What is the locality approach?
The locality approach is at the heart of Community Solutions: keeping people and communities as the focus, building relationships; focusing on and developing strengths; realising aspirations and ensuring a truly community-led approach. Community Solutions locality approach is based around the following six locations. During 2020-21 this will be adapted to link to the nine North Lanarkshire Community Planning Localities which are being established from August 2020.
- Airdrie
- Bellshill
- Coatbridge
- Cumbernauld and the North
- Motherwell
- Wishaw, Murdostoun and Fortissat.
Each locality has:-
Locality host organisation
The locality host organisation (also known as an anchor organisation), usually a well-connected, mature local community and voluntary sector organisation with a positive track record, is appointed to encourage the development and strengths of local community groups and voluntary organisations and to manage the locality activity fund (see below).
The role of the locality host is to:-
- Be the main local point of contact for all Community Solutions related activity;
- Facilitate consortium meetings and ensure they run smoothly;
- Coordinate the annual locality development plan;
- Provide support and encouragement to local community groups and voluntary organisations in all aspects eg proposal writing, delivery of project, evaluation;
- Support and monitor all Community Solutions activity across the locality;
- Work with VANL to ensure local activity fund is administered correctly;
- Be an active member of the North Lanarkshire wide Community Solutions consortium on behalf of the locality.
Locality consortium
The locality consortium is a network of local community and voluntary organisations, representatives from health and social care statutory services and people who use services and carers. The network helps to ensure that local people’s issues, needs and priorities are explored, understood and support decisions about services and funding.
The role of the locality consortium is:-
- Support preparation of a locality Community Solutions development plan;
- Provide support and encouragement to local community and voluntary organisations on issues such as development of new initiatives and services that support local people, securing funding, delivery and evaluation;
- Support Community Solutions monitoring, evaluation and learning.
Community Solutions Development Plan
Each Community Solutions locality produces an annual development plan which plan provides a summary of local needs and priorities of local people and communities and plans to support improvements in quality of life and wellbeing, aligned to the Community Solutions strategy.
Locality activity fund
Each locality has responsibility for managing and administering a fund of £30,000 per year which provides small grants to community groups and voluntary organisations to deliver a new or improved activity to improve local wellbeing.
For more information click on the locality name.