Chair's report

It seems no time since the last AGM, yet here we are again. During my year as chair, the board (as we are now called) has seen many changes occur in CTDU. As agreed by our members at the last AGM, we have changed from being an unincorporated organisation to being a company limited by guarantee - impressive title, but we are still the same people. We continue to have several funders: National Lottery Charities Board, European Social Fund, Falkirk Council, Clackmannanshire Council, Dept. for International Development, Lloyd TSB, and Scottish Year of the Artist. As well as changing our status as an organisation, the type of work we do has changed. We are now undertaking more intensive work with local representatives of groups through our Active Citizens, Learning to Act Together and Credit for Learning projects. The Active Citizens project has been very successful with two groups already completed. We are currently concentrating on making contact and relationships with ethnic minority communities and other under represented groups, Funding from Year of the Artist has allowed us to develop our drama work with Morven Gregor as our inspiration, a sample of which you will see at the AGM. Unfortunately, our Seeds of Change application to NLCB was unsuccessful because a shortage of funding for the core work and management of the organisation was identified. However, we are not giving up and continue to look for funding to allow this project to go ahead. As always, the board and staff are looking for funding to allow CTDU to continue to grow and develop into an even bigger and better community resource. Thanks to all the board members, sessional workers, volunteers and participants for their continued support and belief in CTDU. Last but not least many thanks once again to Iyaah, Scott, Anne, Rosemary and Sandra for their continued hard work and commitment to making CTDU what it is – a brilliant organisation!!

Carey Sinclair: Chair

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Active Participation

Learning to Act Together is funded by European Social Fund, Clackmannanshire Council, Falkirk Council, Lloyds TSB, Dept for International Development and local projects.

Learning to Act Together is a programme of training for support workers and community organisations and aims to build capacity by continuing to develop and provide high quality management committee training to local people in priority areas and groups. The programme concluded in June 2000 and an independent evaluation of the programme was undertaken by Professor Lalage Bown who attended a review day to hear from participants about their experience and active involvement in the programme activities. Below are some references from the evaluation and the full report is available from the CTDU office. As part of the ESF evaluation process we canvassed participating groups and individuals to discover if they had found the programme useful, valuable or interesting and if this work had helped to increase their confidence and effectiveness as activists and community organisations. Below are some of the comments we received:

" Understanding the ins and outs of management committees and how ordinary people can make a difference" Julie Johnston • LALIC

"CTDU has helped me to become more involved in my community and encouraged me to become more active again" Honey Lyon • Falkirk LETS

"It gave me the confidence to deliver training, lots of useful tips, techniques and practice" Linda McPherson • New Opportunities Project

"Through the Developing Training Skills course I now have the confidence and ability to deliver effective and worthwhile training" Vicki Grahame • Playplus

"CTDU's work is innovative, energetic and interesting" Sheila Fraser • Key Housing

CTDU's work is about making available to local activists and volunteers the skills, knowledge and confidence to manage local projects and participate in local decision making. To this effect over the last year we have worked with local management committees, staff, project participants and volunteers to harness their existing capacity through topics such as:

training needs analysis • management committee and board training • role of the committee • role of the staff • participatory evaluation • triple self-diagnosis • strategic planning • vision and values • networking • local and global poverty and wealth • participatory meetings • payroll • book-keeping

In the Clackmannanshire area…

Hillfoots Project, Fundraising Organisers Group (FROG), Clackmannanshire Tenants and Residents Association, Living and Learning in Clackmannanshire (LALIC), Reachout, Clackmannanshire Social Inclusion Partnership, SIP Community Partnership Management Group and Clacksnet.

In the Falkirk area…

Open Secret, Wider Access to School Project, Falkirk Local Exchange Trading System, Denny Community Support Group, Bainsford and Langlees After School Team, Falkirk District Association for Mental Health, Dawson Centre, Dawson Area Representatives Association, Falkirk Community Education, Kersiebank Community Projects.

