Ethos - DOC (developing Our Communities)
The Community Enterprise Centre Cottingham Road, Hull HU5 2DH 01482 854550 (option 1)
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Registered office
The Community Enterprise Centre, Cottingham Road, Hull HU5 2DH.
Company number 3111401.
Registered in England and Wales.
Registered as a charity in the United Kingdom
Charity number 1086502
Our Approach to Community Development
Community Development is about change in society, in communities, in groups and individuals. It is about the way in which change is brought about. We work from people’s experiences; their own stories of pain and joy as they express them. This takes time and trust and, given these, builds confidence and a sense of self-worth and possibility of change. The community development approach is about learning by doing, so that people can develop skills, knowledge and experience to achieve their shared objectives. It encourages participation and democracy in community life. We try to work in partnership with groups, enabling development according to their needs and wishes and at their own pace, provided that this does not oppress other groups or communities or damage the environment. These groups may either be based in particular localities or around “Communities of Interest”. We work to enable people and communities to take control of and own responsibility for their own lives and the life of their community. We will work with them to tackle the causes of social injustice shown through poverty, ill health, poor housing, non-participation, etc. We are therefore concerned with the transfer of power to those who have little or none in local communities. Those who have power will need to enter genuine power sharing with those who do not. Community development is about the creation and support of ways and means, as well as practical initiatives, which enable real participation and the possibility of on-going challenge and change. We also work directly with institutions which hold power to achieve these changes. We seek to apply this principle in DOC by ensuring that our partnership with groups is meaningful and that they can fully participate and share power in our structures. We confront the attitudes and practices of individuals, groups and institutions which discriminate against any other. This is a way of workingand relating which is often informal and organic i.e. where new opportunities are sparked and change doesn’t necessarily come about the way we think it will. The approach itself changes and grows in the process and involves us all in vulnerability and risk. Our continuation strategy is to achieve sustainable and ongoing change controlled by communities in which we have used this approach.
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