Co-Production Week 2024 - Even though you don’t see it, it is happening.         

This week (from the 1st to 5th July 2024) we are celebrating Co-Production Week!  

Back in 2018, we shared this article about our co-production efforts with the “Working Together” newsletters.  These newsletters were a collaborative effort between Community Action Norfolk, Voluntary Norfolk, and you, our members and stakeholders. 

The idea for our infrastructure organisations to work together on these newsletters came directly from our collective members and stakeholders.  They also guided the topics covered in the newsletters with most of the local content provided by our members and stakeholders. Clare (on behalf of Community Action Norfolk) and Richard (on behalf of Voluntary Norfolk) shared the task of producing these newsletters. 

Today we are still working in partnership to support Norfolk’s Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) sector and the day-to-day running of VCSE organisations in Norfolk.  The Empowering Communities Partnership (ECP) Newsletter is now comprised of information and news from all (ECP) partners to ensure the sector is getting broad insights on activity within and issues affecting the sector. 

How the Empowering Communities Partnership (ECP) empowers communities: 

• By providing information, advice, resources and opportunities to come together, to influence, collaborate and learn. 
• By ensuring that the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector has access to the skills, knowledge, information, and resources it needs. 
• By bringing the sector together we enable strategic engagement and amplify the voice and voices of the sector. 

Tasha Higgins, our Funding and Projects Manager, collaborates with Empowering Communities Partners.  Each month, she provides relevant and valued intelligence of interest to VCSE sector colleagues for the ECP Newsletter.  Taking a partnership approach with colleagues within the ECP, Tasha actively supports the facilitation of VCSE Leadership Network meetings, bringing to colleagues attention key issues affecting our sector. 

“We are passionate about working in partnership with others to build a stronger and fairer Norfolk.  A significant part of which is sharing with others the intelligence and insights we gather about the impacts on, and value of, the communities and organisations we support.  This enables us to work with partners to build the relationships needed to collaboratively develop strategy, policy and services.” Tasha Higgins, Funding and Projects Manager

Moving forwards, we are keen to grow the opportunities this Partnership has provided and demonstrate how effective co-production can be. 

“In a world of limited funding and resources it is vital that we work together more efficiently, recognising the value we all bring to the table.  Co-Production is more than just working together, it is a collaborative approach which recognise an equality of skills, values, experience and ultimately opens doors to greater creativity, trust, cooperation and genuine respect.  All of this is simply achievable by shifting the starting point of the dialogue from 'We have a solution; how can you help us deliver it?' to 'How can we create an effective solution together?'" Rik Martin, CEO