Community Engagement
Martin Yarnit is a member of the team led by Prof. Marj Mayo who wrote the Joseph Rowntree Foundation report on Community Engagement and Community Cohesion. This makes a strong case for integrating these two policy strands at national and local level. It also contains examples of ‘promising’ practice in the three areas we studied in depth: Oldham, Newham and Coventry. Jane Foot – another member of the team – and Martin Yarnit’s piece about the report was published in New Start.
Liz Cousins has developed strong working links with the voluntary sector in Nottinghamshire. With Martin Yarnit she reviewed the capacity of the sector to meet the training needs of young people aged 14-19. Recently she facilitated the development of a federation of volunteer centres across the County, acting as a change agent. Earlier she had written a plan for the development of a volunteering infrastructure for the county in response to the national Change Up programme for the voluntary and community sector.
During 2003 Martin Yarnit worked with a partnership of community organisations and key agencies to re-shape local training provision in the Broxtowe area of Nottingham. The results are regarded as a model for other areas of the city.
Martin Yarnit has worked with Ann Selby and NIACE colleagues to draw up a plan for Government Office West Midlands to recognise the achievement of residents involved in regeneration. He devised a community engagement plan for Leeds Initiative, the LSP, with Perry Walker of the New Economics Foundation. He contributed a paper on Learning in Community Organisations to a seminar series run by LSDA and Demos.
Examples of work are displayed below.