Promoting Social Inclusion by Enabling Individuals and Developing Communities
ECI's Annual Review Meeting
November 15th 2007
This is taking place on Thursday 15th November at the St Sidwell's Centre from 4.30pm onwards. At 5.30pm there will be a presenation of our Annual Review, our work during the past year and plans for the future. The evening concludes with drinks and a buffet. Please let the office know if you wish to attend. We look forward to seeing you there.
Read the September Newsletter online
September 21st 2007
Click here to read our latest Newsletter which highlights exciting new developments and gives the low down on our existing projects, staff changes and includes an article on the future of ECI. This newsletter can be downloaded from the publications page.
Update on Ujima project
July 25th 2007
The Ujima project , which started in July 2005, has so far provided provided support to 7 existing and 12 new groups/activities. This has included help with issues ranging from promotion and publicity to developing a constitution and business planning. Over 400 people have benefited as a result. For a list of groups that the project has worked with, click here . One of the groups, Exeter Malayalee, have recently launched a new website
Update on EATS Project
June 27th 2007
Neighbourhood Engagement Consultation Dates
June 26th 2007
As previously mentioned in news items, ECI has been successful in tendering, in partnership with Exeter CVS, to provide the Capacity Building element of the Exeter City Council’s Neighbourhood Engagement Pilot Project.
The Pilots will be in the Clyst Heath/Kings Heath; Exwick; Newtown/Polsloe and St. David’s areas of the city, and will work with existing community groups and interested citizens to develop Local Partnership forums.
The initial focus of our work will be to publicise the project and we will be attending a number of local events over the summer. These are:
• Clyst Heath Community Primary School Summer Fayre Friday 29th June 5-7pm
• St. David’s Parish Church Summer Fete Saturday 30th June 12 – 2pm
• ‘Newtown Celebrates Summer’ Belmont Park Saturday 14th July 12 – 4pm
• Exwick – Fun Day Friday 27th July 1-4pm
If you live in one of the designated areas and would like to know more please either come along to one of the events or contact our office
ECI Summer Newsletter now online
June 21st 2007
You can view the latest edition of the ECI newsletter online. This edition contains updates on what has been a busy three months for ECI and its projects. The Flying Start Children's Centre has started, volunteer interviewers have been trained up for the Homelessness Collaboration, work has started on the Neighbourhood Engagement Pilot, and St Sidwell's has continued to move towards independence.
Flying Start Children's Centre up and running
June 20th 2007
The Flying Start Children's Centre team are now in post. The team comprises Bilquis Memon (Community Development Worker) , who has a background in education and mediation; Sonia Worthington (Family Support Worker) , has 10 years experience of working with children under the age of 8 and their families; Helen Murphy (Administrator ), also works part-time for WorkWAYS, a service providing employment advice and support to people with mental health problems; and Gentian Curle (Manager), whose background is in social work.
The centre is a 'virtual centre' with an office base at St Sidwell's Community Centre and links across the city with services for children under the age of five. We cover the wards of St James, St David's, Newtown, and Duryard. Our role is to promote opportunities for children in Central Exeter. For further info, the Flying Start leaflet is available online
Report shows PORCH project making positive progress
June 20th 2007
The Social Research and Regeneration Unit at Plymouth University have published an interim report on the ongoing evaluation that they are carrying out for the PORCH project. Overall the report is very positive, noting that PORCH has built strong links with partners, including the Priority and Prolific Offender Unit and it includes case studies of PORCH clients. The draft report is available to view online
Vacancy for Children's Centre Family Support Worker
June 13th 2007
A temporary position for a minimum of 6 months has arisen within our Children’s Centre Team. For further details see the 'Vacancies' page
ECI recruiting volunteers for Exeter homelessness audit
June 11th 2007
As part of the work that ECI is doing on collaboration between Exeter homelessness agencies, we are currently seeking volunteers to help us interview homeless people in Exeter on the services that are available to them in the city. We are aiming to interview 250 people. The results of this will be compiled into a report which will be passed on to Exeter City Council.
There will be two 2.5 hour training sessions for anybody interested in helping with this project and the interviews will be beginning at the end of June. If you would like to find out more, we are holding an information evening on Monday June 25th, 18.00 at ECI, 14 York Road or you can contact Laura Callaway on 01392 205801/laura@eci.org.uk
ECI awarded joint contract for Neighbourhood Engagement Pilot
April 26th 2007
A new project to give local people more say in the services they receive from the City Council and other local organisations starts in June.
