The role peer mentoring can play in community development
While community development is important for community regeneration, it is also an important step for people who have been far away from the labour market and especially those who employers might be wary of, such as people with mental health problems or recovering from addictions. It gives them a chance to develop experience both for their own confidence and their new cv.
Peer support and mentoring can give people a sense of empowerment. As participants get more involved in activities, they feel a greater sense of recovery and they also feel more connected. Not only do they show their communities that recovery is possible, but they have skills, understanding of community needs and often a desire to give something back. So they can be ideal contributors to community development.
Building community involvement into the programme
In Aberdeen Foyer’s Advanced Lifeshaper course, getting involved in the community is part of the course. People can volunteer for activities that appeal to them and the group as a whole also gets involved in projects such as an awareness-raising Christmas bazaar in a local shop unit and a pantomime with a local school.
- “I volunteered to help at the Moonlight Walk, and I wouldn't possibly have done that last year, if it wasn't for the Lifeshaper Project.”
- “Getting to give something back and help people is really good. I wish I’d had that a couple of years back.”
- “We thought no one would come into our shop at the Our Space Bazaar, but we were mobbed! The community came in and showed they understand and respect us now. There are lots of mums, dads and grandparents who want to help their kids with problems, but we have the chance to do that. To me, that's priceless.”
Creating new groups for clients to take part in
As Community Renewal’s work is primarily on a one-to-one or family basis, they need to create opportunities for clients to interact with each other and get involved in their communities. Working with other neighbourhood agencies to address regeneration issues of most concern to their clients, Community Renewal gets people involved in community action. When clients say, “I wish something was done about...” they can find themselves with the opportunity to take part in doing something themselves.
The resulting groups are “beacons of light within the community” and they attract other people to take a more dynamic approach to their lives.
Using groups within the project as a stepping stone to wider community activities
At the Orbit Approach, participants earn “galaxies” every time they take part in an activity or when they lead an activity or make a contribution. They can then spend the galaxies to treat themselves to a complementary therapy. This process both rewards personal and community development, and also encourages supporting their wellbeing with therapies.
- “I put a lot of heart and soul into working in the garden, and people like coming along to join me when the weather is good. I feel a sense of achievement because it’s something I couldn’t do before. Now I mix with people and before the project I just sat quietly in a corner and was depressed.”
- “Kandahar House has provided a good place to try new things you haven’t before. I’ve organised things that I wouldn’t have before. I didn’t have the confidence before to get involved. Now I do things I didn’t before – go to the pub, communicate with other people, work at the allotment.”
Once people get more confident with sharing their skills with others within the project, they start to branch out and get involved elsewhere in the community.
- “Having tried courses here, I’ve sometimes gone to other courses in the community run by the same person, if it fit my schedule better.”
- “I’m more involved in the mental health community now, and I get out and about more than I would have been, especially with organising hillwalks.”
- “I’ve done fundraising for Maggie’s since I got involved and that helps other people.”
- “I feel part of the community now, and I really enjoy it.”