Blog 17 March 2022
How we work with diverse communities
A key focus for the pan-London project is how can the Citizens Advice service (both Pan-London and locally) best engage with London's diverse communities.
London is one of the most diverse cities in the world. There are more than 300 languages spoken every day. At the 2011 census, London had a population of 8,173,941. Of this number 44.9% were White British. 37% of the population were born outside the UK, including 24.5% born outside of Europe.
Our service seeks to embrace London's rich diversity, which includes people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds, women, LGTBQI+, disabled groups and people from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds.
There is no one size fits all model or approach to community engagement, all communities are different. Local engagement often works best, our model and how LCAs work has always been effective in supporting local engagement - LCAs have a range of outreach projects with local community groups, and deliver advice in different settings locally (foodbanks, day centres, places of worship, schools, libraries, community halls, GP surgeries/hospitals, courts, prisons, and local authority contact centres). Across the London network there are a range of different partnerships and approaches, with tailored engagement with individual communities
But London’s communities are as dispersed as they are diverse, and often borough boundaries may be irrelevant to many community groups and needs. There are also key principles of best practice for community engagement, which we need to ensure are fully embedded in community engagement policy and practice across London. Above all community engagement programmes and projects need to be inclusive, accessible and representative, ensuring communities are fully involved in engagement programmes as early as possible and establishing communities’ trust and confidence. Co-production is always best, and it starts with listening. There are some great examples and models to share across the network.
The presentation below was adapted from a recent presentation delivered to the GLA's community stakeholders and especially highlights the Wandsworth model.