• ‘I just wanted to say thank you very much for the workshop, I thought it was absolutely brilliant and made me think on a deeper level of what community is all about. The book is great and very inspiring so thanks for that too. I had a lot of fun and it wasn’t one of those meetings where we were talked at it was very interactive and I really look forward to the next one’
• ‘good networking event’
• ‘good style of delivery’
• ‘good selection of talk and exercises – kept my attention’
• ‘met new people; found out about other organisations; loved the opportunity to share and learn from others’
• ‘excellent delivery and content’
• ‘the whole day was very good :-)’
• ‘liked the style and format; good exercises and examples’
• ‘built rapport and gained more info on partners’
• ‘opportunities to network and see the LEGI bigger picture’
• ‘presentations very good.  re-assured about things I did in the past.  learned about innovative ways to deal with disaffected’
• ‘good mix in terms of style and delivery – light hearted but meaningful tasks – theoretical and practical
• ‘informative – with interesting ways of getting the points across’
• ‘good networking, meeting other LEGI partners, more information about enterprise, the activities were educational’
• ‘liked the interaction, presentations, venue, networking and the presenters’
• ‘liked the mix of activities – fun and engaging’
• ‘liked the process model and the stages, Boyatzis Model and the group work, the learning from the videos was good and the interaction with others’
• ‘I liked the exercises that put us out of our comfort zones’
• ‘I see that many people could really benefit from both you and Anne as I have to admit that I have been on so many workshops and training days but I have to say yours was the best by far’
• ‘I liked Anne, I think she is very knowledgeable and is a great presenter. She thinks outside the box and  stretches other peoples thinking. I have just been sharing my day with [colleagues] and telling them how fantastic the workshop was. I would like to include the others from our team if possible onto your next planned workshop as its important that we can all learn as much as possible to benefit the people that we try and reach everyday within our jobs’

This was just some of the feedback from the first time we ran our ‘Engaging Communities in Enterprise’ workshop.

I am delighted to say that we  plan to run it again in London on September 26th.  You can find out more and book your place here.

I run the event with Anne Sherriff.  Anne has a strong background in regeneration, in particular community engagement, communications and marketing, and developing effective partnerships. She joined re’new in 1996, having previously worked for Bradford City Challenge and before that the Community Development Foundation.

Initially appointed to lead and co-ordinate Leeds’ SRB2 funded East Bank regeneration programme, Anne’s role with re’new has developed to now encompass overall responsibility for all of the company’s work throughout East Leeds as well as leading the development of renew’s neighbourhood management and community activity. Anne also coordinates re’new’s corporate marketing and communications activity, and leads on the development of new business across the Leeds city region.

The East Bank regeneration programme encompassed housing and environmental renewal, economic development and social and community development. Throughout, the ability to engage successfully with local residents was key to the success of the regeneration programme.

Forming and sustaining effective partnerships – between agencies and with local communities – is fundamental to successful intervention at neighbourhood level. Anne developed and led the East Bank partnership and has subsequently coordinated the formation of the to’gether Partnership. This is a unique multi-agency approach to solving inner-city problems in east Leeds based on shared responsibility among public agencies and buy-in by local residents, including developing a ‘residents network’ of local people who have endorsed the to’gether Partnership, currently numbering over 1000 and still growing.

Anne has been involved in community development and community engagement for nearly thirty years, as a practitioner, trainer and manager. Committed to developing innovative and effective solutions to local issues, and to ‘joining up the dots’ between disparate interventions and approaches, she is an effective and creative strategic leader whilst retaining a pragmatic approach to getting things done. Anne is an experienced Investment in Excellence facilitator committed to enhancing personal and professional development opportunities for those working in or with local communities.