Speaker of the House, Rt Hon John Bercow MP supports Civic Voice’s Parliamentary Outreach Workshop

Local communities to be given new skills to work with Parliament

Civic Voice has announced a series of innovative parliamentary outreach workshops starting with a session at the Houses of Parliament.

Civic Voice, the national body for civic societies, is one of the partners of Parliament Week, which takes place from 16-22 November. The workshops, which are free to attend, will help communities learn to engage with Parliament and will ensure that a greater voice is given to communities on local civic matters.

Speaker of the House, Rt Hon John Bercow MP, commented:
“I often attend Civic Voice events in my Buckingham constituency, and I am delighted that they will be hosting workshops in the House of Commons. I am sure that this innovative venture will prove to be an excellent endeavour, and extremely useful to all those who take part.”

Chair of the APPG for Civic Societies, Craig Mackinlay MP stated:
“In my own constituency I work closely with the Ramsgate Society who do some excellent work. Civic Societies provide the icing on the cake in improving the local environment and maintaining the bank of historical knowledge. 

He added: “It is great to see Civic Voice join forces with the Parliamentary Outreach team to deliver these workshops which will help give local communities new skills to work with Parliament."

Funded in part by Civic Voice, the training sessions, delivered nationally by regional Parliamentary Outreach officers will comprise of topics including: Getting involved in Parliament, Legislation and Select Committees. 

Ian Harvey, Executive Director of Civic Voice, championed
“There is a real desire from our members to be less reactive and to shape the future. Our hope is that this series of workshops will begin a movement of like-minded supporters who can achieve this, bringing local communities and Parliament closer together.”

Alasdair Mackenzie, Parliament’s Outreach Officer for London and South East England, praised the initiative, saying:
“Parliament’s outreach service is always mindful of the need to develop relationships with communities. We are thrilled to have been offered the opportunity to partner Civic Voice in this endeavour.” 

For more information on the organisations involved; please visit their websites:
Civic Voice – http://www.civicvoice.org.uk
Parliamentary Outreach -- http://www.parliament.uk/get-involved/outreach-and-training/
Parliament Week -- https://www.parliamentweek.org/

Notes for Editors
Workshops will be held in the following locations:
London – Monday 16th November at Houses of Parliament
Manchester – Wednesday 18th November at Friends Meeting House, 6 Mount St, Manchester M2 5NS
Birmingham – Monday 16th November at Library of Birmingham. Centenary Square, Broad Street, Birmingham, B1 2ND
Civic Voice is the national charity for the civic movement. We work to make the places where everyone lives more attractive, enjoyable and distinctive and to promote civic pride. We speak up for civic societies and local communities across England. We believe everyone should live somewhere they can be proud of and we know how people feel about places because we feel the same way. Civic societies are the most numerous participants in the planning system. Since its launch in April 2010 Civic Voice has been joined by over 290 civic societies with 75,000 members. Further information is available at http://www.civicvoice.org.uk including how to join Civic Voice (£10 individuals) and contact details for local civic societies.
Further information
Ian Harvey .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
T 0151 707 4319/07877096968
T @civic_voice