news Win a kindle!


ENGAGING with your local community could win you a new kindle.


For local well-being and health social enterprise ‘Our Life’, is offering Amazon’s best selling e-book reading device to one lucky entrant in an online survey. Our Life is running the survey of


community engagement practitioners to get a snapshot of the state and scale of their work across the country. “We believe that effective community engagement is vital for the successful delivery of services to the public,” said Matt Bowen, Our Life head of policy and research.


“With the Coalition government


increasing its focus on citizen empowerment and involvement, high- quality community engagement has never been so important.” The survey also aims to identify


how to ensure continued high quality community engagement in the future. All completed surveys will be entered


into a prize draw to win an Amazon Kindle. To take part in the survey visit www. surveymonkey.com/s/OurLifeCEsurvey.


Bolton mags open door to social enterprise


A


NEW collaboration between a busy magistrates’ court and a Bolton- based social enterprise has seen hard- to-reach adults getting support from voluntary and third sector organisations in Greater Manchester. Nexus Community Links CIC has


joined forces with Bolton Magistrates’ Court to create a special helpdesk, targeting low-level offenders, their families and friends. The scheme, launched


in January, has already seen a four-fold increase in referrals to external support agencies and the opportunity for a wider range of organisations to work with people who face social exclusion and are hard to engage with outside the court system. Bolton magistrates Legal Advisor


David Lawrence said: “We see many people in court who have problems with alcohol, drugs, housing, debt, mental health problems, racial and domestic


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abuse. In the past we directed about 10 people a month to the Citizens’ Advice Bureau or a local substance misuse agency, but we have had no system of monitoring whether the referrals resulted in a change of behaviour or even an attendance.”


Nexus Community Links CIC is managing the Bolton scheme, which is being developed to become an independent volunteer- led service. The Nexus team have developed new ways of engaging people in court, forging links with community service providers, and creating systems of monitoring referrals.


Elisabeth Long, CEO, of Nexus


Community Links CIC, said: “Our challenge is to create a signposting service and ensure that people are provided with time and support to help them gain confi dence to make positive changes. We provide a non-judgemental


Billy leads


the way BILLY, the mini Schnauzer is leading his owner Diane Clayton on a sponsored walk up Scafell Pike to raise money for Stockdales, the charity for children and adults with learning disabilities. The walk, on Saturday 14th May,


will be “a great day out” says organiser Natalie James “and you get to meet one of the cutest dogs around!” Contact Natalie James on 0161 973 2296 or by emailing natalie.james@ stockdales.org.uk


‘listening ear’, linking users to a broader range of support in their community.” Nexus has dealt with more than 40 cases in its fi rst four weeks of operation. Volunteers are receiving special training through the Bolton Time Bank volunteering scheme. “The level of interest has been phenomenal,” says Elisabeth. “We have had requests from ex-magistrates, students, private and public sector workers, and volunteers from other agencies to join us on the Court Helpdesk. We are well on the way to creating a community-led service, evolving to meet the needs of local people.”


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