Origins of Community Companions

The concept for Corpus Christi Community Companions arose from concerns expressed by individuals involved in Corpus Christi Parish (April 2008) in relation to the Regeneration Programme for Limerick’s most disadvantaged estates. There was a view at the time that regeneration was focused on the physical aspects – i.e. demolishing and re-building houses – and that this in itself, “wouldn’t work”. Both the Fitzgerald Report (April 2007) and the “Vision Statement” of the Regeneration Agencies highlighted the extensive social deprivation and importance of responding to social needs on the estates. At a later stage, as the Regeneration Masterplans were in development, the social regeneration was identified by the Regeneration Agencies as “the most important”, “the most difficult”, and “the least visible” aspect of regeneration.

The main points raised by the Parish at this time were “the lack of self-confidence” amongst people in the community, the consequences of which are “an inability to have their voice heard or having the false belief that they don’t even have a voice”. The challenge of enabling “the marginalised to know they belong to a caring community” was identified, as “it is only when feel we belong ... and know we matter ... we are willing to engage”. “The need to listen with respect to the most marginalised” was identified ... “to listen as equals so that together we can move forward”. It was highlighted that “one of the realities is” that “many people are not willing or maybe not able at present to engage with the services that are being offered”. Amongst the challenges identified was the “need to build bridges so that [people in the community] can engage with society”.

Initial ideas on the way forward were to “establish a core group of outreach workers or pastoral care workers who would act as a bridge between the services on offer and those on whom the services were targeted”. Their role was summed up as “wasting time with people” (Alice Leahy) so that they would “gain the trust of the most vulnerable and awaken in them the confidence to take baby steps forward”. This team of people could comprise both paid staff and a cadre of volunteers. The idea drew on the experience of the work of communities of religious (especially the sisters) in Moyross. The sisters established houses in Cosgrave Park (Sisters of Mercy) and Pineview (Little Sisters of the Assumption) in the 1980’s. They visited people on the estate, made their houses available for people to call and listened to people with “no agenda”. The work of the sisters (in education and particularly training local people in community leadership) encouraged the start of community development in Moyross and brought support to people and families on the estate.
The idea of the Project was to recreate a similar model now, but in a different context (i.e. secular professional workers and possibly volunteers). The identification of needs as described above, and drawing on the earlier experiences of the religious communities on the estate fed into the formulation of objectives for the Corpus Christi Community Companions Project. They also give insights into types of outcomes that were envisaged from the start – for individuals (confidence, self-esteem, sense of well-being), community (trust in community, sense of belonging to a caring community, willingness to get involved in cooperative action with others in the community) and policy / services delivery bodies (improved confidence of people to articulate their needs, greater willingness of residents to engage with services, improved quality of service delivery).

Project Development
These ideas were discussed amongst an informal group of people living and working in the parish, including residents, people in professional services, and in community and voluntary organisations. This group was broadened to include representatives of Limerick Enterprise Development Park (LEDP), working mainly in southside disadvantaged communities, and the Regeneration Agencies. Over a period of weeks of development and review, a proposal was developed for the Community Companions. This considered in some detail how the Project could be set up, its objectives, resources needed, structures, and what partners (organisations) and people should be brought in to guide its development and implementation. In July 2008, a proposal for Community Companions, grounded in objectives of the social regeneration pillar of Regeneration (which was in development at the time), was fully developed and submitted for funding consideration to Limerick Southside and Northside Regeneration Agencies. At this stage, it was proposed to develop the Project on the northside (in Corpus Christi Parish, Moyross) and later extend it into a southside parish (Holy Family Southill). The proposal covered a period of two years, and was costed to include both the northside (years 1 and 2) and southside (year 2) parishes.

Following consideration and feedback by the Regeneration Agencies, the Project was scaled back to cover only one area on the northside (a pilot only in Moyross), and it was integrated more directly into existing community structures in Moyross. In November 2008, the Regeneration Agencies agreed to part fund the project (two-thirds of the funding required for the one year pilot) and LEDP agreed to provide or arrange for the remainder of the funding (one-third of the requirement). The proposed Steering Group membership, its remit and a meeting schedule (quarterly) were agreed and individuals approached to participate on the Steering Group. All of those approached agreed to be involved.

Formal arrangements were put in place to set up the Project and recruit staff to run it such that it could start as early as possible in 2009. A Selection / Interview Panel (drawn from membership of the Steering Group) was set up, and the positions advertised in November 2008. Interviews were held in January 2009. Three workers were in post by the end of March 2009 (a Team Leader, one full-time and one part-time Community Companion).



Description of the Project
Project aims and objectives, and implementation are described in this section.

Project aims and objectives
The overall aim of Corpus Christi Community Companions is engagement with, and support of, residents of the Parish by providing a “listening ear”, “wasting time with people”.
By listening, it was expected the Companions would provide emotional support to individuals, building trust, confidence and self-esteem. The Companions could empower residents by encouraging them to participate in community events and the services available to them (social, leisure, education, family support), build their own social networks and develop social and recreational activities within and outside of the community, if appropriate. However, the promoters were clear that the Project is about “listening” and spending time talking to people. The purpose was not to provide a team of professionals giving advice. There was no “hidden agenda” for instance, to act as a conduit to “get people engaged with services” or “in community development” even though this might happen as a result of conversations between companions and residents. Being non-judgemental and empathetic were identified as values associated with the Project. While there were several discussions about the objectives of the Project, and some tendencies at times to make it more elaborate, it was “scaled back” to the core objective of listening with no agenda, particularly focused on calling to those households to which “nobody calls”. It was considered that “listening” could lead on to a variety of outputs (more social contact, relationship, identification of issues that concern people most) and outcomes (better understanding of needs, more confidence, trust, sense of belonging to a caring community). The Community Companions Project was framed in the context of the social regeneration pillar of regeneration.

