Over the past 10 weeks, community members came together at The Whiteinch Centre (TWC) to deepen their understanding of community development and enhance their effectiveness as changemakers.

The Activate: Introduction to Community Development course offered participants the opportunity to reflect on the current work taking place within their community, explore essential community work values and principles, and gain new tools to drive positive change in their neighbourhoods.

James Ward, CEO of Whiteinch & Scotstoun Housing Association, said of the occasion: “Education is the one most powerful tool available for community development. It empowers individuals, strengthens local leadership and builds the capacity for collective action and sustainable change. We are delighted that we have been able to facilitate this programme with the support of the Area Partnership and hope this is something we can build upon in the future.”

Activate aims to promote community capacity building through informal and participative learning. With 50+ hours of flexible, locally delivered content, it covers key topics such as equality and anti-discrimination, power and participation, local and global issues, identifying community needs and group work. Participants completed practical and reflective tasks including a discrimination essay, a group community investigation presentation and an analysis of group dynamics.

One of the most inspiring outcomes of this course was how many participants shared how the course has helped them build confidence, develop new skills and clarify their community goals.

One participant said: “This course is the best thing I have done for myself in a while. I have grown as a person, felt more confident in what I can achieve and gained new knowledge in community development.”

Several participants are now on a journey to higher education as a result of the course, with 25% saying they are going on to higher education.

One participant commented on how Activate made this possible stating: “I really enjoyed the course, and I am planning to go to university because of it. I am excited to see where it will take me.”

The Whiteinch Centre extended its congratulations to all course graduates and thanked Glasgow City Council for its support in making the course possible.