London Borough of Barking and Dagenham – Community Communicators
London Borough of Barking and Dagenham have been working for several years to improve community cohesion in the local area and to help to ensure that they relate to the public in ways which are most appropriate for them. Having developed a new 'narrative' of how the council worked, the authority wanted to disseminate it as far as possible.
Using peer to peer methodology TCC developed a 'community communicators' campaign to help disseminate the new narrative and to open two-way channels of communication between residents and the council. We have recruited a wide range of local people – particularly from the white working class communities which have traditionally been hard to reach in Barking and Dagenham – to take part in the scheme.
We mapped the communities of Barking and Dagenham to identify the networks that existed in each neighbourhood using a variety of methods including telephoning calling, petitions, visiting organised events and speaking to local business. We identified members of these networks who played an influencing or connecting role within their network and our staff approached them asked whether they would be interested in getting involved. We then tested that our messages were getting through to these networks. We refreshed our list after we had tested it.
We have recruited over 100 of community communicators across Barking and Dagenham. The council have now decided to mainstream the project and apply it to more wards in the borough: there are now over 200 community communicators and the number is still growing.
Last Updated on Monday, 22 June 2009 21:04