, attendees can best secure more support for this sector.
Attendees will have opportunities to take part in the following expert-led, interactive workshops aimed at exploring the challenges and opportunities faced by community organisations:
In with the old: Bringing historic buildings to life
In this workshop, attendees looking to save a historic building or use their local history to engage with their local communities will learn about the challenges, opportunities and pitfalls when working with old buildings.
Attendees will explore how to use heritage as a focus for working with their local communities.
Building connections to tackle racism and division
This workshop will explore with attendees ways communities can tackle racism and division in a meaningful way.
Attendees will hear from people affected by this summer’s racist and Islamophobic violence and how their peers have responded.
In small groups, attendees will further explore what steps they can take to bring their local community together — including finding out how Locality and The National Lottery Community Fund can support the work attendees are doing in this area.
Councils and community organisations: Exploring successful partnerships
The local authority funding crisis means many councils are looking to community organisations for answers, so working together is essential.
Attendees will learn about examples of innovative collaboration from councils and community organisations and find out what is needed to create a successful partnership.
The VCCC project team is particularly interested in this workshop because VCCC views itself as one such close and successful partnership between the University of Nottingham, Leicestershire County Council, and a wide range of local communities across the county of Leicestershire.
Outside the Convention venue, the following events will be available to attendees:
Projekts MCR: Exploring community impact through skateboarding
Attendees will discover how skateboarding and social investment have transformed unused urban space into a thriving community hub — with over 25,000 paid visitors a year.
Attendees will find out how Projekts MCR is engaging the community and encouraging more women, disabled visitors, and those from lower-income backgrounds to enjoy skateboarding.
And if attendees choose, they will have the opportunity to enjoy a skateboarding lesson themselves!
Withington Baths: Diving into history and making waves today
Attendees will dive into some interesting history relating to public baths, specifically the Withington Baths.
In 2015. this Edwardian pool was saved from closure and taken over by Love Withington Baths, a community-led charitable organisation.
Since then, it has become a vibrant space where the past blends seamlessly with the present.
Attendees will find out how the organisation used a grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund to restore the baths, making the most of a beloved historic building while meeting the needs of present and future generations.
Stretford Public Hall: Ten years of community action
Attendees will explore an accessible community space run by Friends of Stretford Public Hall, a thriving charitable Community Benefit Society with over 900 members.
Attendees will discover how the hall operates as a multi-purpose venue and community hub, as well as learn how the latest phase of renovations are making this Victorian building more energy efficient.
Bookings can be made at Locality Convention 2024.
Convened by Locality.