Grow your Group - using Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) Approaches

A 2-hour, interactive workshop supporting you to think about how to establish, develop and sustain your community-based group, using ABCD approaches and through the lens of a Bereavement Peer Support Group (STAR).

In a new addition to our online programme, the GPM team will be hearing from Jan Massiah, who was part of the Bristol team during the 7-year Age Better Programme which influences the learning and resources shared by GPM.

In this workshop Jan will be exploring how to establish and develop groups in the community using ABCD approaches. Jan will share her own experiences and knowledge of doing this through the example of a very well-established peer-led bereavement support group (named STAR), and help you consider how to support your own communities to do something similar. Jan will share what the STAR group learnt along the way and how this group went from strength to strength, becoming a model that was replicated in multiple communities over time.

The workshop will cover the following and more:

· An introduction to the STAR bereavement peer support model

· Inspiration for setting up the community based peer support group

· Identifying need and establishing what the group does (and doesn’t) do

· Taking a Strengths Based Approach and exploring assets in the community

· Considering how to make your group sustainable and encourage growth and endurance

· Developing a pathway for people to engage

· Explore a framework to support the group such as terms of reference

This session is for anyone who wants to expand their knowledge of ABCD approaches, or how to create sustainable, peer-led spaces in the community. Although we will discuss the bereavement focus of the STAR group, this is not a session focused specifically on bereavement support.

There will be an opportunity to attend an informal follow-on session should anybody directly wish to explore setting up a bereavement peer support group; a time to ask questions and maybe explore further training.