Find out what the community wants
 Researching
the views of people around you is vital You've been
selected to represent your community on a local authority working
party and you can't wait to get started. You've come up with a
list a mile long of things that you think need to be changed and
you think you're ready for your first meeting. But are you?
It's easy to think that as a member of the community - living
and perhaps even working in it every day - you know all the key
issues and how other members of the community feel about them.
But that's not necessarily true. If you are planning to represent
your community - whether it's on a working party, a board of trustees
or a Local Strategic Partnership - you can't just assume you know
what they want, you have to actively find out. Here's how...
- Knock on doors
The simplest and sometimes most effective way of finding out
what people want is by knocking on their door and asking them.
Once they find out you're not trying to sell them something,
most people are keen to get their concerns off their chest.
On the down side, it can be very time consuming and unless you
cover the entire area, it may not be that representative of
all sections of the community.
- Hold meetings
If you can't go out to speak to people, get them to come to
you. Hold a meeting in a central location, easily accessible
to all, and invite people along to voice their opinions. Make
sure it's well-publicised beforehand by putting up posters in
places such as doctors' and dentists surgeries, community centres
and newsagents.
- Gather views in relevant places
If you're representing the community's views on a specific issue,
go to the places where you think people who are interested in
the issue will be. For example, if you're on a working party
looking at pre-school education, go to parent and toddler groups
and ask for their opinions or ask around in the local park's
playground.
- Attend local events
Events such as jumble sales, school fetes, talks and concerts
can be excellent ways to meet people from all different sections
of the community and find out their concerns. You don't need
to interrogate them on specific issues, just by listening to
people chatting, you can get a feel for what makes them angry
or pleased about the area.
- Put up posters inviting comments
If you don't have a lot of time available to spend going round
to people's houses or attending events, try putting up a poster
asking people to phone, email or write to you with their comments.
You could even leave a suggestion box underneath the poster
for people to put their comments in. Make sure you put them
in busy places accessible by all sections of the community such
as doctors surgeries, community centres and parish halls, otherwise
you'll find the response rate is low.
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