Community Champions

Community Champions are people from local areas who make a positive difference by helping others. They are real people of all ages and backgrounds who have the time, commitment and skills to offer support. Some have professional backgrounds and use those skills as a volunteer. Others are "expert by experience" or have developed their skills through training. Community Champions are available to help with lots of different issues.

Community Champions are supported to work alongside services to provide support to local people. They are not constrained by targets or budgets, but can get on with helping people. They do not replace or displace any service that should already be available. The aim of the project is to make life better for people and usually this means working co-operatively with others.

Locality Links CIC can find new champions, provide support and match them up with people who need their help. The Locality Links team coordinate the service and sort resources including training, finding rooms and making sure that champions' expenses are covered. The champions help lead the project. They decide what they will do, how and where and they ask for changes to be made to enable them to do that. The Locality Links team then make the arrangements, usually in partnership with other services.

Locality Links co-ordinates Champions to meet regularly with each other and with partners and also keep in touch with each other in their neighbourhoods.

Community Champions can get involved in some of all of the following:

  • • Help to share information with neighbours in their street by delivering regular newsletters
  • • Support people in their local community, including family members, to build their confidence and encourage them to join in new activities
  • • Help elderly neighbours or people with disabilities to be more active by being an activity buddy, for example accompanying them to a sports club
  • • Encourage people who have dropped out of regular activity to start up again by bringing together like-minded people, identifying opportunities and providing motivation
  • • Help run a local activity session by assisting with registration, or being a community walk leader.

Champions are supported to:

  • • Develop and learn new skills through formal training
  • • Receive support, advice and guidance from Locality Links at our District Volunteer Hubs