People committed to helping build up bay’s communities

As our community builders have been active in Torbay for eight years, most of you will have met them and many of you will have attended groups or events facilitated by them.

- ANDREW WADE

You know what they do: meet people, find out what interests them, make connections with groups of like-minded residents and introduce others to them.

But what is the philosophy or principle behind what they do and how they do it? This column offers a brief snapshot of the theory behind what community builders do. For some time, there has been increasing recognition that some of the most meaningful changes in our communities come from the relationships between neighbours. At the heart of this approach is what is called asset-based community development (ABCD). Our community builders are at the forefront of this ABCD approach.

ABCD is a way of working that focuses on:

» Strengths: Every community has skills, knowledge and experience. Community builders help uncover these strengths, some hidden, and connect people for the benefit of the neighbourhood