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Carol Latham to support the development of the Community Empowerment Practitioners' Forum

3 June 2010

Following the launch of the regional Community Empowerment Practitioners' Forum last year, it has become clear that the network needs dedicated support.

In order to drive forward this work and to increase the Community Empowerment Practitioners' Forum's strategic influence, VSNW has contracted Carol Latham, the Bolton Community Network and Partnerships Manager at Bolton CVS.

As part of VSNW's lottery funded work to increase the policy influence of the third sector, Carol is now VSNW's Regional Empowerment Practitioners’ Forum Lead and will work the equivalent of one day per week on behalf of the Forum. Carol will continue her current work at Bolton CVS.

The Forum is for paid practitioners working in the voluntary and community sector supporting local communities, groups and organisations to work together and influence local decision making. The Forum met on 2 June and had a very lively discussion: with the election of a new government these are interesting times for Community Empowerment. As a concept it is still in existence but we are still getting to grips with what it means in practice. Jane Groves from Government Office North West gave a brief on policies, proposals and new legislation. There are still lots of opportunities to influence the agenda and Forum members are keen to be part of any future discussions. Carol will be keeping members up to date on developments.

An action plan for the Forum is currently being agreed and will be on the VSNW website next week. Now is a great time to get involved. If you are not already signed up to the Forum contact Carol to register your membership. We are planning a big event around Community Empowerment in mid-September – watch this space. Carol can be contacted on carol.latham@vsnw.org.uk or 07587 631996.

Carol Latham - biography
Carol Latham has worked in the voluntary and community sector in the North West for over 15 years and for the last 8 has been the Community Network and Partnerships Manager for Bolton CVS. Carol has significant experience in empowering communities and has successfully overseen the development and expansion of Bolton’s Community Network to:

Provide a community engagement service to statutory partners, currently running a £150,000 a year project to support NHS Bolton to empower communities to take control of their own health
Run community engagement mechanisms in Bolton, e.g. forums and representation processes at a Local Strategic Partnership and Neighbourhood Renewal level
Provide community empowerment learning and development programmes for community activists in Bolton

Carol has been actively involved in the Third Sector Community Empowerment Practitioners Forum (and previously the NW Community Empowerment Network Forum) since it began and currently represents the Forum on the Board of the Regional Empowerment Partnership, North West Together We Can.

Carol’s contact details
Carol Latham
Regional Empowerment Practitioners’ Network Lead
Contact details: carol.latham@vsnw.org.uk
Tel: 07587 631996