Lewisham Council – Local Assemblies
The London Borough of Lewisham has established eighteen ward based Local Assemblies to decide on local priorities and spend an annual ward budget. The Campaign Company (TCC) were tasked with delivering a programme of training each Local Assembly’s coordinating group.
We produced a set of researched skills required of ward based assemblies. Working with the client we finalised a comprehensive and informative set of training modules. A virtual presence was established to network the participants and to disseminate materials from the sessions. We established a precedent of pre work, contacting participants before the initial training sessions. We delivered the training in interactive, small groups using action learning, based on the principal of shared learning from across different assemblies. This style of learning was complimented with reading material and best practice guides.
Our relationship with the coordinating group and clients allowed us to feedback on perceived practical local training needs. We were also able to be flexible in the programme responding to the clients/participants needs.
Over the life of the course we had over 200 attendees contributing and taking part in the training programme of whom over 75 % rated the course as either excellent or good. The assemblies programme is organic and innovative, the coordinating groups have become key to ensuring the delivery of ward priorities. As a recommendation we have suggested a forming a network of coordinating group members to decide on their own developmental needs as the assemblies progress.
Last Updated on Thursday, 24 February 2011 12:03