Future Cotmanhay Community Connector
Job Details
- Job Title: Future Cotmanhay Community Connector
- Salary: £23,296 (£16/hour)
- Contract: 28 hours per week
- Contract Duration: 2 Years
- Responsible to: Parkside High CIC and the Future Cotmanhay Board
Background to Future Cotmanhay and its Objectives
Parkside High CIC have been awarded funding to deliver a programme called Future Cotmanhay. The funding has come from East Midlands Combined County Authority, who identified Cotmanhay as one of 10 areas facing high levels of disadvantage and having fewer local community and voluntary organisations than other areas.
Cotmanhay can feel disconnected and left behind because many community assets have closed and there is a degree of mistrust from residents who have seen well-intentioned initiatives come and go.
Future Cotmanhay builds on our community’s strengths and existing initiatives, helping people to connect, collaborate, and be empowered to meet economic and social challenges.
The programme focuses on three key themes:
- Improving communications to build trust.
- Increasing resident participation to strengthen voice and agency.
- Expanding opportunities through volunteering.
Parkside High will deliver the programme over 24 months together with these key partners:
- Ilkeston Town FC
- P3
- Home-Start Erewash
- The Elka Project
- Cotmanhay Community Network
- Friends of Bennerley Viaduct
- Erewash Borough Council
The funding comes from a £3 million regional programme which aims to support communities facing social and economic challenges.
Plans for the Project
Plans for the Future Cotmanhay project include:
- The recruitment of 2 members of staff dedicated to the community of Cotmanhay, the Future Cotmanhay Community Connector and the Future Cotmanhay Outdoor Ranger.
- The creation of a Cotmanhay Community Assembly, where residents can share ideas and discuss local issues that are important to them.
- 30 volunteer opportunities for local people, with a focus on up-skilling local youth and supporting employability.
- £8K for a Community Chest to support local groups and organisations.
- The Future Cotmanhay project and investment will mobilise and empower residents to be in control of their own futures.
Connecting, communicating, and involvement are all key words which sum up the potential in Cotmanhay to rebuild trust and enable local people to have autonomy and self-determination. Future Cotmanhay is about enabling that process to start.
Some Background About Parkside High CIC
Parkside High CIC are a local grassroots youth organisation based in Ilkeston, Derbyshire. We offer a range of activities, support, and alternative learning opportunities for children and young people aged 8 to 18 years.
Our mission is to inspire, encourage, and support young people to unlock their inner potential and achieve success. Young people access the project to learn new skills whilst having fun and building new relationships.
We deliver programmes in:
- Sport
- Physical activity
- Youth leadership
- Outdoor adventure
- Forest schools
- Multi-media
- Art and music
- Volunteering
Parkside High deliver programmes across the Borough of Erewash and the wider area of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. We are based at The POD Youth & Community Centre in Ilkeston and have a second site, Garden61 Youth & Community Allotment.
The Role
This exciting new role will undertake community engagement in Cotmanhay, with the main focus being engagement with local residents.
You will work closely with the newly appointed Future Cotmanhay Outdoor Ranger and will have good local knowledge of Cotmanhay.
You will be a key advocate for Future Cotmanhay and its aims. You will engage directly with local partners and the Future Cotmanhay Community Assembly, building relationships with local partners including PCSOs, Cotmanhay community groups, and crucially, the residents of Cotmanhay.
The chosen candidate will make connections and new collaborations in the area and be creative in their thinking.
Regular community newsletters delivered to every household will keep residents informed, connected, and up to date with what is happening in Cotmanhay, supported by new noticeboards placed in key locations.
This will help reduce feelings of isolation, make it easier for everyone to take part in activities, and strengthen the sense of community identity.
The Cotmanhay Community Connector, together with project partners, will establish a Cotmanhay Community Assembly (CCA) to engage a broad cross-section of the community, ensuring that initiatives are shaped by residents rather than imposed on them.
The new Cotmanhay Connector role will link and support residents, acting as the glue which connects people and opportunity together, with a specific remit around volunteering, especially for youth.
Main Responsibilities
- Engage and consult local residents within Cotmanhay to establish positive relationships and learn what is important to them.
- Create the Cotmanhay Community Assembly (CCA), where members of the community can meet regularly to discuss issues, make decisions, share information, and strengthen relationships.
- Implement notice boards around the community of Cotmanhay to keep residents informed of the project and other activities in the area.
- Create and arrange distribution of a regular Cotmanhay Newsletter to all residents of Cotmanhay.
- Work closely with the newly appointed Outdoor Ranger.
- Gather data and feedback to Parkside High and the Future Cotmanhay Board on progress throughout the project.
- Monitor and evaluate the project.
- Increase the number of local volunteers and provide development and support for them.
- Develop inclusive local opportunities for residents to participate in.
- Build relationships with key partners and support collaborative working.
Essential Skills, Experience and Attitude
- Experience in community engagement and partner collaboration.
- Experience of facilitating groups for children, young people, and adults.
- An ability to bring a wide range of individuals and partners together for a mutual aim.
- Confident and not afraid to engage.
- An active listener.
- An advocate for the Cotmanhay community and its residents.
- Ability to engage with young people and adults on a level that brings the best out of them and supports positive change.
- Personal commitment to addressing the needs of young people and adults in Cotmanhay.
- Positive, resilient, and creative thinker.
- Good organisation skills and time management.
- Practical experience of planning and delivering community engagement activities.
- Professional, reliable, and considerate.
- Knowledge and experience of safeguarding, with additional training to be provided.
- Understanding of communities and the development of community voice.
- Knowledge and understanding of the development of volunteers.
- Competent in IT, including MS Office and Outlook.
Desirable Skills, Experience and Attitude
- Good local knowledge of Cotmanhay.
- Full UK driving licence.
- Experience of using evaluation tools and outcome measures to monitor impact.
- First Aid trained.
- Awareness of mental health and wellness issues faced by vulnerable young people and adults.
- Knowledge and understanding of social media marketing communications.
- Ability to lead, advise, and support colleagues and volunteers.
