World Cafes and Mutual Gain – Gainsborough

A new pilot project will give people in four communities the power to make significant changes to their local areas through grant funding, says a community development worker.

World Café events – which are designed to bring people together so they can discuss their needs, concerns, and opportunities for change – will be held at Sutton Bridge, Sleaford, Skegness, and South West Ward, Gainsborough in the coming weeks.

They have been created as part of the Lincolnshire Police‘s Mutual Gain Project, which you can read about in more detail here.

One of the events will take place on the 18th of September, between 1pm and 3pm at the x-church in Gainsborough.

What is a World Café event and how does it work?

They are a catalyst to help build networks and something called social capital – which relates to developing a culture of trust, shared values, care, and supportive networks.

Throughout the process of planning and delivery, we will become aware of activities, projects, and services, hopefully, creative, innovative, challenging, and exciting, that may not have previously been highlighted.

World Cafés give us the opportunity to listen and capture the experiences, insights, and thoughts of the community.

The ‘Café’ increases opportunities for networking and making connections, there are many examples in which groups established through this process have continued to prosper and create increased friendships, the most important aspects of the World Cafe.

On arrival at the World Café, participants will walk into a room that looks, smells, and sounds like a Café.

They will be sat at tables with a trained facilitator, or table host, and will be asked a series of questions that relate to the purpose of the World Café.

At the conclusion of the day we, together, will have voiced our concerns, worries and ambitions and begun the plan for change. The ‘World Café’ cannot just be ‘talk’, it is the catalyst for community driven change.

The next stages are called participatory budgeting events. Where you as a community decide what you want to do, and how you want to spend your money.

The county lead and contact for this programme is mark.housley@lincs.police.uk. If you are a member of the community, elected member, business or just interested please contact him on the above.