Peer Support / Advice
Islington Food Partnership (IFP): A broad network of local charities, non-profits, community centres and council staff working together to take action on key food issues in the borough. Useful for finding local connections/contacts, advice on getting started, food safety advice, queries about available spaces, information about funding. You can get in touch to ask questions, or if you want to join, you can become part of the mailing list and come to meetings every 3 months.
Contact: hello@islingtonfoodpartnership.org.uk / candice@manorgardenscentre.org
Islington Food Activist Network: An informal network within the IFP of local grassroots community groups and residents across Islington. There is a Whatsapp group you can join to ask each other for tips and advice, find out about local resources, workshops and free training.
Email candice@manorgardenscentre.org
Co-operation Town: A network of 27 food co-ops. They have a resource pack available online and a hub in Gospel Oak. There is also a community organiser for Islington-based co-ops, so if you’ve got a group together for your co-op, you may be able to get support, tips and advice for your co-op.
https://cooperation.town/
Money management
Social Change Agency (in partnership with Open Collective): provide fiscal hosting, a secure, transparent and collaborative way for community-led groups and grassroots movements to manage their money. This is especially useful if you are an unincorporated organisation. This kind of thing can be really useful for fundraising (building trust with funders) and keeping on top of expenses. https://thesocialchangeagency.org/who-we-work-with/groups/
Policy writing
Rad HR – free online library of policy examples and templates. “RadHR is a space for social change organisations to share the nuts and bolts—the policies, processes, practices and stories—of how to organise ourselves based on our values and challenge oppression within our groups.”
https://radhr.org/
Voluntary Action Islington: downloadable resources to assist in the effective management of your organisation
https://vai.org.uk/services/policies-resources-and-toolkits/
Making a website
Voice Online Communities CIC: free website builder for community groups https://e-voice.org.uk/
Safeguarding and GDPR guidance
National food service: Template training/presentation for safeguarding and GDPR best practice in a food project
https://drive.google.com/file/d/17E6rp-YTRVF5f4pf_mJZkpeYDXr5Vtp_/view
Food Safety
You may need to register with your local authority as a food business if you provide food on a regular and organized basis. If you handle, prepare, store and serve food occasionally and on a small scale, you don’t need to register.
The environmental health team at the council are supportive of community projects. They will provide advice and guidance on improving your hygiene rating if needed.
Tel: 020 7527 3816 Fax: 020 7527 3057
Email: Commercial.EnvH@islington.gov.uk
Setting up a project or organisation
How to set up a social centre (co-operative): Online guide from Radical Routes
https://www.radicalroutes.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/woocommerce_uploads/2022/10/How-to-Set-up-a-Social-Centre-zg03n2.pdf
Setting up a Worker’s Co-op: Online guide from Radical Routes
https://www.radicalroutes.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/woocommerce_uploads/2022/10/How2WorkersCo-op2019A5Lo-Res-pslouz.pdf
Online guide to setting up a community fridge from ChangeX:
https://www.changex.org/us/communityfridge/guide#step3
Community fridge network: “The Community Fridge Network is coordinated by Hubbub and brings together all UK based groups running a community fridge. It enables them to share knowledge, skills, ask questions and provide support to each other. Through the network we also offer free, comprehensive guidance on how to set up a fridge as well as tools covering everything you need, from posters to health and safety templates and more.”
https://hubbub.org.uk/community-fridge-network
Organising as a Group
Making decisions together, handling conflict, taking care of each others’ well-being etc.
Resist and Renew podcast – featuring interviews with social movement organisers about their work and how they do it, as well as facilitation tools from their training toolbox https://resistrenew.com/podcast-2/
Resist and Renew Workshops They also offer in-person trainings, which can be made bespoke to your group https://resistrenew.com/workshops/
Navigate: offer workshops to support groups and organisations working for social and environmental justice to be more effective and to thrive. For example, Developing Your Capacity to Work Through Conflict; Exploring Power Dynamics; Facilitating Effective Meetings; Making Collaborative Decisions; Sustaining Ourselves / Sustaining Our Groups; Strategic and Campaign Planning; Running Great Workshops https://www.navigate.org.uk/workshops.html
Navigate resource library: links to resources, articles and ideas that Navigate have been influenced by. Topics include: making collaborative decisions; exploring power dynamics; organisational systems and processes; running great workshops; sustaining ourselves and our groups
https://www.navigate.org.uk/resources.html
Seeds for change: they provide training and workshops for campaigns, community projects and co-ops that are working for social and environmental justice. Topics include: collective organising; developing your strategy; campaign and action skills; running co-ops; running your own workshops.
They may be able to offer free training for groups that are unfunded. For funded groups they charge £35 an hour. See their website for more info
https://www.seedsforchange.org.uk/training
Seeds for change resource library: designed to help you be more effective and genuinely inclusive in your campaign or project https://www.seedsforchange.org.uk/resources
Mediation/facilitation
(You may want this if your group is facing a conflict and you want some external support through mediation, or maybe you want experienced facilitators for a particularly difficult decision that your group needs to make together)
Navigate: “We have training and experience in facilitating group conflicts, as well as conflict between a small number of people. Our approach in mediation and conflict facilitation is to listen to and include what’s important to each person in the group, help you develop better relationships and find creative ways forward that work for everyone.” https://www.navigate.org.uk/conflict-facilitation–mediation.html