'Voice' is a tool which helps community groups and networks to assess and improve the influence they have on agencies and partnerships. The ‘axis’ in 'voice' plots existing capacity to influence against how influential the group feels. It can be used to: assess and monitor community influence, prompt discussion and debate within groups and help plan how to become more influential.

"If this was America you’d be paying a fortune for the information and know-how that’s contained here. This model is indispensable for any organisation serious about making an impact".

(comment from 'Voice' facilitator training)

changes has developed a Resource Pack to help people to make the best use of voice.

• Part 1 - handy guide is available to download here - this provides the basics of voice so you can have a go with it. If you want to do more or use it in different ways then we strongly advise that you get in touch with us to discuss how - we have been developing some useful resources
• For information about the other sections of the Resource Pack, contact us

voice in print

In its former guise as 'the axis of influence', articles about voice have been published in the Community Development Journal and NCVO newsletter.

Contact us to talk to us about commissioning a course for people in your area who work with community groups and networks to learn more about 'voice' and how to use it

NB - voice used to be called the 'axis of influence'. The reason for the change is that we have developed a second axis - for public sector agencies - called 'echo'. Voice and echo are BOTH axes of influence so we wanted to give them each their own unique name.

changes is pleased to introduce DiCE - download the 2-page summary here!

Researched for over 10 years, DiCE has been developed by community development specialists, to enable organisations to carry out effective community empowerment, putting the values and principles of community development into action.

DiCE can help you work with communities:

• Increasing skills, knowledge and confidence
• Promoting equality and inclusion
• Bringing people together around common issues and concerns
• Building positive relationships across communities and groups and enabling co-operative working
• Encouraging and enabling communities to influence decision making in public services

DiCE can be used for work which focuses on community wellbeing and community empowerment, at policy, programme or project level. It is appropriate to people who work in public and voluntary sectors, in roles such as: Community Engagement, Community Services, Neighbourhood Management, Member Services, Community Development, Environmental Services, Partnership Development, Transport coordination, Housing Services, Civil Renewal, Cultural Services ......

changes offers 2-day training courses on DiCE - contact us for information

For a brief lowdown - click here to download the 2-page summary

and, if you want more information, you can download a copy of the original research report here.

We recently ran a 'rapid briefing' session in the East Midlands where officers identified a variety of uses for echo: 

·              It is an easy toolkit, could be useful across the County to help consistency and to talk to the non-converted

·              It could help with the Community Engagement Strategy development thought process

·              It could provide us with a baseline of where we are � and an action plan

·              It made me think differently � more deeply into what outcomes could be

·              It turns the intangible into the tangible

·              I can see how we could usefully apply this to help the organisation move forward in terms of equality and diversity

·              There has to be recognition of good practice in the organisation, echo can help us to locate this and learn from it

·              Within an LSP context it is important � funding reductions will make it hard for the LA to respond so we are going to have to work more in partnership

changes offers short (3 hour) sessions to introduce echo and facilitate discussion about how it might be useful to agencies and partnerships: contact us for fees and availability

Closing the Gap - click here to download (2.07Mb) -  is a report on the findings of the Women Take Part project supported by the Government Equalities Office and the Department for Communities and Local Government, highlighting what needs to be done to encourage more women to play an active role in civic and civil life.

The research undertaken by changes and associates looked at the participation of women, in particular under-represented women, in governance and decision making, in both community and public life, collecting information about two sides of the story:

• ‘what works’ in terms of approaches, initiatives and learning models that encourage different groups of women to become more involved,
• and ‘what needs to happen’ so that structures, policies and organisations work in ways that encourage the recruitment and support of more women.

Closing the Gap highlights the ‘zapper’ effect where women feel excluded, and frustrated by the way business is conducted. So, as well as encouraging more and different women to become more constructive, critical, cooperative, confident and challenging in the public domain, there have to be changes in how organisations and structures work. If this doesn’t happen, even though the pool of women might increase and expand, women will still experience the ‘zapper effect’.

The report provides a summary of the research findings and guidance on models and approaches which can be used to encourage, equip and support women. It is a resource for Government and other agencies, from which they can extract information and ideas to inform delivery of relevant performance targets.

The report draws on contemporary research and knowledge and explores the inequalities surrounding women’s active participation in public life. It emphasises the need to develop and grow the ‘pool’ of women available for civil participation and civic engagement, and outlines the support that different women may need at different points along their journey.

The research included a literature review, focus groups with women, and interviews with civic, civil and voluntary sector organisations and a national event.

See the Executive Summary (900Kb)

The following are associated reports ...

Click here to download (950Kb)

This report is based on the research findings, other contemporary research and commentary and outlines  a four-stage model of organisational journeys towards a genuine willingness to change, take risks and do things differently to increase gender parity and equality within their organisation. The indicators for each stage are described and issues and organisational challenges raised through the research are considered. A series of organisational case studies are presented which highlight some examples of organisational good practice.

The overall purpose of the Women Take Part event was to bring together the research findings so far, both in terms of what organisations need to be doing to ‘recruit’ and encourage more women, as well as the learning around ‘learning programmes/approaches’. It provided an opportunity for dialogue from both ‘sides’ and explored different aspects of what needs to happen to increase the numbers of women involved in governance and decision making at all levels. The feedback from the event was then combined with other research findings.

Click here to download (540Kb)

As part of the Women Take Part research, we set up a Survey Monkey questionnaire to gather information from a wider range of people on what needs to happen to increase women’s participation and influence. We summarised the responses and presented them to participants at the Women Take Part event to add their thoughts and comments. This document provides a compilation of all responses.

Click here to download (575Kb)

This aspect of the research looked at specific initiatives to encourage and support more women to gain the skills, knowledge and confidence to enter and stay in public life. We have tried to map and categorise what seems to be a fairly fragmented field covering the voluntary and community sectors, higher education and the public sector. We specifically asked about, and have reported on, learning opportunities for women, and that directly relate to them becoming more active in community and public life.

Click here to download (1.32Mb)

The intention was to explore the range of opportunities ‘out there’ for women and to ascertain the relevancy of the ‘Four Essential Ingredients’ used in the Take Part Learning Framework, to see how useful this framework is in different contexts to encourage different women to become, active and critical citizens.

This focus group was hosted by the Gender and Participation Unit at Manchester Metropolitan University. The purpose of the session was to learn from the journeys, experiences and perceptions of women currently active in governance roles; exploring the main barriers, motivations and support women have when getting involved and becoming active in civic and civil life, and hearing participants’ ideas for ways to encourage and support other women to become more involved and take up similar roles.

The report highlighted some of the issues that face women in terms of ‘getting there’, ‘being there’ and ‘staying there’.

Click here to download (222Kb)

This report is based on two focus groups, one in Bath & North East Somerset and one in Cornwall, exploring women’s involvement in small Voluntary and Community Groups. The focus groups were organised by the South West Foundation.

Click here to download (800Kb)