{"id":6746,"date":"2021-03-03T16:12:28","date_gmt":"2021-03-03T16:12:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/faithbeliefforum.org\/?p=6746"},"modified":"2021-03-03T16:12:28","modified_gmt":"2021-03-03T16:12:28","slug":"walsall-community-dialogue-project-update","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/faithbeliefforum.org\/walsall-community-dialogue-project-update\/","title":{"rendered":"Walsall Community Dialogue Project\u00a0Update"},"content":{"rendered":"

This\u00a0<\/span>Spring\u00a0<\/span>brings an end to<\/span>\u00a0the<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Wals<\/span>all For All\u00a0<\/span>Community Dialogue Project<\/span><\/a>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Since it began in September 2019,\u00a0<\/span>the project has seen through the global pandemic – in delivery<\/span>,\u00a0<\/span>an online redesign and three lockdowns<\/span>!<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Needless to\u00a0<\/span>say,\u00a0<\/span>we<\/span>\u00a0are proud of\u00a0<\/span>all of<\/span>\u00a0the\u00a0<\/span>committed staff and part<\/span>i<\/span>cipa<\/span>nts<\/span>\u00a0who have\u00a0<\/span>persevered and\u00a0<\/span>continued to en<\/span>g<\/span>age with the project<\/span>\u00a0throughout\u00a0<\/span>all of<\/span>\u00a0these changes and challenges<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A<\/span>s we head into\u00a0<\/span>March,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>we will<\/span>\u00a0be focusing on some<\/span>\u00a0digital art<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>dialogue sessions with a local artist<\/span>\u00a0who will help participants engage with the<\/span>\u00a0project<\/span>\u00a0themes<\/span>\u00a0i<\/span>n a more creative way. We\u00a0<\/span>are also working with participants\u00a0<\/span>and partners<\/span>, such as Near Neighbours<\/a> and Transforming Communities Together<\/a>,\u00a0<\/span>to explore ways to continue bringing communities together after the project\u00a0<\/span>has ended.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The project<\/span>, funded by<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Walsall For All<\/span><\/a>\u00a0and<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government<\/span><\/a>,\u00a0<\/span>was designed to\u00a0<\/span>bring people together<\/span>\u00a0from\u00a0<\/span>different parts<\/span>\u00a0of Walsall<\/span>\u00a0to engage in co<\/span>nversations about\u00a0<\/span>identity<\/span>, diversity, belonging and living together. <\/span><\/p>\n

Volunteer\u00a0<\/span>Community<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Connectors from<\/span>\u00a0across Walsall<\/span>\u00a0were trained to\u00a0<\/span>facili<\/span>t<\/span>ate<\/span>\u00a0a series of dialogue sessions between their own community and a group from another community.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Throughout the\u00a0<\/span>different phases<\/span>\u00a0of the\u00a0<\/span>18-month<\/span>\u00a0project,\u00a0<\/span>we have<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>run<\/span>\u00a08 Community Connector Training<\/span>s<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0engaged\u00a0<\/span>24<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>different groups, delivered 47 dialogue sessions and engaged\u00a0Walsall residents<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>at different points of the project<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Highlights from the project have included seeing friendships develop between groups from backgrounds that had never met before, connections that will continue beyond the end of the project. Similarly, it has been rewarding to watch\u00a0<\/span>Community Connectors develop their confidence in delivering online dialogue\u00a0<\/span>and\u00a0<\/span>also<\/span>\u00a0to\u00a0<\/span>hear how individual part<\/span>i<\/span>cipants have benefit<\/span>ted from\u00a0<\/span>the social contact<\/span>, learning and discussion provide<\/span>d<\/span>\u00a0by t<\/span>he project.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Another inspiring\u00a0<\/span>outcome has<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>been seeing<\/span>\u00a0how the Dialogue Project<\/span>\u00a0inspired participants to set up their own online initiatives such as groups and podcasts.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

“It’s very, very nice to talk to strangers.\u00a0 You’d never discuss these subjects with the people you meet in the street and be completely honest!”\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

To learn more about our project, please look out for our online Project Show<\/a><\/span>case which will be coming soon on the F&BF website<\/a>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This\u00a0Spring\u00a0brings an end to\u00a0the\u00a0Walsall For All\u00a0Community Dialogue Project.\u00a0Since it began in September 2019,\u00a0the project has seen through the global pandemic<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":6747,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,67],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/faithbeliefforum.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6746"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/faithbeliefforum.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/faithbeliefforum.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/faithbeliefforum.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/faithbeliefforum.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6746"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/faithbeliefforum.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6746\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6748,"href":"https:\/\/faithbeliefforum.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6746\/revisions\/6748"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/faithbeliefforum.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6747"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/faithbeliefforum.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6746"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/faithbeliefforum.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6746"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/faithbeliefforum.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6746"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}