We are committed to supporting communities to become strong, resilient, and sustainable.
To enable us to strengthen our support to communities further we have incorporated asset-based community development (ABCD) into our work.
An asset is anything that makes a community better it can be existing associations, contributions of residents or stories. ABCD builds on the assets that are found already in the community and empowers individuals, groups and organisations to come together to develop their strengths.
Our commitment to ABCD is based on the belief that people live more fulfilling lives when they have the power to shape their own outcomes and change things that matter to them. To help us achieve this asset based approach, we have employed two Community Builders through the Government's Containment Outbreak Management Fund and we are also working closely with a number of other Community Builders across the district.
Community Builders
We have a number of Community Builders working with residents and partners across the district, to strengthen community connections, with the aim of reducing isolation and improving health and wellbeing.
These roles form a key part of our strength-based approach to community development (also known as Asset Based Community Development or ABCD) and make links to supporting our Connected Communities strategy.
Meet our Community Builders – watch our short introductory video on YouTube
Pictured (left-right) – Pete Smith, Linda Price and Sue Martyr
Emily Johnson (Malvern Hills District Council)
Emily is based at Malvern Hills District Council and works across the whole of the district. Emily is part-time and normally works in the district on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.
'Hi, I am Emily. I truly believe building a better community network will create better opportunities and really help with improving long term mental health. I am passionate about art and creativity and creating different opportunities for all age groups to gain skills and meet like-minded people; whether that's connecting a teenager struggling in school to find a new passion or an adult who feels their life is all about work to find a new hobby. Please get in touch.'
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Tel: 01684 862178
Susan Martyr (Malvern Hills District Council)
Sue is based at Malvern Hills District Council and works across the whole of the district. Sue is part-time and normally works in the district on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Tel: 01684 862455
Linda Price (Malvern Hills District Council)
Linda is based at Malvern Hills District Council and works across the whole of the district. Linda is part-time and normally works in the district on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.
‘I am delighted to have taken up the role after being a University Lecturer and Researcher mostly based in Rural Studies and have worked with farming/rural communities in the UK and abroad. I grew up on a family farm hence I have experience of agri-culture, countryside management and the opportunities and challenges of rural communities becoming more diverse. I would love to hear about any ideas you may have. Rural communities have changed so if you would like to talk about gathering community views, putting a project together or discuss an idea please do not hesitate to contact me.
When I am not working, I may be playing a cornet in a Brass Band or walking in our beautiful countryside with The Ramblers.’
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Tel: 01684 862165
Pete Smith (Malvern Hills District Council)
Pete is based at Malvern Hills District Council and works across the whole of the district. Pete is part-time and normally works in the district on Mondays and Tuesdays.
‘Hi, I am Pete. I know that that the best people to help build stronger communities are communities themselves and I know that there’s a wealth of talent and enthusiasm out there. Our job as community builders is to support people to come together to help harness that enthusiasm – it could be setting up a local walking group, developing a community garden, anything that helps develop the community and (in particular) helps to reduce isolation. My particular background is in economic development and business support, but I am happy and keen to support and make those connections wherever it helps to strengthen our communities across Malvern Hills.’
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Tel: 01684 862164
Dana Hughes and Bryan Craven (Malvern Town Football Club)
Dana and Bryan are employed by and based at Malvern Town Football Club and support the local community of Pickersleigh and surrounds. They are keen to hear any ideas you have to help the community of Pickersleigh. Please get in touch.
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Tel: Dana on 01684 564746 or Bryan on 07878959731
Georgie Guy (Age UK Worcester and Malvern Hills)
Georgie is employed by Age UK and works across the district, especially the more rural villages such as Martley, Clifton, Wichenford and Alfrick.
Georgie is both a Community Builder and Information & Advice Community Outreach worker, running free surgeries across the county for over 50s in village halls, dementia centres, our Age UK shops and many more venues. These are a chance for you to get answers to any queries you may have on a wide range of topics including benefits and form filling, welfare, your home, social care, tradespeople, signposting to other services and more. Contact Georgie as follows.
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Tel: 03301647010
Connected Communities Fund and Spacehive
As part of this ABCD approach, we have launched a £500,000 fund has been created to strengthen and develop the district's communities following the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Connected Communities Fund will be used to support our aim to transform the way we work with residents, voluntary and community organisations.
The fund will be used to support projects around the themes of places, people and supporting charities and social enterprises.
Projects will be brought forward to consider for funding but some of the money will initially be spent on a new crowdfunding scheme to continue the council's investment in community projects. There will also be a new digital platform to improve engagement with residents so they play a greater role in how their neighbourhood develops.
Connected to this, we have made £150,000 available as part of the People Make Places Fund through Crowdfund Worcestershire over the next three years to support innovative and sustainable community transport projects across the district. View more information on SpaceHive website.
Other existing funds include the £150,000 People Make Places: Ticket to Ride Fund and the £19,000 Malvern Hills District Council Ward Budget.
Connected Communities Strategy
The new Connected Communities strategy, created by Malvern Hills District Council, was approved by councillors at an Executive Committee meeting on Tuesday 23 November 2021.
pdf Connected Communities Strategy (designed pdf version) (8.35 MB)
document Connected Communities Strategy (accessible word version) (51 KB)
The strategy forms part of their Five-Year Plan commitment to ‘develop and implement an asset-based community development strategy which supports the building of strong, resilient and sustainable communities.’
The plan aims to focus on ‘what’s strong, not what’s wrong’ whilst also adopting an asset-based community development (ABCD) approach to its work. The strategy is based around three central themes of healthier, safer and inclusive, stronger and sustainable communities. Watch a presentation about the Connected Communities Strategy
Connecting with your community
As well as connecting with your Community Builders, Parish councils are your grassroots local councils, run by councillors who volunteer their time to make their community a better place. They work towards improving community wellbeing and providing better services.
Your councillors meet regularly as a parish council and welcome attendance and participation from the communities they serve. Meetings are advertised, but you can contact the parish council clerk for dates and times of the forthcoming meetings. Parish councils also get involved in lots of projects with their communities. Working groups are made up of parish councillors and community representatives working on a specific project, such as setting up a new local shop, carrying out a parish plan or helping to develop a neighbourhood plan. Get involved or find out more on the Parish Council webpage.
Some examples of communities working together are:
- Learn about Adopt a Street
- Read about the Good Neighbour Network
- Learn about the Neighbourhood Watch
- View the Malvern Welcomes webpage
To help us shine a spotlight on asset-based community development we have commissioned a short film that showcases some of the brilliant community organisations and groups across the district already working effectively in this way. Watch the Connected Communities video.