About Civic Champions

What is a civic champion?
"Just an ordinary person" is the answer you'll get if you ask one, but civic champions are in fact extraordinary people doing extraordinary things on a voluntary basis in their community.

What is the Civic Champions programme?
Civic Champions is a unique skills and business development programme, run by the Civic Trust in East Anglia, for residents and volunteers who are passionate about the wellbeing of their community. Champions are running new buildings, have set up social enterprises, won funding, created jobs and are delivering services that their communities need.

The Civic Trust has run the Champions programme over the last five years, initially as a national programme working with volunteers from across England. Over the last two years we have run the programme at a countywide level. So alongside Champions developing their own personal and business skills they have created strong local networks, offering support, knowledge and information; Champions link into other existing networks so providing a huge resource that helps get things done!

The Civic Champions programme
The Champions we wish to work with are either:

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a person volunteering for a community or voluntary group or social enterprise

•

an individual with a project idea and some local support

•

an employee of a voluntary organisation or social enterprise that employs less than three people.

In 2004 and 2005 the Civic Champions programme ran in Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex. We worked in partnership with Business Link for Norfolk, Business Link Suffolk, Business Link Essex and The Guild, a Norwich based Social Enterprise Development agency.

We are now developing a graduate programme for those existing champions who wish to focus their passion and skills on facilitation and "championing" champions - to help members of their communities to help themselves and by that create further employment opportunities and new enterprises to provide products and services their communities want. Details will be posted as soon as they are available.

Civic Champions are passionate and entrepreneurial people who want to create and sustain wealth in the communities where they live. By working in partnership with Business Links and other business support agencies we provide a programme that enables entrepreneurs to do what they are good at: create wealth and jobs, create and sustain new networks and share learning and practise so making real economic changes in the communities they live in.

For further information please contact:

Civic Champs,
The Civic Trust,
Essex Hall
1-6 Essex Street
London
WC2R 3HU

Tel. 020 7539 7910
Email civicchamps@civictrust.org.uk

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