Earlier this year Together for Change organised a conference called ‘Better Together’ with the aim of bringing people together to create new networks and alliances in order to strengthen the ability of Welsh communities to act for the people who live in them.
Together for Change is a social enterprise that exists to support and organise on the ground activity, community development and activism. The organisation was originally founded in Pembrokeshire, and after securing funding in 2022 the enterprise has now grown to become one which operates nationally to ensure that good ideas are heard and shared and enacted as programmes that ensure real change in people’s lives. They strongly believe that bringing people together to share research and policy proposals and ensuring that community voices are heard in that process, is essential to making positive social change possible.
The aim of the ‘Better Together’ conference was to put this philosophy to work. Third sector organisations, public service providers and community groups were brought together to try and find new ways of strengthening collaboration across communities and institutions in Wales in order to ensure that the wellbeing work already underway in Wales is more effective.
According to the organisers, the contributions during the event clearly demonstrated the growing challenges that community organisations face while trying to undertake their work. The need to strengthen connections, improve evidence of the situations facing communities and the urgent need for action to get to grips with severe challenges were also noted.
Among the main themes outlined during the session were:
- A lack of policy follow-through and evaluation of policy frameworks in times of crisis.
- Wales’ strong tradition of community action as a foundation for more radical collaboration.
- Opportunities to deepen relationships between Higher and Further Education and communities.
- The importance of supporting networks and knowledge exchange through resources like Arsyllfa Cymru: Observatory Wales.
- The energy and optimism in the room to continue working together.
Following the meeting, a paper was published outlining some of the themes and details of the days discussions, which includes a contribution from Professor Mike Woods from Aberystwyth University, Director of the Rural Wales LPIP. You can read the document in it’s entirety by following this link.
Together for Change also produced a fideo that documents the day that you can view below.
Better Together: Building networks and an alliance for stronger communities in Wales
Together for Change is keen to hear contributions from a broad range of individuals, community groups and organisations. If you want to be a part of the discussion regarding the work, go to their website to learn more or send an e-mail to post@tfc.cymru.