The Neighbourhood Engagement pilot will give more power to people at a neighbourhood level to make decisions about local matters through partnerships of ward councillors, residents, city council and other partner organisations such as the police and health services, and local community and voluntary organisations.
ECI, working jointly in a partnership with Exeter Council for Voluntary Service, has recently been awarded the contract by Exeter City Council to provide support for local communities to get involved in the pilot. This support will enable local people to have a greater role in identifying their own needs, and developing responses to community concerns. It will also include the opportunity for a small grants fund to support the development of local community projects.
The Pilot Areas will be in: Clyst Heath/Kings Heath, Exwick, Newtown / Polsloe and St. David’s
The pilot programme will work with existing community groups in areas where they are already active, and work to develop new partnership forums where none are in existence.
Anyone living in one of the areas listed above who would like to find out more about what might be happening in their area will be able to come along to a ‘Get to know you’ event. Details of these events will be published in due course.
For more information on the Pilot as a whole, please contact: Dawn Rivers, Community Involvement & Inclusion Officer, Exeter City Council on 01392 265531or Community.engagement@exeter.gov.uk.
For more information on ECI’s involvement, please contact: Carole Pilley, Community Development Manager on 01392 205807or carole@eci.org.uk
ECI 'Shareholders Meeting' - May 21st
April 17th 2007
The annual informal ECI shareholders meeting is taking place on May 21st. The meeting is open to anyone who is a member of the ECI share scheme
The share scheme enables local people to ‘share’ in the development work of Exeter Community Initiatives . Each share usually costs £50 per year and is ideally donated for a minimum of five years. Like all share schemes, this provides us with capital for our work, some longer-term security, and a dividend.
However, there is no cash return and the dividend is for those whom our work seeks to help, not for those who support our work. Since 1997, our development work has been funded largely through the Share Scheme and the generosity of local people. This Scheme has enabled over 600 individuals, 50 churches and 20 other local organisations to support our work on a regular basis.
If you are interested in becoming a shareholder, or see here for further information on the scheme or call 01392 205800 to speak to the scheme administrator, Louise Porter
CARD project awarded Mentoring and Befriending Foundation 'Approved Provider Standard'
April 2nd 2007 
The CARD project has been awarded 'Approved Provider Status' from the Mentoring and Befriending Foundation (MBF).
The Approved Provider Standard (APS) is a national benchmark for organisations providing one-to-one, volunteer mentoring or befriending. It is a national award supported by the Cabinet Office and Department for Education and Skills and aims to provide programmes with a badge of competence and safe practice in mentoring or befriending. For further info see here - http://www.mandbf.org.uk/goodpractice/aps/
APS aims to ensure the consistency and quality of mentoring and befriending programmes by focusing on the key management and operational areas of the programme including programme aims and management structure, procedures for identification and referral of clients, recruitment, selection and training of volunteers, monitoring of relationships and programme evaluation
Download the March edition of the ECI Newsletter
March 27th 2007
The latest edition of the ECI newsletter is available to download here. The newsletter includes information on project development work that ECI is doing on a Timebank scheme in Exeter. There are also the usual project updates as well as an editorial on the concept of 'spiritual footprints'.
The newsletter is available to view in PDF format which requires Adobe Reader. If you are having problems viewing the newsletter you can download the reader here
CARD/PORCH Newsletter Available Online
March 6th 2007
The March edition of the CARD/PORCH newsletter is now available to view online. It includes an update on the progress of the PORCH project so far, as well as articles by a CARD mentor and PORCH client. Click here to see the newsletter in PDF format
ECI recruiting for Children's Centre Manager
March 1st 2007
Exeter Community Initiatives is looking to recruit an experienced manager to take forward this exciting new project. Good leadership and organisational skills, experience of working with children and families at a senior level, experience of project management, and experience of working with key partners at both strategic and local level are all essential.
You will need to be educated to degree level and will be required to undertake training for the National Professional Qualification in Integrated Centre Leadership (NPQICL)
For further details, see the Vacancies section of the website
Exeter Accredited Tenancy Scheme Update
Febuary 6th 2007
Another EATS pilot course is set to commence on Friday 9th February at the YES centre in George Street, Exeter
ECI has been awarded £10,000 from the Exeter Positive Steps Fund to provide training courses in tenancy skills to young people leaving care in the city. The fund aims to help these young individuals on the road to work, by giving them the skills for maintaining a stable home as a foundation to seeking work. It forms the latest step of the Exeter Accredited Tenants’ Scheme (EATS) project which ECI has been developing in partnership with Exeter Shilhay Community’s Meaningful Occupation Project (MOP). This grant has given us the exciting opportunity to provide specially tailored courses on tenancy skills for disadvantaged young people in the city. Care leavers face a number of challenges when starting to live independently, and this training can help them to manage some of the practical and emotional aspects of holding down a tenancy. It will help to prevent them from losing their future accommodation, and subsequently becoming homeless.
