Take Part Training

Participatory Appraisal is an effective consultation method with a proven track record. It is a process that does not set an agenda but seeks the real thoughts and feelings of the people living in a particular area or using specific services. It allows the creation of a realistic and achievable action plan for local people, enabling them to have a say in what actions are taken on their behalf.

The P.A. process combines qualitative and quantitative methods ensuring rigorous and robust research. The six-month programme involves training a team of residents and local workers to conduct a PA consultation. In this way, capacity in research skills and work experience are built into the community.

It uses very visual techniques and starts from the premise that local people are experts in their own lives. Effective community participation is about getting community members to voice their opinion and have a say on issues affecting them and be involved in delivering any required changes through directing local services. It ensures that funding is spent in the most appropriate and cost effective way by providing what is needed in the local community. Many service delivery providers including councils are now required to consult and engage with the community and their service users, this method meets that requirement.

Duty to Involve From April 2009, a new statutory 'Duty to Involve' applies to all local authorities. Duty to involve is in force affecting all local authorities. The duty forms an important part of the approach local authorities take when undertaking Consultation and Engagement work.

Following on from the White Paper 'Strong and Prosperous Communities', the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 generates a much stronger focus on public involvement and requires communities to have much more say in how their communities are run, including:

• Multi-agency approach to undertaking consultation projects wherever possible
• Consultation and engagement work which can be clearly evidenced to be informing service delivery.

CAA and the duty to involve In 2009 the comprehensive Area Assessment (CAA) comes into effect and will be reported annually for each local area. This consists of an area assessment that looks at how well local public services are delivering better outcomes for people and how likely they are to improve in the future. By following the duty to involve, partners will be demonstrating a key compliance of CAA.

In touch with the people The white paper Modern Local Government: In Touch with the People (1998) stated that "the Government wishes to see consultation and participation embedded into the culture of all councils". Additionally the Local Government Act (2000) highlighted consultation as a key factor in achieving the regeneration of communities and the reinvigoration of local democracy.

Every Child Matters and The Children's Act 2004 'The Government wants children and young people to have more opportunities to get involved in the design, provision and evaluation of policies and services that affect them or which they use'. The Children Act 2004 and subsequent introduction of Every Child Matters have had an impact on the way that consultation and involvement with children and young people are approached and managed.

In the first stage of the consultation, the local team is trained over six days to become stage one P.A. researchers. During this training the team learns about concepts of participation, facilitation skills, P.A. research methods and about the ethics and safety aspects of working in the community.

The research team of up to twenty five people (with guidance from the trainer) develop their own aims and objectives for the project, the tasks and activities they will do and design a monitoring process for assessing progress. The programme is accredited through The Open College Network and the team members keep a diary of the method and mapping experiences and can obtain G.C.S.E. and A' level equivalents in P.A. There are no formal examinations.

After the initial training programme the team carry out fieldwork or mapping for a month, they do this by going to talk to residents using the PA tools they have designed. The team go to where people already meet rather than asking them to attend an event. In this way the team try to ensure that they involve and include those who would not normally participate.

During the research and training process the team meet together with the trainer for two days a month for further training and support. During these two-day sessions team members analyze their findings so far and design the next level of consultation dependant upon the findings. In between these sessions the team go out and map the community again for a month at a time, building up a picture of the issues and solutions. In this way the project gets community led, and finally produces an action plan for local agencies to take forward.

The flow of the research process, results in the verification and prioritisation of issues leading to residents identifying solutions that are appropriate to their needs and local circumstances. A reference group of local decision makers and service providers is set up as part of the project. During the programme the team facilitate meetings to keep the reference group informed of findings and present their report to them, this provides guidance for local services on the needs of their community. This engages both the community and local agencies in true partnership working. This programme is fifteen days training over six months during which a full consultation is completed, however shorter courses are available please see course details for more.

Take Part Training offers a one day introduction and overview of the process and methods for up to twenty five people to see if it would work for you. There are three and four day courses available or a course can be customised to meet your specific needs. See courses available on the brochure for more information.

• Could see the transferability, a real plus for any training.
• The course was excellent, interactive and lots of fun.
• Easy to follow, lots of information and lots of ideas.
• Worthwhile and expect it to be very effective.
• Covered a lot of ground and really useful tools and key method.
• Will change the way we work with the community.
• At last, a structured process to really engage, fantastic!

Full details of costs and how to facilitate this training are on the downloadable brochure just click below to print off everything you need to know. Click here to download.

The trainer will come to you so all delivery is in your local area, the courses are for up to 25 people at a time.

Yes, we can provide bespoke evaluation and assessment training which works very well with service users and people who do not or can not complete complicated feedback forms.

No, the methods can be applied to many different subjects; the training teaches the approach so people from different organisations can attend the same training. This enables organisations to share the costs. The courses are for up to twenty five people at once.

Full details of everything you need to do and the costs are in the linked brochure, just click on the link, but essentially you will need a venue such as a community or church hall in your area and you will need to budget for lunch and refreshments and arrange for these on the training day. The trainer will need some local accommodation such as a B & B near the training venue. All training materials will be provided by Take Part Training apart from local maps which you will need to provide.

Take Part Training has been trading since 2003 and in that time has completed nine accredited courses for organisations such as Primary Care Trusts, Councils, the NHS, Drug Action Team and Groundwork amongst others; many were partnership projects involving the police, teachers, councillors and community regeneration companies. Shorter courses up to four days have been delivered to the Police, Princes Trust, Housing Associations, Councils, Community groups, Youth Alliance groups, Consortiums etc. Full details are on the brochure.

Go to the contacts page and either telephone or e-mail to find out about trainer availability.

Call or e-mail Take Part Training to have a full discussion about what we can do for you. If none of the range of courses we offer is exactly what you want we will design a bespoke course for you at no extra cost.

Brandy Derrick is the owner and principle trainer for Take Part Training, she has a BSc. Honours degree in Psychology from University College London, a Post Graduate Certificate in Management from Sheffield Hallam University Business School and is qualified as a trainer of adults through The Open College Network. Her Participatory Training qualification is in 'Regeneration through Community Assessment and Action'. Brandy trained as a PA trainer over three years and has been delivering PA training in the U.K. since 2003. Take Part Training recently started delivery overseas in Sierra Leone; details are in the PDF download. Brandy has worked in the public, private and third sector in roles such as Policy, Performance and Participation Manager and Business Development Manager.