Mayo Community Futures Programme

 

Your Chance to Take Part

Putting Communities First

Mayo County Community Forum is launching its new “Community Futures” Programme. The programme will assist communities throughout Mayo to prepare Community Action Plans for their Future. The plans are prepared following detailed consultation and involvement of local residents and businesses. The whole process takes around 6 months to carry out in each community at the end of which the Plan is prepared and distributed to all households and relevant public agencies. Overall, the intention of the programme is to support stronger, more proactive communities throughout Mayo to have a greater say over their future. The aim of the programme within communities is to encourage the interest and participation of more people in community issues and organisations. The Community Futures Programme is being supported by Mayo County Council, County Development Board, VEC and LEADER. The programme will be invaluable in helping pubic agencies understand the needs and aspirations of communities and in helping to shape their policies, plans and service delivery.

Is your community interested in taking part?

The Forum is planning to conduct four pilot programmes that will begin in early 2006. Four different types of communities in different parts of Mayo will be selected by the Community Futures Management Committee. The main selection criteria will be the need and the commitment of the local community and the learning potential from the pilot.

The closing date for applications is November 30th.

Application Forms are available from:-

Mayo County Community Forum,
Community & Enterprise Office,
Mayo County Development Board,
McHale Rd, Castlebar,
Co. Mayo.
Tel 094 9047545.

E-mail; mwrafter@mayococo.ie to receive and submit Form by email.

Web; www.mayocdb.ie , click on Community Forum icon and then on “Community Futures” where you can download the Application Form.

If you need further information please contact:
Mary Wrafter,
Chairperson,
Mayo County Community Forum.
087 2890311 / 094 9047552

What's involved in each community?

Communities taking part in Community Futures will be invited to set up a Community Futures Steering Group which brings together representatives from interested community organisations to help steer the planning process. The Steering Groups will have the assistance of a Community Support Volunteer who will assist them carry out the community consultation which will inform the plan.

Community consultation typically involves

• A household survey
• Meetings with different parts and sectors of the community
• The preparation of a community profile detailing community facts and figures
• Community futures workshops and meetings

At the end of the consultation a Community Action Plan is written which summarises:

• The vision for the future of the community
• The community’s current situation
• The main issues that need to be addressed
• The main priorities for projects and actions

The plan is distributed to all households and to relevant public agencies.

How much time is involved for steering group members?

The steering group is supported by the Community Support Volunteer who does most of the work. However there will be some meeting time and steering group members have often been involved in helping to distribute survey forms and organising community workshops.

How long does it take?

Typically the work takes between 4-6 months in each community.

How much does it cost?

There is no cost to the community other than the time of the steering group members. All other costs: budgets for meetings, the cost of producing and distributing the plan etc are covered by the programme.

What are the Benefits?

A clear statement about our community Community Action Plans prepared with the full involvement of the community provide a clear statement of the community’s needs and aspirations. People often think they know what these are but they are rarely written down in a community owned plan that has been prepared following on from detailed community consultation.

Evidence for funding priority projects The Plans identify the projects that the community as a whole think are most important for the future of their community. As such the plans help to answer the funder’s most asked question – how do you know this (project or service) is important to the community?

Strengthen our ability to represent the community Community Action Plans enable community organisations, councillors and others to represent the community at area, county or national meetings. They have a document that clearly states what the main views of their community are and they are less easily dismissed as perhaps not being fully representative or just talking about their own pet projects or coming from just one perspective.

A guide for public agencies plans and service delivery Community Action Plans serve as a useful guide to public agencies interested in ensuring that their own plans and services are sensitive to community needs and aspirations. The Community Action Plans will be ‘brokered’ by the County Development Board and fed into strategic planning and decision making processes across the County.

Getting more people involved in the community One of the aims of the planning process is to involve more people in the community in thinking about and discussing the future of the community. This usually leads to more people becoming involved in taking forward the plans and projects that are identified through this participatory process.

Strengthening community organisations A direct result of this participation is that more people become involved in existing and new community organisations. This can help take the burden off the handful of folk that are often at the forefront of much of the work in the community.