Over seventy people from local voluntary and community organisations and various public bodies in Cornwall came together for an unusual event at County Hall to launch five Codes of Good Practice covering the working relationship between the public sector and the voluntary and community sectors.
The get-together followed on from last summer's 'Celebrating a Beautiful Relationship' launch of the Cornwall Compact - a non legal agreement aimed at strengthening the partnership between the two sectors. While last year's event was themed in the style of a 'wedding ceremony', this year's had a horticultural flavour. Decked out in vegetation and featuring a spectacular circular flower bed created by Penzance artist Lucy Willow, the Foyer of County Hall was transformed into a fertile garden in which to 'grow the relationship'.
There is a long tradition of voluntary and community activity in Cornwall, together with excellent public services and joint working for the benefit of local communities. The Cornwall Compact signals a new approach to partnership working which will allow more open and constructive relationships able to make the most of new opportunities in Cornwall.
The five Codes of Good Practice launched under the Cornwall Compact banner contain principles and undertakings relating to
- Policy Development (Participation & Consultation)
- Funding & Procurement
- Volunteering
- Diversity, including Black and Minority Ethnic Groups
- Community Groups
- Learning and Skills (this sixth code is currently being developed).
Attending the event were officers, members and volunteers representing a wide range of voluntary and community organisations, various statutory agencies (District Councils, Cornwall County Council, Connexions, Health Care Trusts, Probation Service, West Cornwall Ambulance Service) and a number of local partnerships.
A dictionary of flower meanings was displayed on posters around the room, and guests were invited to bunch locally grown flowers using the Victorian 'Language of Flowers' to create coded messages, all reflecting thoughts on what constitutes or would help promote a positive working relationship. For example, one guest chose Forsythia, Garlic and Oak-leaved Geranium to create a message which meant 'anticipation and courage...leading to...true friendship', while another picked Freesia, Cornflower and Lupin, meaning 'hope, refinement and imagination'. Yet another selected Stephanotis, Daffodil, Bluebell and Alstroemeria which when decoded means 'happiness in marriage, respect, constancy and friendship'.
Hosted by Cornwall Compact Steering Group, the morning also included a 'view from the potting shed' - addresses given by Steering Group Chairperson Hilary Workman (Chief Executive of Cornwall Centre for Volunteers) and Eric Brooke, Cornwall County Council's Executive Member for Community Services and Vice-Chair of Cornwall Strategic Partnership
Hilary Workman said, "Since the launch of the Compact last summer Cornwall Compact Steering Group has continued to meet to for discussions about the various strands by overseeing working groups with people from both sectors." Picking up the horticultural theme Hilary added, "Each of these strands or codes can be linked to an aspect of nurturing growth. Policy Development is a hardy perennial; Funding and Procurement is a fertile bed for the relationship to flourish; Community Groups are the micro-organisms essential for balanced growth; Volunteering is like sequential sowing - in order to get a regular crop seeds of new volunteers have to be sewn on a regular basis and looked after well; and the Diversity strand links to the whole growing environment, which would be very unproductive without the diversity of all the species that exist within it!"
Thanking all those who had been involved in developing the Codes of Good Practice, she said it was time to come out of our potting sheds and put up the climbing frames around which these strands can grow! "The next step is for us all to test out the codes in our own working environments as a framework to help us work more effectively together. In the autumn we will be holding a series of workshops around the codes, developing ideas about how we can improve our working practices even further."
In response, Eric Brooke emphasised that this changed partnership way of working was central to the success of the Local Area Agreement and other important current initiatives aimed at delivering better services and a an improved quality of life for people in Cornwall. "The Compact and the codes will help the partnership between our sectors to grow and grow."
Towards the end of the event guests were invited to exchange their bunches of flowers and coded messages, in a gesture symbolic of working in partnership together. At the end of the launch they took away copies of the codes, as well as a specially designed seed packet entitled 'Cornwall Compact - Fresh New Ground' containing a sweet pea seed.
The Cornwall Compact and Codes of Good Practice can be viewed in local libraries and downloaded from the Cornwall Strategic Partnership Website http://www.cornwallstrategicpartnership.gov.uk
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