I am a practicing facilitator and trainer of Community Building and Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD).
I love working with the whole team at Forever Manchester to embed an ABCD approach in everything we do across the 10 Greater Manchester boroughs to help build better connected communities. I also enjoy travelling across the UK, delivering ABCD training to professionals and communities.
I joined the Forever Manchester family in December 2014 on a one-year secondment, that turned into two, that turned into… me still being here and you won’t let me go! Before my Forever life, I mainly worked in social housing and other customer facing roles.
Why I chose this career…
Asset Based Community Development hits all the spots with my passion for working with communities, and Forever Manchester’s dedication to making community the cause resonates with me deeply, as a working-class Mancunian. I was born in Gorton, raised in Levenshulme, educated in Stockport, lived in Oldham – amongst other places – and am now settled in the outskirts of the city centre. Every one of those areas are filled with amazing communities that do amazing things. It’s Forever Manchester’s mission to always highlight and champion those communities and I am on board with that.
Places I love…
After a stint at Butlins Somerset in the early 90’s, I aimed to travel the world. I only made it as far as the Canary Islands where I stayed until my mid-twenties, but this is where my passion for people and places really started. Basically, you could put me on a street in any European City, a pathway across the UK countryside, or the A6 on a sunny day and I’m happy!
The project I’m most proud of…
It’s a toss-up between helping First Choice Homes tenants to understand the Stock Transfer process. Eighty-six per cent voted yes, which brought in £149 million for investment! Or delivering the B Green Project – a partnership between FCHO, Oldham Council, British Gas, Forrest and Savills, to install energy efficiency improvements for 2,400 residents plus £11 million to improve properties! I am also extremely proud that at Forever Manchester we don’t just deliver training, but as practitioners we actually deliver what we preach in communities.
lisab@forevermanchester.com
0161 214 0940