A variety of organisations and individuals came together recently to explore how we can all collaborate more effectively to share information and work together to promote the growth and awareness of community-led housing (CLH) development in the UK. The Building and Social Housing Foundation (BSHF) hosted the event which is being supported by the Nationwide Foundation, to explore the potential benefits and possibility of creating a unified ‘Community Housing Alliance’.
Broad agreement was reached on key priorities:
- A Public Relations campaign to raise awareness of CLH – involving a new level of coordination and focus to the media shared by the various participant organisations, facilitated by Full Stop Communications (through Nationwide Foundation funding).
- A more integrated communications structure for member organisations to deal with press and policy enquiries – perhaps with the role of a CLH spokesperson.
- To coordinate on areas of shared organisational policy, allowing us to pool advocacy resources where possible. This approach will allow member organisations to pull together on share goals, yet retain autonomy for divergent policy agendas.
This is a very exciting opportunity for the UKCN to raise the profile of cohousing in the UK in coordination with the broader community led housing movement and we are confident that the unique character and voice of cohousing will be heard more clearly to a wider audience.
We want members to provide stories that highlight the successes and challenges within the cohousing community. Share all you can about community-led housing activity with Full Stop Communications. Please help them to be the loudhailer for the movement:
o What’s happening?
o Why is it happening?
o Help us understand the people behind the projects
Use #communityledhousing whenever possible to generate shared momentum
Use existing networks & resources to help generate attention
Share good practice among early adopters (Local Authorities/Housing Associations)
Email: david@fullstopcommunications.co.uk or stephenie@fullstopcommunications.co.uk
Share to Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/CommunityLedHousing/
https://www.facebook.com/Community-Led-Housing-Matters-168181360209583/
Share to Twitter with @CommLedHousing: https://twitter.com/CommLedHousing