Monday
AM:
After a quick catch up on my emails and my to do list, I had a team meeting with the regional team. Eight of us all discussed the work we’re doing and if we needed help from each other. It’s a really good forum for using the ‘collective brain’ on projects and helps us feel the support of the team even if we work remotely.
I then had a quick information and training session about a new support programme Locality is delivering with a national funder and partners.
PM:
In the afternoon I had a meeting with a group I am supporting through the one of the other national programmes we manage. They are setting up a community hub and in this session, we looked at their business model and discussed ideas about generating income.
Tuesday
AM:
Started with a Neighbourhood Planning grant assessment ahead of the grant decision panel on Wednesday.
Then on to delivering a strategic planning session with a member local to me who is doing amazing things to keep local people healthy and connected during lockdown – in the session we reviewed their service delivery and identified opportunities to enhance what they do.
PM:
In the afternoon I catch up with my colleagues in the Policy team about our community asset ownership programme I am managing. The Policy team will be turning all the work we’ve done into a report, so we have regular meetings to monitor progress and plan the final outputs.
Wednesday
AM:
Spent the morning finalising and submitting a bid to a local authority to work with them on working with community anchor organisations in their district, it is a joint bid with a local social enterprise support organisation. My role involves lots of conversations with colleagues, partners and community organisation, and lots of collaboration!
PM:
In the afternoon I had a workshop with a group I am supporting to deliver community led housing. I have worked with them over the last 10 months to do governance support and training, business planning and fundraising work. In the workshop we discussed governance, community engagement and community shares.
At the end of the day I had a national Locality team meeting – we meet weekly online to check in with everyone, hear latest updates from our national and local policy and programmes work and share good news. Like the smaller team meetings its great to connect with others and get help and support and remind ourselves of all the great work Locality does nationally for members.
Thursday
AM:
The morning was spent doing some team training on how to support community organisations in crisis – this was delivered by my colleagues and was incredibly helpful to identify the best ways we can support our members and organisations we work with.
PM:
In the afternoon I did some funding work for a member who wants to develop new well-being services – this included searching for suitable funding sources and creating a document for them to use to monitor their fundraising plans.
At the end of the day I had a meeting with contacts at Power to Change, New Economics Foundation, a local social enterprise consultancy, a member, and a local funder. Since COVID-19, we have started an informal network meeting online to connect about local issues and to ensure we continue to link al the work we are doing.
Friday
AM
Friday morning spent delivering work as part of the community assets programme. This includes advising groups about community asset transfer, funding for capital projects and advising the council on how best to work with the community sector.
Lunchtime:
In the middle of the day, I co-hosted a regional meeting for Locality members in the region. This is an informal catch-up meeting, a chance for people to say hi, share what they’ve been doing and seek advice from others who might be facing similar challenges. We talked about great staff, innovative ideas to keep people connected as we move out of lockdown, funding, and the many innovative ways Locality members are supporting local people.
PM:
I finished the day off with my admin – reviewing my programme delivery work for our national and regional programmes . Not forgetting the important timesheets, emails and planning my diary for next week.