Changes News

Axis of Influence - in the news!

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 16:59:08 +0200

‘The axis of influence’ is a tool which helps community groups and networks to assess and improve the influence they have on agencies and partnerships. The ‘axis’ plots existing capacity to influence against how influential the group feels. It can be used to: assess and monitor community influence, prompt discussion and debate within groups and help plan how to become more influential.

"If this was America you’d be paying a fortune for the information and know-how that’s contained here. This model is indispensable for any organisation serious about making an impact".

(comment from recent 'Axis of Influence' facilitator training)

NCVO has recently included an article on the Axis of Influence in their newsletter - read all about it here: axis article. The 'resource pack' mentioned in the article is currently being developed and will be available to purchase in the near future but you can download the handbook here: axis handbook

Contact us to talk to us about commissioning a course for people in your area who work with community groups and networks to learn about the axis and how to use it

Training news

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 16:39:02 +0200

We have just produced a short leaflet outlining the different training courses we currently offer for commissioning - click here to download!

Closing the Gap

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 13:57:54 +0200

This Briefing Paper brings together the two models developed in the research to form a framework which illustrates the relationship between women's development and organisational change (see papers below)

Download the Closing the Gap Briefing Paper here

Organisations and Structures

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 13:56:20 +0200

This Briefing Paper summarises the WTP findings in relation to organisations supporting women's involvement in public life and presents a typology or continuum of organisational steps

Download the Organisations & Structures Briefing Paper here

Women's Journeys

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 13:54:19 +0200

This Briefing Paper summarises the WTP findings in relation to a model of women's journeys to being active, critical citizens

Download the Women's Journeys Briefing Paper here

Learning, Support & Development

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 13:50:54 +0200

This briefing paper summarises the Women Take Part (WTP) findings in relation to the learning, support and development opportunities available to women

Download the Learning, Support & Development Briefing Paper here

Axis of Influence - training for facilitators

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 13:28:04 +0200

The Axis of Influence is a huge hit with community groups and facilitators alike.... a recent training participant says "I'm convinced from what I learnt at your seminar that this is the way forward for community involvement. As an old boss of mine used to say:"If you're not keeping score, you're only practising"

This 2-day course aims for facilitators to:

learn about the Axis of Influence � what it looks like and how to use it
understand how the Axis works and its different applications
become familiar with the Axis so that you can prompt discussion and debate in the groups you work with
explore the 10 steps to influence and learn about indicators of influence

The course can accommodate upto 16 people and relevant materials are included in the cost.

Cost: £2,000 + expenses + VAT

Community Engagement Training

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 13:13:44 +0200

This popular course explores what community engagement is and how to ‘do it better’. It considers the social and policy contexts of community engagement, issues and challenges as well as different approaches to community engagement. Participants are encouraged to share ideas, issues and strategies with others wanting to get to grips with community engagement.

Participants from the last community engagement course we ran said:

"Excellent. Very accessible and grounded in practical experience"

"Made me reflect, think and evaluate what my work is trying to achieve"

"Good fun .. sociable"

Running as part of our 2008 Training Programme on themes relating to community empowerment, this course will run on 7th October in Birmingham. Cost is £120+VAT

Download a booking form

Active Citizenship Training

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 13:10:43 +0200

What does active citizenship mean, why is it important to policy makers and communities and how does it link to community engagement? How can we encourage and support people to be active citizens? How can we move to a more energised, authentic democratic society?

Running as part of our 2008 Training Programme on themes relating to community empowerment, this course will run on 23rd September in Birmingham. Cost is £120+VAT

Download more information here ... and a booking form

How open to influence are public agencies?

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 21:28:07 +0200

changes recently undertook a piece of research to explore and develop a framework for public agencies to use to consider how open they are to community influence. We have called the framework 'echo' to reflect its relationship to our 'Axis of Influence'.

echo recognises the restrictions that may be in place for these agencies and so includes an aspect which considers their 'potential to respond'. Our experience suggests there is huge interest in this and you can download a copy of the research report here.