Community Engagement
World Cinema
CS Plus has engaged many hard to reach and marginalised communities such as the Somali Eritrean, Nigerian, Polish, Ukrainian and Czech Republic communities in North Manchester. We know that there are many more isolated individuals, families and communities in Manchester that we and other third sector providers are not effectively engaging with.
One initiative is the current development of a Community Learning Champions and Migrants Learning Champions Team. Learning champions will be a small dedicated team of volunteers specifically recruited to be reflective of these (and other) communities.
The Learning Champions will engage and invite local people to a series of "World Cinema" events with free entrance. The World Cinema engagement events throughout 2010 onwards will invite between 60 and 90 residents from a particular community to view a movie (in mother tongue with subtitles) on a “2½ metre high, 10 metre wide screen. A high definition projector and an eight speaker stereo sound system will add to the cinema experience.
Screenings will be designed for the family to reduce social isolation (e.g. BME women), enabling members of the same community dispersed across Manchester (and Greater Manchester) to congregate and socialise in a culturally appropriate environment taking into account gender requirements.
World Sports
With a similar approach to World Cinema, “World Sports” will invite up to 100 residents from all communities to enjoy sporting events such as Twenty-20 cricket, Commonwealth Games, European Cup, (possibly premiership games), the Olympic Games at al will be screened bringing many different families, groups and ethnicities together to reduce social isolation and promote cohesion.
During these events Learning Champions will take the opportunity to engage with participants and promote the range of informal learning opportunities available across Manchester through many different local third sector providers.
