Wellingborough Organisations and the Co-op were hosting forums for local people and organisations to work on community resilience planning. These have new been replaced by The Wellingborough Organisations Community Forum. We held two series of Community Resilience Forums to discuss how to help people in the town and borough during the cost-of-living crisis. these were hosted by Jonathan, Co-op Member Pioneer for Wellingborough..
The aims of Wellingborough Community Resilience Forum were to bring people and groups from across the borough together, to hear people’s concerns and ideas, and see what practical steps we can take to collectively help to meet some of the emerging needs, and provide some coordination and direction for our efforts where possible.
First Series of Community Resilience Forums
The first Wellingborough Community Resilience Forum was hosted by Jonathan and partners of the One Wellingborough Plus project on February 26th 2021. It was attended by 24 people from across our community, including representatives from churches, charities, businesses, community groups, local government, and people with no affiliation.
It provided lots of really useful feedback and of course networking for all. We thought that it went really well; the feedback that we have received has shown that everyone enjoyed it and found it useful. A full report including a transcript can be found on the One Wellingborough Plus blog. We also recorded it, mainly for those who could not join in.
Three more Community Resilience Forums were hosted by Jonathan and partners until the One Wellingborough Plus project ended. All are available on YouTube and on the One Wellingborough Plus blog. The Community Resilience Forums were very successful and enabled lots of people to look at ways of working collaboratively, but did leave some unfinished business.
Second Series of Community Resilience Forums
The second series of Community Resilience Forums started off with lively interactive discussions on Friday 25th February 2022 at 2pm. This was the first forum that Wellingborough Organisations and the Co-op are hosted for local people and organisations to work on community resilience planning. 14 people joined us on the first of a second series of Community Resilience Forums in Wellingborough on Teams.
The forum discussed what community is and how to build resilience during an interactive presentation designed to get people talking. Delegates then talked about what they are doing and we discussed how we can work together, everyone was very positive and were keen to share with each other. Watch our first New Community Resilience Forum:
Wellingborough Organisations Working Together
Delegates at the first series of Community Resilience Forums worked to establish Wellingborough Organisations as a community resource, which Jonathan and partners from the One Wellingborough Plus project have continued to work on to promote local businesses and public services. We also set up general local forums called ‘Wellingborough Forum’ to work along side the Community Resilience Forums for local debates and service promotion on this website, on Facebook and on Nextdoor.
At February’s Community Resilience Forum we decided to continue our collective support for Wellingborough Organisations and for the Wellingborough Forums online, on Facebook and on Next-door. Delegates also decided to set up an email list and WhatsApp group to work with each other on, and to have regular monthly Community Resilience Forums. In March we further discussed community Resilience and how to help each other. Read reports and watch the forums on our home page.
Ukraine
At April’s Community Resilience Forum, we decided to set up a webpage to support the Wellingborough Ukrainian guests and sponsors Facebook group and those not on the social media platform at Ukraine Support – Wellingborough. We have also added a guide for sponsors page. We also decided to set up our own Community Resilience Forum | Facebook group, to share and work together on.
How Are The Co-op Supporting Us
Jonathan is now working for the Co-op as their Member Pioneer in Wellingborough which has given him the opportunity and facilities to restart Community Resilience Forums. He hopes that by working together with others in our community we can build new relationships with more people and more organisations to improve services and lives in Wellingborough. His role is to bring people together to work on ideas, projects and initiatives to make our community a better place to work, play, live & learn. Find out more at coopmp.uk and on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram or email jonathan.hornett@coop.co.uk
The fifth of the new series Community Resilience Forums was on Friday 24th June at 2pm. Following on from last month’s Mental Health Community Resilience Forum, where we looked at how we can co-operate with each other to provide solutions for wellbeing, and because this time the Community Resilience Forum was bang in the middle of Co-op Fortnight; we looked at how we work together and how can co-operate with each other more to provide solutions and services.
Join us at the third series of Community Forums
We invite you to the Wellingborough Organisations Community Forum at 2pm on the last Friday of every month Friday; you can either join in on Zoom or in person at ECO HUB, Glamis Hall, NN8 3RU, where refreshments will also be available.
- Join us to connect with other people working in Wellingborough.
- Share what you are doing in our community.
At the start of the forum, everyone will be given the chance to introduce themselves and, if applicable, the organisation they represent. To help the host, Jonathan, before the event, he wants to know a little bit about you and what activities you are doing. Register by filling in the form on the Community Forum page.
*Your details including your email address will be stored securely on a contact list at the Co-op. Your contact details will not be shared. Jonathan in his capacity as Co-op Member Pioneer may contact you about other forums or projects, unless you request otherwise.
The forum will be recorded and shared on YouTube and a transcript will be published on the Wellingborough Organisations website. Both will also be shared on social media, with the aims of growing the forum and sharing ideas. At the start of every forum, we will ask you all for permission to share your name, organisation and for your permission for us to use photos or video recordings taken. If you prefer, you can also state in the ‘Comments’ box above if you do not want us to share your name and/or have photos or video recordings of you shared.
If you would like to find out more about the One Wellingborough Plus project, please visit their website at onewellingboroughplus.wordpress.com
