Community safety engagement
This section of the website is about community engagement, improving the way we work with you
In its broadest sense, community engagement is a way of interacting with residents. It is an ongoing process which allows a two-way exchange between residents and the partnership. Both residents and partners should benefit from community engagement.
More specifically, we can look at the definition of ‘community’ and ‘engagement’. A community is a group which shares common characteristics. Within this there are two definitions:
Community of interest – a group who share common interests such as religion, sexuality or a football team.
Community of place – a group defined by a place such as a street, neighbourhood or district.
Engagement is more of a catch-all phrase for a number of processes, all designed to improve communication, knowledge and the service customers receive. Engagement ranges from informing, consulting, and empowering local communities to raise and deal with the issues effecting them the most.
We recognise that there are communities within the Vale who we need to build relationships with and to improve the way we engage. We also recognise that we must be flexible and adapt to differing needs. Some specific groups we will be targeting are:
- Black minority ethnic
- Young/older
- Disabled
- Homeless
- Drug and alcohol dependants
- Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender
- Faith/religious
You can read our engagement plan below and let us know what you think by emailing us.