On 7 April 2016 the Third Sector Research Centre at the University of Birmingham hosted a conference on the future of community work in England in the light of the closures of the Community Development Foundation (See earlier post about CDF’s closure on the website https://www.iacdglobal.org/2016/02/01/closure-of-community-development-foundation-a-huge-loss/.
The aim of the event, attended by over 100 delegates, was to kick start thinking and action about the future of community development work in England, CD learning and CD networks locally, regionally and nationally.
The conference was attended by IACD President, Charlie McConnell and IACD staff member, Colm Munday. Charlie presented a workshop on IACD’s work including the soon to be launched Global Community Development Exchange. In the conference plenary at the end of the day, Charlie urged the conference to request to the Local Trust, who are holding the £500k legacy funds from CDF, to spend part of this on funding the rebuilding of a national association for community development in England. He contrasted the collapse of the CD support infrastructure in England, with the situation in Scotland where there was still a vibrant Scottish CD Network, the Scottish Community Development Centre and the CLD Standards Council supporting CD education and the profession.
