Dr John May

Pep up your partnerships

Do you ever get the feeling that the community is just not pulling its weight? Do you ever get fed-up with endless encounters with the "usual suspects"?

Case Study 1 - The Chinese Community

Historically the invisible minority, for the last couple of hundred years we haven't bothered the Chinese community and they haven't bothered us. Consequently their particular needs, and their particular contributions, have been ignored.

A joint Anglo-Chinese initiative which John and a Chinese solicitor started in one London Borough is changing all that. What is now the North London Chinese Association was set up in 2002, has grown to 500+ members in less than two years, attained Charity status and provides a wide range of services to the Chinese community in North London. It has been commended by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, featured in Barnet Council's Beacon Status citation, been shortlisted for two national community initiative awards and inspired the creation of the Chinese in Britain All Party Parliamentary Group.

Case Study 2 - Revitalizing a Police Community Panel

Many community groups - particularly, it seems, the ones that aim to work in partnership with the authorities - fall into the trap of becoming out of touch with and unrepresentative of their communities. One such, a Police Community Consultative Group, was made up entirely of the "usual suspects". A novel approach was devised which found twenty local citizens, none of whom had taken part in anything like this before, to form a Community Panel to supplement the main Group. The Group now has input from both the "official" community leaders and also individual members of the public who have been empowered to make a real contribution and bring a fresh perspective.

These two case studies show how skilled intervention can transform communities and individuals, and empower them to make valuable contributions to the life of the community generally and to partnerships in particular. Contact John to discuss how his skills in this field can pep up your partnerships.