So glad you have joined us!
The Belong in Plymouth network is a space to listen and learn from each other about how to tackle some of the overwhelming problems around social isolation and collaborate around creating a city where no one feels forgotten. We want to see a City where health, statutory services, the voluntary and community sector and those who live and work in Plymouth can feel more connected, not least because we all want to make a positive difference in the work we do with and for others.
It’s a tall order, but we have been privileged to run our programme alongside a growing movement in the city that takes the lived experience and stories of its citizens very seriously. Projects such as the development of appreciative inquiry A whole systems approach | PLYMOUTH.GOV.UK for use by Council workers across the system; the introduction of Community Builders, Community Builders | PLYMOUTH.GOV.UK, peer research programmes such as Changing Futures | The Plymouth Alliance and ourselves are all part of changing the landscape to create more person centred projects addressing the hypothesis currently in use by Public Health:
“Is it better to root what we do in people’s real life and stories rather than root it in what we think their real life is like?”
Key external links to explore
- Healthy Communities Together: https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/projects/healthy-communities-together )) - is the overarching programme funded by the National Lottery and supported by the Kings Fund that we are part of. The other sites are Croydon, Coventry, Leeds, and Gloucestershire
- Groups.io: https://bipnetwork.groups.io/g/main is our online communications and networking forum where we develop our thinking, share learning and broadcast events and updates to a growing community of over 200 people in Plymouth. You can join too and keep up with our activities, get involved as much as you like or lurk in silence on the edges.
