EAC Community Champions

Do you want to help create a brighter future? Do you have the passion and enthusiasm to improve your local area? Can you inspire others to get involved?

Anyone who can answer yes to these questions should consider becoming a Community Champion for Every Action Counts (EAC). EAC is offering free training to more than 1,000 volunteers. All you need to be is over 18 and with plenty of enthusiasm for making genuine benefits to your neighbourhood.

Once candidates have been trained and given their community champion status, they can then meet with representatives of community groups, clubs and societies where they live and inspire them to take some simple actions on saving energy, travelling wisely, shopping ethically, saving resources and caring for their area.

Read below for more details and then when you are ready, download the EAC Registration Form and start on the track to becoming a Community Champion. 

What is a Community Champion?

Community champions are ordinary people willing to take a two-day training course which will enable them to motivate local community groups, clubs and societies, to create an action plan of small, practical steps which will build towards a more sustainable future.

 

What will I get for signing up?

1. Recognised and Accredited Training: Although the two-day course is specifically about the EAC initiative, much of what you will learn are general skills like facilitation, action planning, and communication that you can use on your project.
2. Valuable Working Experience: You will be working with community groups, clubs and societies on sustainable development supported by the UK's leading organisations in community involvement and development
3. Recognition as a Community Champion (which may be of use to your farm/garden, and to you as an individual)
4. Support: Access to an online discussion forum for Community Champions to share experiences and questions.
5. Resources: A 'toolkit' for use with the community groups you meet, plus Every Action Counts promotional materials
6. Expenses: Such as travel to the training or groups if necessary and possibly childcare (if attending a meeting at times when normally caring for a child).
7. Insurance: Volunteers are insured when carrying out Every Action Counts Community Champion visits

 

What is involved?

Initially you will need to attend a training courses totalling two days: the dates and venues will be arranged in response to need, depending on when and where people are recruited. The course is intended to make sure you feel comfortable helping a group through the Every Action Counts process. It covers:

• How to explain Every Action Counts to community groups
• What your role is and your responsibility as a Community Champion
• How to find, contact and engage with appropriate community groups, societies and clubs
• How to take a group of people through the process of creating an action plan
• How to explain the 5 themes of 'one planet living' using the materials provided and how to signpost groups to further information
• How to deal with challenges to the process and how to overcome any difficulties you might encounter
• The support, recognition and benefits available to Community Champions
• The main skills we'll work on are 'giving presentations' and 'facilitating groups'. There will be time to talk through the role with other Champions

How do I qualify?

• You must be over 18
• You should belong to a local community group or umbrella community organisation or be interested in sustainable development
• You need to be enthusiastic about your community and the sustainability of that community
• You should be able to talk to people and work with them
• You DO NOT need no formal experience or qualifications

 

How much time will this take up?

After two days' training, you'll probably spend a few hours a month meeting local groups, clubs and societies to help them create an action plan.

 

What will a Community Champion do?

Champions will arrange to go and see local community groups, clubs and societies and take them through the EAC process, which has four stages:

1. Explain Every Action Counts using the presentation materials provided. It is intended to be low tech and suitable for a small group of people.
2. Taking stock of what they are doing already, many groups may well have done quite a lot of work on reducing their impact on the planet, which is great, this stage captures that and shows what they have yet to look at.
   Deciding which of the actions they do not already do, that they wish to take forward. Using a very democratic involving game.
3. Action planning with the actions that the group has decided are important to them.