PORTSMOUTH COUNCIL OF COMMUNITY SERVICE
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Who Can Join PCN? All community groups, voluntary sector organisations, charities and faith groups based in Portsmouth can be part of PCN.  Groups can be involved as little or as much as they want to be; the wider stakeholder group of approximately 700 will receive regular information from the Network and invitations to attend networking events.  

 

There is a core group of network members who attend the bi-monthly meetings and oversee the direction and delivery of the network and can also stand for election to the LSP.  These members are representatives on Partnership Boards or are Chairs of Children and Young People’s Alliance, LION or the Providers Group.

 

The way in which the core group of PCN operates is currently under review.  We will have an action plan in place by February 2007 which will set out a focused plan of activity for PCN to take forward over next two years.

 

A full list of the membership can be found by clicking here.

• Why was PCN created?

 

PCN was originally set up in 2001 through the government’s Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy, to work with residents as well as community and voluntary organisations, encouraging them to become more involved in their local areas.  By being members of the PCN, we were able to elect members to become full and equal members of Portsmouth’s Local Strategic Partnership (LSP).  

 

A more detailed history can be found at “Proud of our past…”                      Return to Top  

Download a diagram of how the Network and LSP interact

 

• What is the LSP?

 

The LSP is the key body for co-ordinating the work of all other partnerships across the City and is made up of representatives from the statutory, voluntary and community sectors.  LSP provide the framework within which local priorities are developed through joint working.  They also provide the means through which joint progress is monitored and evaluated.  How the LSP will achieve this is set out in our Community Strategy, which sets out the plan for the future of the city.

 

Further information is available via Community Strategy  

 

The Community Strategy has seven priority themes.  In order to deliver the vision set out in the Community Strategy, a partnership body oversees each theme.  The strategy for the 2004-2009 period is available for the Portsmouth City Council website.  Here you can download the original strategy together with the 2006 Report Card.                                      Return to Top

 

• What is a Lead Partnership?

 

A lead Partnership is a body that is set up to oversee the delivery of specific actions, targets and delivery of the seven themes identified in the Community Strategy 2004-9.  Members from the LSP volunteer to sit on these boards.  

 

The seven lead partnerships are:

1. Safer Portsmouth (Theme 1 Community Safety)

2. Education and Lifelong Learning (Theme 2)

3. Economic Wellbeing (Theme 3)

4. Environment and Transport (Theme 4)

5. Housing (Theme 5)

6. Health and Social Wellbeing (Theme 6 Health)

7. Community Involvement (Theme 7)                                              Return to Top

 

A full list of the membership of the partnership boards can be found at link to lists

 

Please also follow the link to the Community Strategy 2004-9

 

• How does the PCN communicate to the wider sector?

 

Communication happens in a variety of ways:

· Feedback to PCN meetings

· Through Community Focus, the PCCS newsletter

· Via email distribution lists

· Website

· Networking events

 

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Portsmouth Community Network (PCN) brings together the voluntary and community sector to enable a collective voice to be represented on the Local Strategic Partnership(LSP).

 

The network is managed by Portsmouth Council for Community Service (PCCS), which acts as the lead body.  A Community Network Co-ordinator ensures the PCN is run as effectively as possible.

Within this page LSP   Lead Partnership  Communication  

 

Download the

Network Meeting Representative Feedback Form and comment on meetings you have attended

Green Issues & Sustainability Event

 

On 7 October, the Community Network hosted an event for organisations interested in Green Issues and Sustainability.  Speakers included Tim Houghton from Groundwork Solent, who told us about some of Groundwork’s innovative community engagement work and briefed us on funding available through Community Spaces.  Mik Norman from PCCS described funding from other sources, particularly the Lottery and Stephenie Linham from Community Matters introduced the “Every Action Counts” initiative.

 

The Every Action Counts website explains that this programme “ provides advice and support to voluntary and community organisations which are looking to reduce their impact on the environment, tackle climate change and improve their local area.

 

By providing you with free access to information, action planning tools, publications and trained Community Champions they will enable your group to take simple and effective actions to:

Save Energy, Travel Wisely, Save Our Resources, Shop Ethically and Care For Your Area

 

Any group can help make every action count - community groups, clubs and societies, community organisations, community centres, neighbourhood groups, hobby groups, faith groups, sports clubs and local amenity societies. There are also community champions available to come and talk to your group.

http://www.everyactioncounts.org.uk/

 

After the event, Lorraine Willis fromSouthern Focus Trust described the work being undertaken in her organisation to promote Every Action Counts. Here is her story.

 

Southern Focus Trust’s Young People’s Service - Going Green

At Southern Focus Trust staff are very committed to green issues  which means they lead by example.  I believe that without the staff commitment it would be quite difficult to put the recycling and green issues across to the young peoples service.

 

I find the most effective way to get the point across to young people is by staff example – we use the composter and the green bins, use vinegar and lemon to clean with and provide the young people with the same for any communal cleaning that they do.  We turn off the plug sockets and remind service users to do the same.

 

Young people want to join in planting our little veg patch as they seem to be more interested in just a spontaneous thing to do with staff.

 

I think that the future of passing this on to our young people will be to find ways they can actually see how recycling helps, or being able to get involved with local projects that are fun to do.