The Sustainable Community Strategy 2008 - 2026 Consultation event.

On Thursday 23rd October WOW hosted a consultation event to discuss the Wolverhampton Sustainable Community Strategy 2008 to 2026.

The aim of the event was to explore the strategy and give the women of Wolverhampton the opportunity to talk with, network and ultimately influence decision makers from Wolverhampton Partnership.

Sam Axtel - Consultation and Community Involvement Officer and Craig Rowbottom - Planning Officer from Wolverhampton Partnership delivered a presentation on the Strategy to an audience of 54 women. The consultation started with a quiz which was designed to survey how much women know about their City in terms of employment, education, health and life skills. A presentation was then undertaken by Sam who took us through the purpose of the strategy, what it is and why we need one. The presentation also explored the idea of sustainability and what it takes for a community to be sustainable.

The Sustainable Community strategy will be the main mechanism for drawing in resources from the government to the Cit. It was the aim of WOW to host this consultation in order for women to influence how partners allocate money in the City.

In order to discuss this matter further the audience then split into five different groups to discuss the 5 key outcomes of the strategy. Discussions were carried out under the following titles;

The group discussions were successful and provided an opportunity for audience members to consider, debate and determine which areas they felt needed improvement and should therefore be recognised in the Sustainable Community Strategy 2008 - 2026. Each group wrote their thoughts and ideas down and we look forward to reading a report from Sam who will be evaluating the work.

Overall participants commented that the session had been useful and informative and workshops empowering and engaging. 85% of those who completed the evaluation forms felt that the aims and objectives of the session had been met. Many expressed a wish to attend other similar events.

We hope that the consultation provided women with an opportunity to have their voices heard by those people who make decisions in Wolverhampton. We look forward to reading the input of our discussions in the final draft of the Sustainable Community Strategy which is due for completion on 25th December 2008.

If you would like a copy of the presentation slides please click here to download.

Thank you to all of those who attended the event including workers from The Haven Wolverhampton who provided childcare facilities and those who facilitated the workshops.

It is our hope that this event has moved us one step closer to truly improving the quality of life of women in Wolverhampton by making sure their voices are heard, listened to and taken seriously.

To see photos from the consultation please follow this link - http://www.flickr.com/photos/29847799@N08/?saved=1

Please email any further comments/recommendations regarding the strategy to info@wowonline.org.uk and we will forward them to Wolverhampton Partnership.

Grace Lee 
WOW member