At an operational level, the objectives were set in terms of key tasks of Companions, as follows:
1. Door-to-door visits to residents in the estate, to listen, to talk to people with a view to building trust, confidence and providing emotional support;
2. Meeting residents at community events and meeting places (crèches, school, church, community centre, street, and shops) in order to get to know them, leading on to other forms of contact, if appropriate;
3. Meeting the key organisations / services in Moyross in order to build up knowledge of the services so that this information could be communicated to residents, if appropriate;
4. To encourage residents to participate in community, social events and local services (education, training, leisure, community, health, family support);
5. To encourage groups of residents with common interests to get together informally and to build friendship and support networks, if appropriate.

The emphasis on presence and visibility in the community was in order to build up familiarity amongst residents with the Companions, and to build trust.

Additional operational objectives related to the tasks of the Team Leader included:
1. Monitoring / reporting on progress and implementation of the Project, linked especially to accountability to funders, and to establish whether and the extent to which the model works;
2. To develop (identify, select, recruit, organise training) volunteer companions, with support from partner voluntary organisations, as appropriate;
3. To identify training needs and organisation of training of staff, volunteers and Steering Group members.
The Steering Group provided a structure with links into the policy domain (Steering Group membership). An objective here was to influence policy (and connect with it) drawing on the experience of the Project.

While it was acknowledged by the project promoters that there is “paperwork” involved in all projects and in the Community Companions (planning, training, recording activities, reporting), it was stated clearly that the Companions were not office-based / administrative jobs. It was envisaged that recording and reporting should be “light” in terms of requirements on staff. The set-up of systems and most of the administration and reporting was to be done by the Team Leader.

Project implementation
From the start, it was envisaged that the Project would be implemented by a team of professional workers, adding volunteers later, and supported by an Implementation Team drawn from the Steering Group. The budget secured for year one (€150,000) allowed for the recruitment of two full-time and a part-time worker (Community Companions). Plans for development of the volunteering element (the policy, recruitment strategy and training) were to be progressed in year one.

In terms of management arrangements, Moyross Community Enterprise Centre (MCEC) Ltd. acts as the Board to oversee the Project taking responsibility for all contractual matters including financial management and accountability to funders (maintenance, auditing and sign-off on accounts), employment of staff and insurance, and approving the forward work plan and annual report.

A Steering Group, constituted as a Sub-Committee of the Board of Moyross Community Enterprise Centre Ltd. (MCEC), was created and met for the first time in February 2009. As required by MCEC, two nominees from the Board of MCEC sit on the Steering Group and the Steering Group Chairperson is a director of MCEC. Otherwise, the Steering Group has broad membership including: the Board and staff of Moyross Community Enterprise Centre, Limerick Enterprise Development Partnership, Limerick Regeneration Agencies, Corpus Christi Parish, Corpus Christi Primary School, Corpus Christi Youth Diversion Project, St. Vincent de Paul, Mary Immaculate College, HSE, Moyross Residents’ Forum, Limerick City Council (Welfare) and Social Service Centre.

The Steering Group is required to meet four times annually and may meet more frequently if necessary. The Chairperson of the Steering Group reports four times annually to the Board of MCEC. The Board of MCEC must receive and approve the forward work plan of the Steering Group of the Project. The Steering Group approves reports and plans before they are submitted to the Board of the MCEC for approval. These procedures are applied in the Project.

The Steering Group nominated an Implementation Team (three people available in the parish) responsible for overseeing operational issues including dealing with any problems that arise, supervision of staff and approving day-to-day expenditure. The Parish Priest is the Chairperson of the Implementation Team. The Implementation Team met at least weekly in the early stages of the Project.

The Team Leader and Companions are based in an office on the site of Corpus Christi Church, which was adapted for the purpose of housing the Project. It has a dedicated ‘phone line, computers, data / file storage facilities, meeting, a drop-in and kitchen facilities. All workers were recruited and started employment at the same time (end of March 2009).

At the start, a workplan (tasks, which structure is responsible, timescales, targets) for the first eight weeks of operation (i.e. until the Team Leader was settled in post) was developed by representatives of the Steering Group and agreed with the Implementation Team and Team Leader (on recruitment). This identified tasks such as staff induction, briefing on employment conditions and set up of office; information gathering on services, agencies and projects on Moyross estate, and visits to projects / agencies; mapping the geography of estate (households park by park); project promotion, commencement of a programme of walking round the estate and drop in to clubs / activities; preparation of a plan for household visits park by park; development / agreement of security protocol; set up system for recording activities (visits, characteristics of people met) and outcomes (issues discussed); and debriefing arrangements with staff. Subsequent workplans (quarterly) were developed by the Team Leader. These were presented at Steering Group meetings for discussion and approval – i.e. in the context of progress reporting on implementation and future planning.