Your Own Place CIC is a social enterprise that helps people towards living independently. CEO Rebecca White is passionate about helping young people and those facing barriers not of their own making. Rebecca shaes her thoughts on the need for collaboration, team wellbeing, and digital innovation in adapting to the Covid-19 pandemic.
We often feature articles about the inspiring initiatives happening in response to Covid-19. Except they don’t just happen – they’re the result of innovative, often spontaneous efforts by local individuals who see a need in their community. Mattishall Volunteer Hub (MVH) began life in the very first week of the lockdown in response to the Coronavirus pandemic and is still going strong.
Our CANConnect initiative works with partner agencies across the North Norfolk district of Norfolk and Waveney CCG (Clinical Commissioning Group) to help connect people with activities in their locality, as well as providing individuals with one-to-one support in identifying and achieving their personal goals. CANConnect also provides support for the community itself, helping organisations and people make the places where we live stronger, friendlier, and more resilient.
CAN has long been very active in promoting Anglian Water’s ‘Keep It Clear’ initiative, aimed at encouraging the public to dispose of waste water and materiel in the correct and safest way. Busy appearing at fetes, festivals and fun days all across Norfolk, we invited people to think about how we are all responsible for keeping our sewage systems clear and efficient.
At CAN we have been conducting research to assess the impact of COVID-19 on VCSE operations and service delivery. You can read about this here. We are featuring here regular examples of how groups and organisations have adapted their particular services. This week we’re focussing on Norfolk Community Action Network.
The VCSE sector is hard-pushed financially because of the COVID-19 pandemic and will continue to be so for the foreseeable future. In previous articles we have looked at how the financial challenges require many of us to explore new ways of fund-raising and generating income – and perhaps turn those challenges into opportunities. In this article we will be exploring an option new to many – Social Investment.
The Arts and Culture sector is an important element in the VCSE fraternity, in the context of community engagement and outreach, and addressing local health issues such as social isolation and loneliness. Natalie Jode, Executive Director at Creative Arts East, has seen the impact of the pandemic on operational capability and capacity across the county.
We’ve seen so much commitment from Norfolk’s VCSE sector in to adapting to new ways of working during COVID-19. Dealing with the impact of social isolation was a primary developmental driver for Aylsham & District Care Trust (ACT) and remains at the heart of their work today, reinforced by additional need triggered by the pandemic.