Sharrow Community Forum (SCF) was founded by local people who wanted to have a voice and to shape what was happening in their area – constituted in 1997, the last 20 years has seen SCF develop from being volunteer run to being recognised as an anchor organisation trusted by the community, service providers and funders. SCF plays a pivotal role in Sharrow, enabling community connectivity and cohesion through a range of complimentary services, volunteering, partnerships and community development work.
SCF has a strong track record of supporting local groups and partnerships; we have over 40 groups and organisations that regularly use the community spaces we manage, including older people’s social groups, art therapy and drama groups, a boxing club, Koran class and several ESOL groups. We have worked in partnership with 30+ local and cross city partners over the past 12 months across all sectors, enabling connectivity with local people and services. Service monitoring shows our activities and services engage with over 3500 people each month. There are 5 key areas that provide the focus of our current work: Children, Young people and families/Facilities Management/Employability and volunteering/Community development /Strategic planning for Sharrow. Our activities connect with a broad range of groups in our community, and distinctly with disadvantaged families attending the Children’s and Families Centre, with local young people of all backgrounds through our youth work, and with ‘active’ residents, community groups, decision makers and services through our partnerships and particularly the Sharrow Stakeholder Group. We have been recognised for our social action and cohesion work by the award of Duke of York Community Initiative in 2016 and a Community Star award in July 2017.
Working with a wide range of partners supports our ambitions, maximizes available resources and avoids duplication of work. We are uniquely positioned as an ‘anchor’ organisation in Sharrow. We tackle silo working between organisations and groups by coordinating delivery and building relationships of trust to maintain these relationships. SCF has endorsements from a wide range of organisations and people.
Between 2015 and the present, SCF has embarked on an area wide conversation with residents, services and businesses about the kind of neighbourhood they want Sharrow to be, how they would like to work with each other, and what SCF’s role should be. What emerged was a strategy which positions us strongly as a listening and enabling organisation, and one which protects and develops community assets. Through that process and subsequently, SCF has been in dialogue locally through consultations, workshops, safe space conversations, partnership meetings, informal and formal conversations and capacity building work. We have gained a good understanding of local people’s priorities and needs. Particular priorities relating to our neighbourhood include improving green spaces, tackling anti-social behaviour, supporting community infrastructure, and giving people a voice. Generally, the local community love the area and what it has to offer and want to be involved in making it better. We believe the local residents and stakeholders are the main asset to a sustainable approach to community development.