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Purpose Dosti’s vision is that Dudley Borough has a Voluntary, Community and Faith Sector (VCFS) engaged in the development of stronger communities. Dosti is recognised by the Dudley Community Partnership as a key vehicle through which community issues and interests of the sector are voiced within DCP structures and processes. Around 50 individuals from the VCFS reflect issues and interests from networks within the DCP, and are supported by Dosti staff to feedback and be accountable to their networks. Dosti has three key strands of work, which are provided below along with examples of the activities which occur in relation to them. 1. Preparing and supporting people within communities for engagement. In practice this involves: the range of activities which networks undertake in their own spheres of interest to engage; developing and maintaining communications channels, including a Dosti newsletter, network newsletters, meetings and events, e-news mailings and an interactive website; providing opportunities and support for people to become active critical citizens – through the Black Country Take Part Pathfinder (www.blackcountrypathfinder.co.uk); providing support and training for representatives to the Dudley Community Partnership, and promoting representative roles; providing support and tailored training to member networks around collective influence, using Voice – an influence tool developed with Dosti networks.
2. Preparing and supporting public authorities for engaging communities. In practice this work currently includes: co-ordination of the development of ‘in it together: an empowering approach to engaging’, a community engagement strategy for the DCP; the development of cross-agency training and support for officers who have community engagement roles or responsibilities; the promotion of Echo – a tool being developed which enables public sector agencies and partnerships to assess and improve their openness to influence;
3. Ensuring that engagement is empowering for the people who get involved. In practice this means ensuring an empowering approach in all of Dosti’s work, and helping colleagues to understand what this means and how to do it. Structure Dosti has an Executive Board of up to 12 people elected from Dosti’s member networks. A member of the Executive Board is nominated to the Dudley Community Partnership Board. Dudley CVS act as a Responsible Body for Dosti, administering Dosti’s funding and employing Dosti’s two staff members: a Senior Development Officer (Lorna Prescott) and Community Development Officer (Katherine Rogers). Dosti’s member networks vary greatly in size, capacity and formality, but each has a vote at Dosti’s AGM, and any number of Executive nominations may be put forward by any network.
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