About

Belong in Plymouth is a collaborative network dedicated to tackling social isolation and building a more connected city.

Belong in Plymouth built a collaborative network to explore what helps us feel like we belong and how we could build a more connected city by fostering relationships between health and statutory services and grassroots communities.

Our ambition was a city where no one feels forgotten and where citizens' voices are central to decision-making. We envisaged partnerships built on trust, participation and transparency, integrating lived experiences and creating meaningful change from the bottom up.

What we did

What exactly did we do?

Guiding Principles

We developed the following values and principles to guide our work.

Listening & Community Engagement

We value the voices of individuals and communities, recognizing that lived experiences are vital expertise. Collaboration is key, and we engage deeply with citizens to co-create solutions.

Honesty, Transparency, and Accountability

We are committed to openness in communication, decision-making, and resource allocation. We believe that transparency builds trust and ensures that everyone involved feels respected and valued.

Modelling Different Ways of Doing Things

We challenge traditional methods, focusing on flexibility, collaboration, and curiosity. Our relationships are at the core of our work, and we regularly check that everyone feels heard and understood.

Trust & Impact

Building trust is essential to our work. We acknowledge the impact of different worldviews and paradigms, and we dedicate time to explore these perspectives.

Reflective Learning and Adaptation

Continuous learning and adaptation are central to our process. We work in iterative cycles, constantly reflecting on feedback to evolve and improve our approach.

Emergence, Innovation & Creativity

Our work is characterised by innovation and creativity. We embrace new approaches and allow initiatives to emerge organically from conversations.

How we worked

We wanted to foster collaboration across people and organisations, breaking away from traditional hierarchical structures.

We explored how organisational structures and collaborations could minimise bottlenecks, biases and controlling power dynamics and reflected within our own team on being the change we wanted to see.

Toolkit

We've developed a toolkit for holding conversations in the community.

Join us

Join a growing network of passionate collaborators.

Although the programme has ended, the aspiration for Plymouth to be a city where no one feels forgotten remains. Plymouth Octopus is continuing its important role as a VCSE infrastructure organisation to champion grassroots community action in Plymouth and as a System Convenor to help weave the city together to create ways of working that reduce health and other inequities.