Outputs: The hidden value of community anchor organisations

Academic Publications

• Pearce, S.et al. 2020. Moments of alignment between devolved political ideology and policy design: the case of Wales. People, Place and Policy 14(1), pp. 6-23., article number: 1. (10.3351/ppp.2020.6389998796)
• Elliott, E., Cohen, S and Frayne. (2020) The Role of Community Anchor organisations in regulating for engagement in a devolved government setting. p167-188 In: McDermont, M., Cole, T., Newman, J. and Piccini, A. eds. Imagining Regulation Differently: Co-Creating Regulation for Engagement. Bristol: Policy Press

Artworks

Launched the Senedd, the home of the Welsh Parliament, on the 29^th December 2018 for two weeks. Created by Artstation, Anchor Peoples was an installation of artworks that emerged from the data collection. It placed 31 standing portraits, each about seven feet high, in the spacious hall that sits adjacent to the space where decisions about the people of Wales are made.

The portraits of community workers and volunteers stood majestically: they filled the public space and were impossible to ignore. They stood in different poses, with expressions suggesting a variety of emotions and characteristics: bravery, anger, defiance, humour, tenderness, and generosity. The standing portraits were accompanied by a narrative soundscape from the interview data on headphones which spoke of the work that anchor people do and their anger and sadness at their work being misunderstood and rendered invisible. The installation literally made the invisible, visible sensorially.

The Peoples Palace: after Magritte (Glenn Davidson & Chris Coppock, Artstation, 2018). Picture placed at the entrance of the exhibition.

Events

Weathering the Storms: the hidden value of community anchor organisations in Wales.  Presentation based on an updated and expanded report on the value and potential role of Community Anchor Organisations in Wales. Part of the Wales Institute of Social and Economic Research and Data (WISERD) seminar series. 23^rd February 2021

ESRC Festival of Social Sciences Anchor Peoples public exhibition 2^nd – 5^th November 2019 including Cultural Participation Research, Art and Community: the integrity imperative 

Anchor Peoples conversations. Part of Adult learners week and funded by the Learning and Work Institute in Wales, the installation was taken to Merthyr Tydfil to facilitate discussion on the value of community organisations  particularly in the context of informal learning. The first session was called ‘Small Change – Learning in the Everyday’ and explored the processes and pressures, joys and tears of maintaining opportunities to learn in the community.

The second was called ‘The King’s Shilling’ and explored the experiences of maintaining the independence needed to ensure community credibility and influence whilst accessing statutory funds.  3rd and 4th July 2019

Anchor Peoples at the Senedd (the Welsh Parliament). 29^th November – 17^th December 2018

Reports

• Weathering The Storms – The hidden value of community anchor organisations in Wales
• Executive summary