National Community Organising Apprenticeship

The current context post-COVID has created the conditions for a ‘perfect storm’:

1. Economic insecurity and rising unemployment for those on low incomes

2. Rising numbers of individuals suffering from poor mental health caused by increased living pressures

3. Increased demand and reduced resources and capacity in local organisations and services

To weather this storm, there needs to be an investment in people and organisations in the most affected communities, that strengthens their leadership and problem solving capacity and catalyses community action. As Danny Kruger, MP, writes in his report for the Prime Minister, we need “horizontal networks, connected at nodes in the community which help people stitch together the combination of services and opportunities they need”. Community organisers and Social Action Hubs do exactly this, helping communities identify collective goals and work together to achieve them. Kruger goes on to recommended “a further investment in Community Organisers to help bring about the transformation in places that will only occur if it is led, and co-delivered, by local people.”