The Public Health Agency commissioned the Community Development & Health Network (CDHN) to develop and deliver a new programme of support for the community, voluntary and public sectors. The funding for Elevate is provided by the Public Health Agency through the Transformation Work Stream.
Catherine Murnin, newly appointed Programme Manager, updates us on the progress to date…
The Elevate Programme will provide opportunities for the development and sharing of skills, knowledge and expertise in community development as a way to tackle health inequalities and is now well underway. The Programme has a strong emphasis on skills development which is being delivered in three main ways – through the provision of online training; through face to face training in each Trust area; and through the delivery of the Mentoring Programme.
Who’s involved?
Our team of four is now in place and we are all looking forward to building connections and developing capacity in our respective areas. The team comes with a wealth of skills, knowledge and enthusiasm and you can read all about us here
CDHN is working in partnership with Prospect Awards, Rural Community Network and Community Evaluation NI. Lead mentoring organisations have been appointed in each Trust area as follows.
Portal
We are delighted that the portal is now live with many resources, tools and training opportunities. This will develop month on month as case studies, journals and reports are gathered and training modules are added.
Online Community Development Practice Assessment Tool
An online Community Development Practice Assessment Tool is well underway and will be uploaded to the Elevate portal over the next number of weeks. This will help individuals and organisations to reflect on their knowledge and skills and look at ways to develop based on local need.
Mentoring
To support the mentoring work in the Programme, the Elevate Team is developing a Mentoring Guide. This will sit alongside the new Grants scheme that PHA has supported, giving us an opportunity to embrace local creativity and thinking that will make a difference in grass roots communities.
Capacity Building Programme
Our Elevate team will facilitate a range of workshops under the Capacity Building Training part of the Elevate Programme. Delivered across a range of locations in Northern Ireland, the workshops will offer learning and development on community development principles, health inequalities and time for reflection and sharing ideas at community level.
I will be delighted to talk to anyone who has an interest in the programme or would like some information, please feel free to contact me on 028 3026 4606 or by email catherinemurnin@cdhn.org
Catherine Murnin
Programme Manager
