Building Capacity and Increasing Community Resilience
QPCO grew from the ground up in one of the most multicultural wards in Bedford. While our work now extends across Bedford, we remain true to the belief that building capacity and self-sufficiency within our communities enriches our society and reduces barriers for many people.
The overarching aim of the project is to set up primary groups that provide safe spaces, improve access, and open communication between these groups and statutory and non-statutory organisations.
What is a ‘primary group’?
They are characterised by:
- Cultural familiarity, which helps vulnerable people feel comfortable and safe enough to attend – in some cases, even physically.
- Opportunities for fellowship, allowing connections to form more organically.
- Language accessibility, ensuring that people are surrounded by familiar sounds and are able to express their needs and understand advice easily.
We develop community-tailored safe spaces designed to act as stepping stones for under-represented communities. The project will build stronger collaboration to bring and keep people together, develop community infrastructure such as networks, shared resources, and coordinated approaches, and support infrastructure organisations that help other groups thrive.
The social changes and aims of this project are to:
1-Increase and develop partnerships between diverse communities, supporting community cohesion across Bedford.
2-Give diverse communities—especially those most likely to be isolated and living in deprived areas of Bedford—a sense that they are cared for and valued. This is especially important in the aftermath of the recent extreme right-wing riots, which have targeted communities based on faith and racial identity.
3-Increase socialising within communities.
4-Open communication and networking opportunities between communities and statutory and non-statutory organisations.
5-Increase trust among the hardest-to-reach communities. This is desperately needed following the recent riots, which have left many community members feeling unwelcome, unsafe, and even fearful for their lives.
Thank you to the Co-operative for selecting us as one of your projects for 2023. The money raised through this initiative will support our capacity-building work in 2024.