The training, to be provided by the MOP project, will include practical skills such as budgeting, managing utilities, cleaning, washing, cooking, and paying rent, etc as well as personal development aspects such as maintaining good relationships, coping with change, building support networks and developing confidence. The scheme performs a vital function in the prevention of homelessness, by giving people the knowledge and skills to manage independent life.
ECI are seeking further funds to employ a Co-ordinator over a three year period to enable the training to be provided to a greater number and variety of people, to ensure support is available after the course and to promote the benefits of the scheme to landlords, encouraging them to recognise course ‘graduates’ as likely good tenants. For further details see New Development
ECI facilitating Exeter Homeless Collaboration
January 31st 2007
At a recent meeting, all of the front-line homeless agencies in Exeter committed to an agreement for closer collaboration. This will be facilitated by Exeter Community Initiatives. For further details, please see 'Homeless Collaboration'
ECI/PORCH Staff Updates
January 17th 2007
We are pleased to welcome Gill Robertson (last on the right) to the admin team, and to welcome back Louise Porter (second left) from maternity leave. Louise will once again be the main point of contact for Share Scheme donations and queries.
Also, Tanya Hall has joined the PORCH team, in place of Laura O'Connor as the Community Support Worker. Contact details for her are on the PORCH project page.
ECI December Newsletter Available Online
December 14th 2006
The latest version of the ECI newsletter is now online. To read it in PDF format, click on the picture to the left. Stories this month include news from St Sidwells Centre and an update on how the PORCH project is going. There are also details of possible new projects that ECI may take on, and a report from the ECI annual review.
The newsletter is produced quarterly and is also sent out by post. If you would like to be included on the distribution list, please email info@eci.org.uk with your address details.
EATS Update
November 29th 2006
We are pleased to report that the EATS (Exeter Accredited Tenancy Scheme) project has developed significantly in the last six months. A first stage Business Plan has been written, and applications have been submitted to a number of grant-making trusts. A range of other funding sources are also being explored, along with potential partnerships with other agencies and consortia.
MOP are in the process of delivering another pilot course, which began within the Howell Road hostel, and is now running from the MOP centre, having been expanded to include people from ECC temporary accommodation and other residences.
The EATS Steering Group held its inaugural meeting in early November, and had excellent attendance by representatives of a range of different agencies, which work with diverse client groups. We have a landlord representing on the Steering group, which has been useful to identify the needs of housing providers.
ECI Annual Review Meeting
November 28th 2006
The ECI ARM took place on November 6th at the St Sidwells Centre. The theme of the event was 'Making a Difference' and the presentations focused on how ECI's projects help improve the lives of individuals and groups in Exeter and the surrounding area.
As well as the presentations there was a Q & A session, display boards, and the opportunity to chat over a buffet dinner. The event was well-attended and had a very positive feel, both from ECI staff and the people who attended.
If you would like more information on ECI's work, the ECI 2006 Annual Review is available online her
St Sidwells Volunteer Run Cafe Celebrates First Anniversary
November 23rd 2006
This week marks one year since the Volunteer Run cafe opened at St Sidwells. Thanks to the hardwork and dedication of the volunteers, it has been a great success during this time.
The cafe is open on Wednesday and Thursday lunchtimes and serves food such as jacket potatoes, salads and sandwiches, as well as hot and cold drinks. For more information, see www.stsidwells.org.uk
New Draft Strategy for Supporting Neighbourhood-Based Community Development
26 October 2006
We are pleased to announce the development of a draft outline strategy for supporting neighbourhood-based community development and capacity-building in Exeter which has been developed by Exeter Community Initiatives in discussion with Exeter CVS.
We have already been successful in raising 75,000 spread over the next three years, which is an excellent starting point for raising further funds towards this important work.
We are now consulting on this draft over the next couple of months, and would welcome your comments, either by email (carole@eci.org.uk) or by phone to Carole Pilley, our Community Development Manager on 01392 205807
The draft strategy is available online as a pdf here
Office space available for Voluntary and/or Community sector groups
03 October 2006
There are two offices, each measuring about 120 square foot, available to rent from ECI.
The office space is in central Exeter and available now. Rent and terms are negotiable. For further information, contact Laura Callaway on 01392 205801.
