The Neighbourhood Houses in our Network are as varied as the communities they operate in. Their strengths and areas of interest and development depend largely on the needs of the community, as well as the networks and skills of the coordinators/managers and committees/boards.

Issues and challenges that are common across the UMRNHN members include:

* Limited funding and resources

* Ongoing tension between their community development work, and the need and pressure to operate as a business

* Getting their message out to the whole community

* Engaging effectively with all parts of the community

While most Houses are known by parts of their community, Coordinators regularly report their experiences of people saying they had “no idea that the Neighbourhood House was there/did that work/offered those programs”. Effective communication is an ongoing issue, partly because of limited resources, but also because the approach to communication is often opportunistic rather than strategic.

We are fortunate to have Birgit Schonafinger from local public relations company, Fishbowl PR, as the facilitator for our Professional Development workshop "Developing effective communication for your Neighbourhood House”. This is a fantastic opportunity for you to look at your current communications and plan for how you might use your limited resources more effectively!

The workshop will help you to identify:

* how a strategic approach to communication will help your House achieve its strategic plan/goals

* your communication objectives

* your key communication messages

* key stakeholders, their relationship to the House, and your key communication activities and tool

To help Birgit prepare for the workshop and tailor the information more specifically to our Network, you have a little bit of homework to do! Please go to https://survey.zohopublic.com/zs/P5B07F to access a questionnaire about your current communication.