In the Stirling area…

(We receive no funding from Stirling Council and this work is financed by the groups themselves with sterling and groats - local currency.)
Volunteer Centre Stirling, New Opportunities Project, Stirling Local Exchange Trading System and Lets Make It Better.

In Forth Valley…

Linked Work & Training Trust (Central) and Central Racial Equality Council.

In Scotland...

CTDU has networked and worked collaboratively with: Popular Education Forum for Scotland, University of Edinburgh, Community Learning Scotland, Scottish Education & Action for Development (SEAD), International Development Education Association of Scotland (IDEAS), Communities Against Poverty (CAP), Scottish Centre for Non-Violence, North Lanarkshire Council, Fife Voluntary and Statutory Sector Training Consortium, Glasgow Council for the Voluntary Sector (GCVS) and Centre for Human Ecology Edinburgh.

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Credit for Learning

CTDU has applied for additional funding to the European Social Fund (ESF) to enable the Unit to offer an SVQ in Community Work at level 2 to local community activists. The award offers an opportunity for people who have developed skills and knowledge through their community activity, and who contribute to their community in a significant way to gain a formal, nationally recognised qualification. The course deals with the key roles and competence of a community worker and will increase the participant's ability to engage with local communities effectively and enhance the quality and quantity of local community activity and action. It is achieved as a result of a careful and thorough assessment of the ability of a person to carry out the task and functions of a community worker. The duration of the course is flexible to suit the needs and time constraints of the candidate and evidence of the candidate's ability can be assessed using a variety of methods from written reports through to photographic evidence or video recording. ESF awards will be announced in December 2000 and if you require more information, or are interested in theabove proposal, contact the CTDU office.

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Participatory Evaluation

CTDU is committed to supporting the development of strong and effective community and voluntary organisations. We believe that it is essential that projects have a clear idea of:

and are able to

The activity of evaluation is to collect information in order to explain what happens in a project and examines the methods used and demonstrates the value of project activities to all interested parties. CTDU has been involved in three extensive evaluations this year attempting to capture in a mainly narrative form, the life, quality, and ethos of the Stirling Volunteer Centre's New Opportunities Project, the Hillfoots Project and Living & Learning in Clackmannanshire.

The aim of these evaluations is to capture and convey the really important project outcomes andthe effect on the lives of those participating. The work and achievements are made visible through the words and stories of project participants. A verbal image or description of the project is developed through a series of interviews in which participants, staff and volunteers tell us about the significant features of the project, as they perceive them. Through this process, operative words or themes emerge.

CTDU would like to thank project participants, staff and volunteers who took part in these evaluations for their time and energies and for telling their inspiring stories of achievement and change.

Copies of these evaluations are available from the CTDU office.

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Active Citizens: renewing democracy from the grassroots

The active citizens' project:

• A training programme for people from priority areas and groups wishing to be active, capable and accountable community representatives in local groups, committees, regeneration task groups, user consultation groups and even the Scottish Parliament.
• The programme is also intended to enable groups experiencing social exclusion to make demands on democracy and use their elected members in a positive way.
• The project recognises the responsibility we all carry to make our organisations and the new Parliament representative of and responsive to all the people of Scotland.

CTDU brings together 12 community representatives and activists from Falkirk, Stirling and Clackmannanshire Council areas to study and work together for 12 weeks. The group meets on one day per week, but students also spend another day engaged in community action or volunteering in their own community to put new ideas and skills into practice and to plan and carry out a practical project. The group meets in different venues across the Forth Valley, and spends a day in the local councils and in the Scottish Parliament. Students take turns to book rooms and prepare lunch, and receive financial assistance for travel and childcare costs. Each programme day allows the students to develop and practise skills of:

listening • note-taking • reporting back • democratic discussion
asking questions • thinking • public speaking • networking

Active Citizens' group one ….

