Aberdeen City wants to empower its citizens

23 February 2021

A recruitment drive to get citizens who want to have a positive influence on their communities to join Locality Empowerment Groups (LEGs) has been launched by Community Planning Aberdeen (CPA).

The CPA is a partnership of organisations that work together in partnership to deliver improved outcomes for those who live, work, visit and do business in the city.

CPA sees the public, private and third sector working together with community groups to achieve the key priority of the Local Outcome Improvement Plan (LOIP) to create ‘a place where all people can prosper’.

LEGs are made up of local people who are interested in improving the quality of life for people across localities by using their own knowledge and experiences to influence priorities.

There are groups for Central, North and South of Aberdeen as well as a focus on needs that may be citywide. There are also Priority Neighbourhood Partnerships which focus on areas of the Aberdeen that experience the greatest disadvantage.

The Locality Empowerment Groups will:

Use their personal/professional experiences to identify needs within their communities.Consider opportunities available to meet these needs based upon knowledge of their community.Review how well local needs are being met.

Members of the Local Empowerment Groups will:

Share knowledge, skills, and experiences of their community or community of interest.Identify needs in their community and possible ways to address them.Influence what happens in their community.Help to map local spaces available for the community.Provide feedback on consultations.Shape the locality plans that will influence public service organisations across the city.Gain skills and build confidence.

Councillor Jenny Laing, Co-Leader of Aberdeen City Council and Chair of Community Planning Aberdeen said: “The Locality Empowerment Groups provide our citizens with the ideal opportunity to positively influence what happens within their communities. By sharing their experiences and knowledge local residents can help to identify the needs within their community and ensure resources are channelled to where they are required.

“We can only achieve our goal of making Aberdeen a place where everyone can prosper if we work in partnership to shape our communities, therefore I would encourage local residents to get involved with the new groups to ensure we create a better and brighter future for us all.”

The role of a LEG member is intended to be as flexible as possible, ensuring people can contribute in various ways. This may be through attending LEG sessions, participation in surveys or online forums. There are no set time commitments expected of LEG members and involvement can be as little or as much as suits the individual and their circumstances.

Rather than looking for specific skills the priority is to find people who are motivated and enthusiastic and want to make a difference.

Community Planning Aberdeen is committed to improve representation in all that it does and is keen to receive notes of interest from all ages, BAME, non-British nationals, LGBTQI+ people and people with disabilities.

Anyone who would like to get involved in their local Locality Empowerment Group, should email localityplanning@aberdeencity.gov.uk to express their interest.

Please include the following information to ensure you are given the details of your local group:

Name, age and the first part of your postcode eg AB24.

Community Planning Aberdeen understand that it may not be possible for everyone to participate in their Locality Empowerment Groups for various reasons, which is why they welcome individuals to participate on behalf of a family member, a friend or client group such as support workers, unpaid carers, professionals working with vulnerable groups/minorities.

Community Planning Aberdeen consists of Aberdeen City Council; ACVO; Aberdeen Civic Forum; North East Scotland College; Police Scotland; Scottish Fire and Rescue; Aberdeen City Health and Social Care Partnership; NHS Grampian; NESTRANS; Skills Development Scotland; Scottish Enterprise; Active Aberdeen Partnership and the University of Aberdeen.