Engaged Communities Group

The Engaged Communities Group brings together Voluntary, Community, Faith and Social Enterprise (VCFSE) organisations from across Suffolk who work with and represent their local communities and many of our seldom-heard groups in Suffolk.

The group currently meet on a monthly basis via Microsoft Teams, with a number of Suffolk partners coming along to present to the group on key topics and pieces of work that are being developed. Organisations are invited to contribute to the discussion on a wide range of topics that affect their communities, to ensure their voices are being heard and that services are developed with these users in mind.

An example of recent discussion topics include:

• Suffolk’s All-Age Autism Strategy
• Refugee and Asylum Seeker Integration
• How the National Grid’s Sea Link project will affect the communities of Suffolk

The Engaged Communities Group has also provided funding to support eligible VCFSE organisations, through the:

• contain outbreak management fund
• refugee and asylum seeker integration fund.

Expectations for funded organisations

Groups and organisations seeking funding must be a constituted body with a bank account requiring two signatories. However, the Engaged Communities group understands there are small groups working in Suffolk undertaking valuable and impactful work who do not meet these criteria but may wish to be part of this. In these instances, they are encouraged to partner with a larger organisation or to contact Community Action Suffolk on 01473 345400 or email info@communityactionsuffolk.org.uk who may be able to undertake some match-making.

All organisations with projects funded through the Engaged Communities Group will be required to:

1. Attend the ‘Engaged Communities Group – Information & Feedback Session’ which occurs on the last Thursday of every month, via Microsoft Teams. The group meeting is from 10.30-12.00pm. If you are unable to attend the meeting, please send a substitute where possible. The series of MS Teams invites will be sent to you once your project has been approved, if you do not already have these in your diary. During these meetings there will be the opportunity for you to provide a verbal update on the progress of your project and the feedback from your communities on your project. You will be expected to provide a short, written update on the progress of your project and outcomes achieved to date, in advance of the meeting.
2. Provide updates on key issues/concerns within your community and contribute to the discussions during the meetings to ensure the voice of your community is heard. We want to ensure those seldom-heard voices are captured and shared with the relevant Suffolk system partners to drive change forward.
3. Cascade relevant messages to your community(s).
4. Collaboration with other VCFSE partners is encouraged and promoted through this group.
5. Complete ‘End of project report’ to detail the outcomes of your project and the benefits which were realised during the project. The project report will be sent to you at the end of your project.

How applications will be reviewed

All application forms received via the CCB@suffolk.gov.uk inbox will be reviewed by an Engaged Communities Strategic Group.

If further information on your application is required, a member of the Strategic Group will be in touch to discuss.

We will respond to all applications as soon as possible. Once funding has been received, we will expect your project work to start immediately, and you will be required to meet all expectations detailed above in ‘Expectations for funded organisations’.