Building Connections Training – free online short course for grassroots organisations – Part 2
How can we build connections, more resilient communities, leading to a more harmonious society?
You may already have a pretty good idea, but this training intends to make you feel even more confident and emboldened to articulate the value of your work.
Civil Society Together’s Building Connections Training offers an engaging and practical framework for understanding loneliness – its causes and consequences – as well as helping us each to identify our respective roles as individuals, as grassroots organisations or as infrastructure – organisations who want to reduce loneliness.
Many grassroots organisations already have extensive experience and knowledge, this training seeks to deepen and organise that expertise to give you further clarity and confidence.
By drawing on your personal and professional knowledge, the training will become a shared space in which participants learn from one another and develop a shared language for connection. You will leave being able to speak about loneliness with confidence and conviction, with new ideas of how you can enhance your work, with stronger relationships with other Hub members and equipped with a practical resource which you can use in your work (32 Steps to Togetherness).
Why building connection matters
Loneliness is widely recognised as a significant public health challenge. It can affect people’s physical and mental health, wellbeing and ability to participate fully in their communities and workplaces.
Civil Society Together believes that disconnection also has wider consequences. When people feel isolated from one another and from their communities, it can contribute to mistrust, intolerance, inequality and social fragmentation. This division also inhibits systems change.
Rebuilding connection and community requires action at every level. Grassroots organisations, charities, libraries, schools, universities, workplaces and public services are all well placed to create environments in which relationships can grow.
What does the training involve?
Building Connections is an interactive, four-part programme delivered over two half-days.
Participants explore:
- What loneliness is, including its causes, symptoms and different forms
- How loneliness affects individuals, communities and wider society
- The relationship between loneliness, inequality and social fragmentation
- What organisations and communities can do to strengthen connection
- How to translate learning into practical ideas and familiarising with the 32 Steps To Togetherness
The sessions combine accessible theory with reflection, discussion and collaborative activities which means the learning happens naturally in a way that feels fun and constructive. You’ll be invited to draw on your own experiences and bring yourself, so that it becomes a nourishing space for you to be in.
Who is the training for?
The training is suitable for people from a wide range of backgrounds and sectors. Participants do not need professional experience of working on loneliness. Everyone brings personal experiences and insights that can contribute to the discussion.
It is particularly valuable for:
- Grassroots and community organisations
- Charities and voluntary sector networks
- Community leaders and volunteers
- Local authorities and other statutory services
- Libraries, schools, colleges and universities
- Teams seeking to improve staff connection and wellbeing
- Partnerships bringing together organisations working in the same place
It helps participants understand how their work contributes to a wider, collective response to loneliness – including when they are working on issues that may initially appear not to be directly linked to loneliness.
What will you gain?
Participants will leave with:
- A deeper understanding of loneliness, its causes and its effects on individuals, communities and society
- A shared framework and language for discussing loneliness and connection
- Greater confidence in identifying opportunities to build connection
- Creative, collaboratively developed ideas and an emerging action plan
About Civil Society Together
Civil Society Together is a not-for-profit organisation that believes civil society is central to improving health, equality and social solidarity.
Its mission is to support, catalyse and energise civil society organisations by providing high-quality, accessible support at low or no cost.
Organiser: Civil Society Together