Market Hall - Ledbury
Sikh Temple - Smethwick
About us
From the sprawling urban areas of Birmingham, Coventry, Solihull, Wolverhampton and the Black Country, to heritage centres such as Stoke-on-Trent and Stratford-upon-Avon to the rural setting and it’s picturesque market towns and villages such as Ledbury and Ludlow, the West Midlands is a region rich in diversity.
The work of the regional team centres on the four core values of the DTA, supporting existing member trusts, assisting additional communities who wish to consider the development trust approach, persuading others within the region of the value of the development trust movement and running the organisation within the region effectively. This last is most successfully achieved by facilitating regular communication and sharing of best practice between members and other interested community groups, of which the quarterly regional network meeting is a core component.
Current activity in the West Midlands is predominately focused on supporting community groups and regeneration partnerships who feel that the development trust concept of community enterprise and asset development is the best way of sustaining and strengthening existing regenerative activity. Several groups are now in the process of becoming, or looking to become, development trusts and members of the movement. It is through this continued growth of regional strength that the DTA can expect to make a real impact on the region. Significantly, we are generating significant interest amongst rural partnerships who are increasingly taking a keen interest in our movement. This will culminate in a rural development trust event planned for March 2005.
Specific recent work has included a procurement pilot which is helping member groups more effectively enter into contractual relationships with the local authorities and other statutory agencies. In addition, a recently contract won in partnership with other agencies should result in the application of the community enterprise healthcheck across a range of deprived and diverse communities across Birmingham and the Black Country, helping them to benefit from the expertise within the development trust movement.
List of Full Members:
All Saints Action Network Ltd
Bewdley Development Trust
Burslem Community Development Trust
Colebridge Development Trust
Ledbury and Area Development Trust
Moseley Community Development Trust
North Smethwick Housing Development Trust
Old Hall People’s Partnership
South Wye Development Trust
WATCH Ltd
Full Membership
Kindle, The South Wye Development Trust were accepted into membership in June. The organisation is the successor body to the South Wye SRB6 programme which has already made a significant impact in this area of Hereford, south of the River Wye.
Emerging Membership
This special category was formed in June 2006 to enable organisations with a clear commitment to establishing a development trust access to support and advice through the DTA. Since the new category was formed, three organisations have been accepted into membership. Bewdley Development Trust Greets Green Community Enterprises Heartlands Older Peoples Forum.
Associate Membership
Finally, the DTA welcomes into membership the Greets Green New Deal for Communities Partnership based in West Bromwich.
Annual Membership Survey
The DTA has publiched its annual survey of members. The information yielded by this survey is extremely valuable in terms of informing on the breath and depth of development trust activity across the country.
DTA Conference 2006
Last year's annual DTA conference was in Birmingham, right in the heart of the West Midlands region. Partner organisations in the region have been most receptive and we thank Birmingham City Council, Advantage West Midlands and Regen WM for their support in addition to national sponsors.
Highlights of the DTA 2006 Conference
Community Diversity
Our latest publication on Community Diversity has been published. Bonds & Bridges: A practitioners guide to community diversity.
Links
The DTA in the West Midlands works with a variety of partners:
Birmingham & Solihull Social Economy Consortium Birmingham & Solihull Social Economy Consortium (BSSEC) is a practitioner-led network of agencies and enterprises involved in the social economy in Birmingham and Solihull.
Co operation Black Country set up the Black Country Social Enterprise Network in September 2001. Its purpose is to facilitate the growth and sustainability of Social Enterprises.
i Social Entrepreneurs has been a trusted partner at the forefront of social enterprise support and has been committed to social firm development in the West Midlands since 1998.
Partners for Social Enterprise Supporting social enterprise in Herefordshire and Worcestershire.
Regen WMThe mission of RegenWM is to promote and develop regeneration excellence in the West Midlands.
Regional Action West Midlands (RAWM) was established in 2000 as the regional strategic network for the West Midlands voluntary and community sector.
