Community Anchor |

Now FULLY BOOKED – Communities Managing Change Event »

PLEASE NOTE – This event is now FULLY BOOKED. We will aim to get resources and information online as soon as the event as possible.

May 8, 2012 | Posted in Events,Featured | Read More »

Green Deal Needs ‘Neighbourhood Gateways’ »

Social enterprises and enterprising voluntary groups could play a vital role in delivering the government’s Green Deal policy to help householders invest in energy efficiency. Work led by Localise West Midlands, iSE and a number of neighbourhood groups in Birmingham and funded by Local Energy Assessment Fund shows how these groups could work as ‘neighbourhood gateways’ helping to seal the Green Deal with householders. Evaluation carried out by Chamberlain Forum suggests neighbourhood gateways have the potential to increase take-up of energy efficiency measures, create sustainable jobs in neighbourhoods and play an important part in reducing fuel poverty.

May 3, 2012 | Posted in Featured,News | Read More »

Set up a Neighbourhood Website »

Neighbourhood Forums, Community First panels and other groups interested in setting up local websites in Birmingham are invited to take up support from Chamberlain Forum and Community Network 4 Birmingham. Any local group can set up, and get support to manage, a neighbourhood website for free as part of a project to extend local websites to cover 100 city neighbourhoods.

March 29, 2012 | Posted in Events,Featured,Resources | Read More »

Community Resilience and Self Help »

Chamberlain Forum’s 2011-12 programme focuses on Community Resilience and Self-Help.

March 19, 2012 | Posted in Policy | Read More »

Community First – Where and How? »

Community First is the new £80m government-funded programme that will run for four years, until March 2015. Despite some quirks relating to where the new fund will be available, it might actually ‘do what it says on the tin’ and start, in a small way, the practice of putting communities in the driving seat.

October 6, 2011 | Posted in Featured,News | Read More »

Theories of Community Strength »

What’s stopping stronger communities? Places where public services are done with citizens – and not to them? What are the missing rungs on the ladder of local coproduction? Theories of Community Strength is the result of a year long research project into the nuts and bolts of civil society undertaken by Chamberlain Forum and residents [...]

August 16, 2011 | Posted in Featured | Read More »

What We Do

Chamberlain Forum helps civil society and local authorities to coproduce better places to live. We are non-profit, politically independent and proudly based in Birmingham.

We organise Chamberlain Lectures featuring speakers including Prime Minister David Cameron. We also organise Resident University - a peer and shared learning programme for people who live and work in neighbourhoods.

We promote and develop community networks as social capital builders, including by supporting Community Network 4 Birmingham

We support action to strengthen local civil society including through: community asset transfers; neighbourhood websites; mediation and facilitation; training and business planning.

We organise action research into aspects of coproduction and are delivering an 18 month programme, Communities Managing Change, funded by Barrow Cadbury Trust.

Chamberlain Forum Limited acts as a consultancy delivering a wide range of 'thinking and doing' services for clients including local authorities, housing associations, development trusts, health and social care bodies, local strategic partnerships and voluntary and community groups.