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Seeking a community team

Blueprint for a core team powering community led projects

The Peckham Coal Line is looking for a committed, creative and innovative team of people whose mission is to keep up the momentum of the PCL and bring the vision to life.

Context:

The Peckham Coal Line is a community-led project to reconnect Peckham’s neighbourhoods with a new linear park linking Queens Road Peckham and Rye Lane. It aims to connect communities, open up business possibilities and create new green space.

The unique way the Coal Line has been developed and designed in partnership with the local community means that a major piece of London infrastructure will be grown from the bottom up, rather than imposed from the top down.

To date, the Peckham Coal Line has been reliant largely on individuals with volumes of passion, commitment, ideas and goodwill, in an unpaid capacity who have limited time. To take the vision and ambition to the next level, a renewed investment of time, skills and energy is required to unlock its potential.

This is an invitation for people with new energy, ideas and commitment to step into the different roles and responsibilities needed to take the Peckham Coal Line to the next level. It acts as both a provocation and also the dream scenario that could be adapted by other community development projects.

We'll be taking expressions of interest until the end of Feb 2023 via team@peckhamcoalline.org for anyone wanting to take on this role. At this time we will assess if there is critical mass to continue the work.

What: a creative and inspiring team of 2-3 people (minimum)

A team that between them has knowledge and practice of community work, how development projects work and the politics of working with stakeholders and institutions as well as meaningful community engagement and co-production. A team that is trusted and representative of the people in the local area and is attuned to the needs and issues of local people.

Who

Exact roles to be defined, but might include: community catalysts and designers, community weavers, producers or coordinators

Qualities & attributes needed

  • Great communicators, good at building trust and confidence with whoever they meet. As comfortable with people on the street, in the local mosque, over a cup of tea as they are in a boardroom. Tactful and respectful of different perspectives and able to find common ground where it might not be obvious.
  • Able to adapt and evolve to the changing needs and opportunities.
  • Thrive on making connections, bringing things to life and trying out new ways of doing things, comfortable doing this on- and offline.
  • With accountability to local people, build trust and authority to influence institutions.
  • Buckets of initiative, with the ability to turn big ideas into a practical reality and next steps.
  • Intuitive dot joiner who builds impactful connections.
  • Super organisers, aware of the value of great (simple) systems and processes.
  • Unafraid to challenge the status quo, with ideas for how to adapt and influence entrenched systems and views.
  • Loves designing a process and hosting or facilitating groups to be more than the sum of their parts.
  • Power awareness - understanding of own position and privileges, can lean in and lean out as required and appropriate.
  • Collaborative leadership role.
  • Has a relationship and connection to SE15 and wants to contribute to helping residents to shape their local area.
  • Experience of creating and/or nurturing creative and innovative public space, urban realm, from design to delivery.
  • This is so not a traditional job with conventional hours. It will take weekend and evening work at points.

Function/s

  • Ambassadors for the project, you will maintain momentum for the project in all its facets
  • Designing and delivering meaningful community engagement co-action, including online and in-person events, creative campaigns and ideas
  • Day to day contact for those wanting to engage in the project
  • Overseeing contractors and experts delivering elements for the PCL and where necessary supporting them to engage meaningfully with communities in the local area
  • Stakeholder management and relationship holding with GLA and Southwark Council plus other key stakeholders
  • Communication - website, newsletter and social media
  • Fundraising to cover operational costs of the charity (not capital projects)
  • Manage / coordinate volunteers and offers to time / resources

Is this you?

You could be:

  • an exciting team from a local organisation looking for a new challenge that complements your existing mission and aims
  • a new constellation of passionate individuals looking to influence change in their neighbourhood
  • a design / architecture practice looking for a project to support and nurture to reality (potentially trial new ways of working)
  • looking to learn more about the behind the scenes running of ambitious community projects
  • interested in putting your spare time to good use by creating something positive for your local community
  • looking for some great experience after leaving school or college
  • between roles and looking for something to get your teeth stuck into
  • the surprise we’ve been waiting for.

Resourcing and funding

£50,000 - £75,000 per year

The minimum viable community team would need core funding - at the equivalent (at least) of London Living wage for 1.5-2 full time staff (split into 3 roles).

Plus operational costs linked to community engagement - events, local marketing, etc

The funds for these roles would need to be sought by any incoming team.

Enablers

We've identified a series of enablers for this type of project. If there is to be a next phase - each of these roles and expertise would need to be sourced.

  • supportive and enabling advisory board/ trustees (the current board is stepping down)
  • team coach / mentor e.g. a local professional coaching services
  • access to functioning tech and local space/s to use as needed
    e.g. an organisation to provide desk / office space, a local organisational host, local venues to commit to space as and when needed
  • access to mediation / conflict resolution expertise
  • investment in training and development opportunities

All of these things could be sourced from the local community, stitching together local skills and resources in a different way.

Experience to date

You can read about the spectrum of roles required for this type of work via this blog.

Interested?

If you’re interested in taking on this role for the next phase of the Peckham Coal Line - express your interest to team@peckhamcoalline.org by end of Feb 2023.