For the past six week, people from across Greater Manchester have been taking part in the Changing Futures Community Reporter Training Programme.

PVM have partnered with Greater Manchester Combined Authority to deliver a series of eight workshops as part of the project. So far we have covered the core aspects of community reporting, and people have started to gather and upload stories to the Community Reporter Website. 

The end goal of the project is to gather stories of peoples lived experiences of multiple disadvantage, specifically from people whose voices are often not listened to. GMCA plans to use these voices to improve the range of support services available to communities across Greater Manchester. In the process, people will be upskilled in Community Reporting and by the end of the project will be experienced enough to conduct their own story gathering projects in their own communities.

Over the course of the first 4 sessions, participants developed a basic understanding of community reporting. They learned interview techniques, digital literacy skills and explored their understanding of ‘multiple disadvantage’ in the context of their own lives experiences. 

“Being around the team and learning – it’s good to open up“

A group member reflecting on what they’ve enjoyed in the sessions.

For the past two weeks the group have been out gathering stories in their own communities – take a look at the Community Reporter website to view some of them!

“There’s not just me going through what I am going through”

A group member reflecting on what they’ve learnt during the sessions.

For the remaining four sessions, the group will review the stories they have gathered, picking out the key themes and learning points. They will then learn how these findings can be shared more widely and used as tools for creating positive social change – hopefully putting these techniques into practice.

Stay tuned for more updates on the Changing Futures Community Reporting Project!

Our first Community Reporter catch-up of the year is set to take place in March and you’re invited!

We host two Community Reporter catch-ups each year and they’re a great way to meet other Community Reporters and learn about what people have been up to in the wider movement. Whether you’ve attended before, or are completely new to Community Reporting – join us for a catch up and a natter.

When is it happening? Monday 27th March 2023 from 12:00pm – 1:00pm

How can I get involved? Sign up for a free ticket through Eventbrite below

Who else will be there? You’ll meet people from the PVM team, Community Reporters from the wider movement and people who are curious to find out more!

Sign up for your free ticket through eventbrite.

We’ll see you soon!

We are pleased to announce that the Eventbrite booking links for the Community Reporting Online Session and Coaching Programme as part of the Not Another Co-Production project are now ready! 

The full listings are detailed below. Please book quickly as places are limited. All sessions are on Zoom and links will be provided upon booking. 

Online Sessions – These sessions are open to anyone living and or working in West Midlands

Audio recording & audio editing – #NACP Workshop

Friday 3^rd March 2023, 10:00am – 11:30am

Video recording & video editing – #NACP Workshop

Friday 10^th March 2023, 10:00am – 11:30am

Digital Tools For Co-Production #NACP Workshop

Tuesday 14th March 2023, 10:00am – 11:30am

Over the past 6 months PVM have been working with Creative Minds and the Mental Health Museum, on a project looking into people’s lived experience with mental health.

A multitude of sessions have taken place across West Yorkshire, specifically in Wakefield and Huddersfield, sharing Community Reporting techniques and providing the opportunity for people to share their stories.

The project initially set out to speak to people who had a connection to the former Stanley Royd Hospital and Fieldhead Hospital, something which we were able to achieve. Head over to the Community Reporter Website to take a look through and listen to some of the stories that have been recorded as part of the project so far – including accounts from former staff members of the hospitals! What also emerged from the project was a wider collection of stories exploring people’s personal mental health journeys.

We’d like to give a huge thank you to the MHM, Creative Minds and of course everyone who took the time to share their stories and take part in the Community Reporter training sessions.

Whilst PVM’s involvement in the project will shortly be coming to an end – if you want to find out more or contribute your story get in touch with the MHM.

Last month EUARENAS partners came together for two days of training led by PVM at FACT, Liverpool.

Over the two days representatives from PVM, CRN, UEF, SWPS and the pilot cities of Gdask, Voru and Reggio Emilia engaged in a series of creative workshops, providing insight into how future scenarios can be explored using interactive play style activities. Each activity was geared towards getting groups to work collectively to imagine a future in which deliberative democracy has been achieved.

Serious Play

Groups used ‘Lego’ style building blocks to construct their vision of the future.

Collaging / Annotation

Groups worked together to create an annotated collage containing imagery and text cut out of newspapers, magazines and other printed media.

Photo Voice

Groups were provided with an instant camera, then instructed to take to the streets and capture images which represented participatory democracy. They returned to the workshop after gathering their pictures and created a visual mind map of what their future scenario could look like.

The activities were really fun to take part in and each group was able to sample each of the methods, with new ideas emerging at every stage. Following this section of the training partners reflected on each of the activities discussing the positive, negatives and potential adaptations – in preparation for the delivery of a series of future thinking workshops which are set to take place over the coming months.

On the second day partners worked within their country teams to produce an action plan for the delivery of the future thinking workshops. These plans were then peer reviewed and will now be utilised to achieve the next steps of the project.

Check out the blog post over on the EUARENAS website to find out even more about what we got up to.