The first South LWN meeting took place today at the offices of Voluntary Action Islington and set the tone for what this group is looking to achieve. Here is a round-up of the meeting, complete with attendee and organisational info which we hope will promote further networking and awareness of the fantastic community stakeholders collaborating for a better borough.
After an initial welcome, Local Wellbeing Networks Coordinator, Charlton Brown introduced the project and briefly discussed its formation within Islington council and the partnership objective between Voluntary Action Islington and Octopus Community Networks. Charlton briefed attendees on the work undertaken so far regarding the upskilling of Islington community members via the Community Organising training and Community Change-Makers campaign that is currently underway (more detail on that here).
After which, the attendees took time to introduce themselves, their organisation and what they were hoping to achieve by joining the LWN and how it could impact their respective communities. See below for a list of attendees, their organisation and their contact information:
Alexis White, St. Luke’s Community Centre – AWhite@slpt.org.uk
Anya Hiley, Bright futures – anya.hiley@islington.gov.uk
Denise Marshall, Islington Healing Network – denise_marshall@hotmail.co.uk
Judy Hallgarten, North London Cares – judy.hallgarten@northlondoncares.org.uk
Michael Ryan, St. Luke’s Community Centre – mryan@slpt.org.uk
Patrick Penny-Annang, Barnsbury Housing Association – patrick@barnsbury.org
Penny Seal, King Square TRA/Friends of Kings Square gardens pennyseal75@gmail.com
Sophie Eels, Better Space – betterspace@city.ac.uk
Tayyaba Siddiqui, Gingerbread Organisation – N1gingerbreadgroup@gmail.com
After a short break, the group engaged in discussion around the south locality’s pressing issues and what each member saw ‘on the ground’. Members deliberated over how this group could influence current social issues and utilise the strengths of the collective and keep one another abreast of upcoming events and relevant services. Topics identified included poverty, mental health, isolation and employment. After which, the meeting concluded by setting the agenda for next month which will centre around tangible action and how this group can build on an initial foundation of positivity, commitment and compassion and move to address the issues previously mentioned.
Next month’s meeting will take place on Thursday 7th July, 1-3PM at Better Space (EC1R 3DA), you can register here.