Community building guide

Author(s)

BARNWOOD TRUST

Publisher(s):

Barnwood Trust

Publication year:

2020

This is a hands-on guide to community building, produced by the Community Building team at Barnwood Trust. It draws on extensive and varied experiences from within the team. The guide offers practical guidance and examples of community building techniques – at different stages of connecting people in a place. Throughout this guide there are top tips, ideas boxes and stories to think about. At the end of this guide there is also a toolkit of pragmatic activities and plans that may be useful for putting some of this work into practice. Contents include: foundation – asset-based community development and community building; where to start (discovery stage) – principles in practice, the art of conversation, and ways of starting; what next? (building relationships) – how to gather people; assets and gifts; connecting and mobilising; how to progress? (reflective practice) – self-reflection and support, good help (and knowing when to step back), and value of stories. (Edited publisher abstract)