Policy Activism: The role of small and medium sized health charities
23 November 2011, 2:00 – 4:00 pm
At BHA, Democracy House, 609 Stretford Road, Old Trafford, Manchester, M16 0QA
A collaboration of BHA, Naz Project London, Positive East and Positively UK is hosting a 'by invitation only' roundtable on policy activism for small and medium sized health charities on 23 November 2011 at BHA in Manchester. The roundtable will explore how small and medium sized charities can most effectively use and target their limited policy activism capacity, e.g., who is the most effective group to work with and/or to target? The discussion will draw on the experience of participants working with vulnerable and disadvantaged communities.
Policy Activism: The role of small and medium sized health charities
23 November 2011, 2:00 – 4:00 pm
At BHA, Democracy House, 609 Stretford Road, Old Trafford, Manchester, M16 0QA
A collaboration of BHA, Naz Project London, Positive East and Positively UK is hosting a 'by invitation only' roundtable on policy activism for small and medium sized health charities on 23 November 2011 at BHA in Manchester. The roundtable will explore how small and medium sized charities can most effectively use and target their limited policy activism capacity, e.g., who is the most effective group to work with and/or to target? The discussion will draw on the experience of participants working with vulnerable and disadvantaged communities.
With the increasing awareness of the value of service user and community involvement, there is growing pressure on small and medium sized charities to be engaged with policy consultations and development. It may even be essential that this engagement occur to help demonstrate our value in an increasingly competitive environment. The current health scene is changing significantly, and will be in flux for many years. How do we engage with this context effectively given our limited resources, e.g., most of us will have no dedicated policy staff?
Policy work can be focused on at least three directions:
direct lobbying work with political level policy decision makers;
work with service users and communities to support grassroots activism on policy issues; and
work with those who use policy in order to commission/procure health services through small and medium sized charities.
The first direction is often the realm of ‘professional’ policy activists and organisations. The second direction is a community development approach that is re-gaining popularity. And the third direction is a pragmatic acknowledgement that a key group to influence are those who hold the purse strings at the local level.
The roundtable will examine:
What obstacles stand in the way of small and medium sized charities engaging with policy issues and debates?
To whom should small and medium sized charities direct their limited policy energies, e.g., at politicians and government bureaucrats, at grassroots community and service user organising, at commissioners?
How do we persuade funders to support frontline charities who are not ‘professional’ policy groups to engage with policy issues so that we can amplify community voice in the policy arena?
Spaces at this roundtable are limited and by invitation only. Please email Bryan Teixeira at NPL by 11 November 2011 to confirm whether you are able to be with us in Manchester for this roundtable.
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