New pressures, new priorities?
/SCDC has submitted our response to the Scottish Government’s research to understand the impact of Covid-19 on communities.
It describes some of our own recent work, including supporting and evaluating the targeting of funds to community organisations and working in partnership with Public Health Scotland to develop comprehensive advice for community groups and volunteer networks on supporting people safely.
Our key messages are:
The remarkable response to the crisis from community organisations has been well-documented and clearly illustrates that pre-existing grassroots organisation is a key element of community resilience. But investment and support is required to sustain and build on this resilience, with many community organisations struggling to generate income and to meet increased demand.
The impact of coronavirus will be felt for some time, including financial hardship caused by a likely economic downturn, mental health challenges and digital inequality.
A priority for the community sector is sustained funding along the lines of the recent emergency funding response where community organisations are trusted to deliver on the ground and to design their own responses appropriate to the communities they work with. Clearly, longer-term funding is an important part of this.
A key priority is to support people in disadvantaged communities, and those with equality characteristics experiencing discrimination, to build community activity that can give them more control, resilience and influence over their lives.
We believe there is an emerging consensus that we cannot accept shortened lives and adverse health outcomes for anyone, whether as a result of coronavirus or any other cause. We need to invest in similar responses to health inequalities and environmental injustice, including support for community-led activity on the ground and for those who are most affected to have a voice in the democratic dialogue which is required in order to ‘build back better’.
More
Download a pdf version of SCDC’s full response here.
You can visit the research page and submit your own response until 23:59 on 27th May.