A Local Fairness Initiative in Dundee – listening to communities and embedding local voices in decision making.

“This project has amplified how important the power of connection is."

A few years ago Dundee City Council decided to take a new approach to tackling poverty in Dundee. As a Community Planning Partnership they already had city and ward wide strategies in place but they wanted to focus in on more localised approaches, given increased concerns about rising poverty and inequalities. Following some initial consultation, they identified Linlathen – an area with high rates of unemployment and poverty, and one of the most deprived communities in Scotland – and established a Local Fairness Initiative.

Since then, they have had several waves of engagement work with local people, including using PhotoVoice. This involves people taking photographs of the topic of interest which in this case was life in Linlathen. They submitted photos of something good, and something in need of improvement, sharing what it means to them.

They then carried out one to one informal chats, with a smaller group within the community, about the neighbourhood. What became clear very quickly were their concerns about mental health, poverty and the barriers this presented to employment. Some of the key ideas and needs that people came up with included improving mental health and wellbeing, improving the local area, more activities and services in the local area and improving financial wellbeing through easy access to benefits, wider financial advice and reducing the cost of living where possible.

The third stage of engagement was work with a film maker from Aberdeen who co-produced films with local people, including themes of mental health and wellbeing, local efforts to tackle food poverty and the need for viable employment opportunities.

Amongst the activities which have stemmed from this has been multi agency drop in sessions. The overriding benefit of these sessions is that people can find answers to some of their questions on their doorstep and, having the different partners present, means people are finding ways to improve their situation that they might not have considered otherwise. They also have a multi-agency board, with representation from the community, and believe the key to progress has been the local steering group with several local people involved as equal partners.

Local people have shared that they feel that they have been listened to and many of those involved in the various phases of engagement – with the steering group and some of the initiatives that have resulted from the work – feel that they are contributing to their community. The benefits for the local community include improved social connection, mental health and wellbeing; family support and a new facility for children with additional support needs; improved meaningful activity and employment prospects with local people gaining college qualifications through flexible learning; improved financial wellbeing through money advice; and reduced cost of living through the home insulation project and energy advice.

One concern some partners had was whether the time invested in Linlathen would take time and energy away from other parts of Dundee. Paul, from the Dundee Partnership Team, shared that “what we found in practice is that the closer interagency work that has happened in Linlathen has increased connections between agencies, which was much needed after covid, and that has benefits outside of the area too. There has been an informal spread of good practice to a wider area through agencies working more collaboratively.”

He further reflected on the motivation behind the work they are doing – “I am more convinced than ever of the importance of tapping into community assets to effect change. If we had tried to make decisions about tackling unemployment and poverty on the basis of our initial desk work only, we would have missed the point. I already viewed partnership working as important to making things work for people. I also knew that loneliness and social isolation can have devastating effects on mental health and wellbeing. However, this project has amplified how important the power of connection is. By working together, the agencies involved can do more with the same resource; and through local people connecting to each other. For the agencies, new possibilities open and people can find and channel ideas, motivations and possibilities.”

By bringing partners and local people together as equals, this approach demonstrates how genuinely listening to communities, can strengthen collaboration across health and social care. By embedding local voices in decision making, it not only improves outcomes for individuals but also amplifies good practice across the wider system. Its impact extends beyond Linlathen, strengthening good practice across the wider landscape.

This work has previously been highlighted by the Personal Outcomes Network. To get in touch with them please email – personaloutcomesnetwork@strath.ac.uk

Follow this link to learn more about the Local Fairness Initiative in Dundee.

You can read all Connected Communities case studies here: https://www.alliance-scotland.org.uk/blog/case_studies/?projects=connected-communities