Rotherham – Building Stronger Communities

Shokat Lal

Assistant Chief Executive

The Jay Report

The challenges

• The national profile

• Increase in hate crime – community tensions

• The process of healing and rebuilding

• Different communities – different perspectives

• Community relationships with the council & other

agencies – a place of mistrust and lack of confidence

• Finding the community ‘change makers’

• What is it we want to achieve?

Building Stronger Communities

What do we mean:

“People living and working in harmony, with a shared sense of community spirit – having

respect for each other as citizens and respect for Rotherham as a place.”

Themes:

• A strong civic community and pride of place

• Bringing people together

• Our rights and responsibilities towards each

other

• Expand opportunity and economic security

Underpinning the work

Building Stronger

Communities

Neighbourhood Working

Faith Leaders

Political Leadership

Controlling Migration

Fund

Voluntary Sector

Rotherham Together

Partnership

What we are doing

• Building Stronger Communities forum

• Honest and challenging conversations

• Ward profiles that go beyond the demographics

• Redefining neighbourhood working

• Community engagement – series of ‘roadshows’

• Developing the Rotherham values

• Developing the feedback loop

What we are doing

• Launch of small grants fund

• Opportunity with Controlling Migration Fund

• Building Stronger Communities Officer – new

post

• New role of Community Co-ordinators and

Navigators

• Embedding the work through service plans,

training and our values and behaviours

Thank You

Shokat.Lal@rotherham.gov.uk