OCTOPUS COMMUNITY NETWORK

Octopus is a collaboration of community centres working together to develop and deliver innovative community-led health and well-being activities, informal and non-formal learning projects, growing and bio-diversity projects, skills and back to work programmes.  In working together we achieve greater synergy avoiding unnecessary duplication, and maximum resource utilization.

It's time for our Annual General Meeting and we'd love to see you there to celebrate our successes from the past year and discuss future plans. Over the past year, our work has been rooted in partnership — bringing together organisations committed to unlocking routes to meaningful, systemic change. For example, working alongside partners such as Islington Council and National Trust, we have strengthened our role as anchor organisations, collaborating to build resilient, connected neighbourhoods. At the heart of this has been our support for independently run community centres as places that are deeply knitted into the fabric of local life. These centres are more than venues; they are trusted spaces where relationships are formed, support is accessed, crises are met with swift action, and everyday moments of joy and belonging are shared. Through partnership and capacity building, we continue to ensure these centres remain embedded, responsive, and indispensable to the communities they serve. A brief outline of the agenda:10.30 - 11.00: Arrivals and refreshments11.00 - 11.45: Project updates, AGM business11.45 - 12.30: Keynote speakers and panel discussions12.30 - 14.00: Lunch and networking, with lunch provided by the Brickworks Community Cafe&nbsp; This year, we have panel presentations and&nbsp;discussions&nbsp;with&nbsp;Nick Gardham, CEO of Community Organisers Ltd, Tony Armstrong, CEO of&nbsp;Locality, and Alistair Ross, Senior Practice and Research Lead at New Local.&nbsp; Nick Gardham:&nbsp;will stimulate discussion by focusing on the&nbsp;differentiation between an&nbsp;‘organising approach’ and a ‘development approach’ .&nbsp;I think the real differentiation that we can stress is the ‘who is doing the work, where power sits and who the work is for. The question we should ask from an organising perspective is… ‘who decides, and how&nbsp;do we change that?’ As opposed to ‘how do we make this place better within the systems we have’…. Tony Armstrong:&nbsp;will bring together the key insights from their Community Powered Neighbourhoods, highlighting the importance of places such as Community Centres being longstanding anchors in the community. Our report&nbsp;“Community&nbsp;powered neighbourhoods: How community&nbsp;anchor organisations can transform our places” ...&nbsp;argues that if we are indeed entering a new age of neighbourhoods, it offers a huge opportunity. We shine a light on&nbsp;community&nbsp;“anchor”. Alistair Ross:&nbsp;will present the key findings from the New Local report 'Where People Meet' arguing the case for continued existence of community centres, along with funding for and resource investment in them. This&nbsp;report sets out what can be achieved if we celebrate, sustain and reimagine community centres for the future. View our 2024 - 2025 Annual Report here.<a href="https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/en/charity-search?p_p_id=uk_gov_ccew_onereg_charitydetails_web_portlet_CharityDetailsPortlet&amp;p_p_lifecycle=2&amp;p_p_state=maximized&amp;p_p_mode=view&amp;p_p_resource_id=%2Faccounts-resource&amp;p_p_cacheability=cacheLevelPage&amp;_uk_gov_ccew_onereg_charitydetails_web_portlet_CharityDetailsPortlet_objectiveId=A17972129&amp;_uk_gov_ccew_onereg_charitydetails_web_portlet_CharityDetailsPortlet_priv_r_p_mvcRenderCommandName=%2Faccounts-and-annual-returns&amp;_uk_gov_ccew_onereg_charitydetails_web_portlet_CharityDetailsPortlet_priv_r_p_organisationNumber=4036300&amp;_uk_gov_ccew_onereg_charitydetails_web_portlet_CharityDetailsPortlet_priv_r_p_organisationNumber=4036300" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">View our 2024 - 2025 Annual Accounts here</a>.

OCTOPUS COMMUNITY NETWORK

CPN Community Growing Session

Octopus Community Network AGM