After two very successful Reporting Back meetings, the first group of active citizens went on to study community leadership with Scott. 10 out of the original 11 have worked with CTDU this year as volunteers to lead workshops and make presentations with the second active citizens' group and at local and national conferences and events. Half the group is now studying Theatre for Action with Morven Gregor. In the past year, group members have been involved in a local campaign to keep a nursery open, a local campaign for safer roads for children, one member spent a day with the leader of Clackmannanshire Council, 7 have been involved in fundraising, and 4 have joined new committees of community organisations. Congratulations to the 1st group members for all your achievements this year and thank you for your support and work.

Active Citizens' group two ….

12 people started the second run of the active citizens' programme and 11 completed the programme. Together, the group worked to prepare for a very successful Reporting Back event held in Alloa town hall. This event was an opportunity for the students to practise and demonstrate their new skills, to organise and run their own event, to speak in public and to be face to face with people in positions of power. Guests heard how the students had benefited from the programme:

"I've learned that my opinions do matter, no matter how trivial they may have seemed. We do have a voice and it's time we are heard."
"I've met people that I would not have met. I've been to different places. I was listened to by my friends here and not made to feel a fool."
"I learned how to lobby my Councillor. We got money for our organisation by doing that."

Congratulations and well done to all the group members and thank you for your hard work.

Active Citizens three....

Since the end of the summer, Iyaah has been spending time finding out about ethnic minority communities in the Forth Valley, with a view to making CTDU more accessible and relevant to them. She has been making visits to organisations to introduce CTDU and the active citizens' project and to hear what the important issues are for ethnic minority communities. We were invited to attend and staff a stall at a very successful Ethnic Minority Forum Open Day and learned a great deal about the issues faced by the communities represented that day. The Forum is forming an organising group and its agenda from that event, and CTDU hopes to be a useful resource for this new group in the near future. Many thanks to Shamime Mansoori and Lillian Watson for their help and support.

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Understanding poverty and wealth locally and globally

funded by the Department for International Development

Behind the Nylon Curtain

a community video made by the second active citizens' group
This video project was part of SEAD's (Scottish Education and Action for Development) ongoing exchange programme with the Dominican Republic. SEAD invited two community video workers, Tony Pichardo and Jenny Ceballos to spend four weeks in Scotland working with community groups. Members of CTDU's second active citizens' group were keen to be involved in video work and met with SEAD workers in advance of the visit to make some preparations. Tony and Jenny told us about the levels of extreme poverty and political corruption in the Dominican Republic, an image never shown by the tourism industry and hidden from the tourists. This struck a chord with the active citizens' group who wanted to find out if wealth made from tourism in Scotland trickles down to people living in poverty. The title of the video came from a piece of prose written by a member of the group, Maggie Paterson. Maggie argues that Scotland's poverty is hidden too …. behind the nylon curtain. Many thanks to SEAD, and in particular Leonie Wilson, for offering CTDU this unique opportunity.

Central Action – active citizens got it taped!
CTDU is indebted to Central Action, Stirling for helping the second active citizens' group to make an audio tape recording about the active citizens' programme. Carolyn McConville and Iain Waters of Central Action set up the recording studio for our use and Iain chaired our open discussion. What started out as an exercise in developing knowledge about, and confidence in, using community media ended up as a very practical and quick evaluation method.

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Compass Rose Days

With the support of a mini-grant from DFID (Department for International Development), CTDU tried out the Birmingham Development Education Centre's Compass Rose Development process with a gathering of activists and volunteers from community groups across the Forth Valley. Our first Compass Rose Day was spent learning about the Compass Rose process and trying it out. Using photographs offered by participants and the organisers, the process encouraged us to ask our own questions about why neighbourhoods, here in Scotland and elsewhere in the world, are the way they are. The Compass invites us to decide if a question is about:

Natural forces and resources, or the built environment
Economic issues
Social relationships and organisations
Who decides (political)

Our second Compass Rose Day was spent revisiting the themes and questions which dominated Day 1, using creative cultural media to express our views clearly, powerfully and in our own terms. Lorenzo Mele from 7:84 Theatre Company facilitated a drama workshop, Jan Nimmo, a community artist and tutor on South American culture with Glasgow University, facilitated the making of the banner pictured here, and Anne Neilson, Scots traditional singer facilitated the writing of a protest song.

