Dear Gill,

glad you think the toolkit could be useful.........I was just involved in the pilot to develop the approach, the Park decided to use the local CVS to deliver the approach in the other communities on a long term basis so for an up to date position contact Voluntary Action Badenoch and Strathspey. However I think the main issue is that our experience was that using an assets approach still meant dealing with all the usual issues one comes up against in any community planning process - principally getting other than the 'usual faces' involved and dealing with power issues within and across communities. Hence our approach involved focus groups and questionnaires as well as community events to try and offer a variety of ways for people to express a view. We did get feedback that the community events led to some of the best discussions of issues people had experienced and I think this is because taking an Appreciative Inquiry and assets approach put people in a positive frame of mind from the start. Hope this is of some help..........if there are particular questions you want to explore further probably best to chat on the phone.........?

I am developing ways to map activity within voluntary organisations so that strategic planning (in local authority, health, CPP, etc.) can incorporate this vast array of work into delivery models. Lead organisations are offering portrayals of their service user experiences, to which others are identifying things that they contribute to the process. Fine in theory, but it requires a lot of pushing to get people to provide their information - I suspect the "pay-out" is too distant and uncertain to motivate people.

Happy to share ideas on this topic

Jethro