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IDEAS Methods Marketplace

DFID funding has also enabled CTDU to network with development education organisations in Scotland. CTDU assisted IDEAS (International Development Education Association of Scotland) to run a Methods Marketplace event at which fifty activists and workers from across Scotland (including 10 from the Forth Valley) came together to learn more about participatory ways of working with people in communities. CTDU's 'acting citizens', working with Morven Gregor on Theatre for Action training, led off the day with an energetic presentation of their drama work. Twelve stall holders led participants through a brief experience of a method which they use and value. CTDU offered a banner-making stall, led by Jan Nimmo. Leonie Wilson of SEAD showed the video made by the Dominican Republic video workers and CTDU's second active citizens' group. John Ferrier, a member of the first active citizens' group, helped David Robertson of Letslink Scotland led a stall on local exchange trading systems (LETS). Amu Logotse led the finalé with African drumming, chanting and dancing.

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Acting Citizens:

This project is part of Scotland's Year of the Artist Residency Programme

Morven Gregor, our artist in residence, is now working with three groups in and around Falkirk: CTDU's Acting Citizens, Open Secret and Reachout. Each group is in the process of creating a piece of issue based Forum Theatre. The Acting Citizens This group is comprised of participants from CTDU's active citizens' programme, which explored themes of democracy, power and accountability. Despite having no prior experience of theatre, the group is lively and have already performed an extract from their work at an event organised by International Development Education Association of Scotland. Their play explores the trials and tribulations of community campaigning by highlighting an on-going road safety campaign in the Cornton area of Stirling. Open Secret Open Secret is an organisation which provides a wide range of support services for adult survivors of child sexual abuse. CTDU were keen to strengthen their links with Open Secret and they, in turn, are happy to use many channels to bring their work into the public arena. Participants in the Forum Theatre project are staff, volunteers and service users. The work being generated is powerful and positive, but also realistic. It focuses on the long term effects that abuse can have on victims and the prejudices and problems they encounter in the wider community. Reachout I have had an initial meeting with Reachout members, and we plan to start sessions at the beginning of November. This group have experience of drama work, with some of the participants being involved in the initial CTDU project. Reachout has a clear idea of what they want to communicate through Forum Theatre. Two of the group members have done some writing around one man's experiences of mental health provision. My work between now and our first session is to adapt this into Forum Theatre. Forum Theatre encourages the audience to discuss and explore issues, turning the performance into a forum for debate. The completed plays will be performed to people who have the power to influence the issues portrayed be they politicians in formal positions of power or members of the community at large. Morven Gregor @ CTDU

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Resource and information work

The web and all that
We now have our own web site at www.ctdu.org.uk and email facilities. I've also had training to enable me to make changes to the web site and to upload our newsletter. I've also worked with the Steering Group at 'Clacksnet'(an organisation that exists to help community groups in Clackmannanshire to gain a web presence) helping the organisation to become a constituted group and achieve charitable status and increase the chance of getting funding.

Information strategy
We've introduced a new look newsletter to carry our corporate image and a new name 'Voices' to reflect our vision of a CTDU newsletter where participants in our projects can use their voice.

Directory
We're aiming to produce a directory of CTDU affiliated groups by the end of this year so that users can keep in touch with other organisations working with people or groups with priority needs.

Thanks to:
Linda McVicar, our volunteer for her time, knowledge and skills especially for carefully proof reading CTDU documents and assistance in the weeding of the information bank. the Lloyds TSB Foundation for Scotland and the European Social Fund for funding CTDU and allowing us to provide these resource and information services.

Rosemary Murphy: Resource & Information Administrator

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Financial Report 1999 – 2000

CTDU budget April 2000 – March 2001	a full set of accounts are available on request

Tel/Fax: email: website:

01324 629404 admin@ctdu.org.uk www.ctdu.org.uk

CTDU(Forth Valley) Limited Falkirk Voluntary Centre Hope Street Falkirk FK1 5AT

CTDU's Funders