Lancaster Methodist Church Centre manager selected to join global movement's learning fellowship

Phil is responding to meet the needs of local residents in Greaves, South Lancaster by creating and developing a Community Organising approach to engagement, particularly targeting the isolated and vulnerable.

Phil said: “The work to develop a Social Action Hub, building upon the existing strengths of the local community is particularly vital as we emerge from the effects of the pandemic.

“We have a unique window of opportunity to really build resilience and sustainability into our neighbourhood and the learning from the Starling Collective will give strength to our work.”

The Starling Collective is a global fellowship designed to teach leaders new skills through community building, movement learning, peer support, and connection to GivingTuesday's global network of movement leaders.

Participants will also receive grants to support leadership development or accelerate on-the-ground work.

The initiative was launched in 2020 to identify and support individuals pursuing innovative approaches to catalyzing generosity, empathy, equity, and justice.

50 applicants representing 29 countries were selected to participate in the six month programme, which provides a learning community and curriculum that will focus on skills that are essential to movement building, including storytelling, mobilization, sustainability, and measurement.

The cohort includes a wide range of approaches and issue areas, these leaders all share a common passion for creating a positive impact in their communities. A full listing of participants and more information about their work to drive change is available online.

Asha Curran, CEO of GivingTuesday said: ”These leaders are doing extraordinary things to unleash generosity and have the ambition to create even more positive change.

“The quality and ingenuity of Starling Collective applicants this year was impressive. There are too many grassroots organizers and community leaders who are overlooked and often don’t get the chance to tap into more learning and resources.

The Starling Collective is designed to change that. The path to a more generous world—the world we wish to create together—will depend on these emerging talents and proximate leaders like them who are stepping up regardless of experience or background to strengthen and heal their communities.”

This year’s cohort was selected from nearly 2,000 applications submitted from 90 countries.

More than two-thirds of the applicants came from the global South.

Applications were reviewed by an international team of regional directors, evaluating the submissions on how their work addressed generosity, leadership, vision, ingenuity, scalability, and diversity and belonging.

The Starling Collective’s global regional directors also serve as mentors to participants and aid in facilitating the program’s learning community.

Those who are interested in joining the community engagement work in Greaves and Scotforth can contact Phil on 01524 840027 or email [email protected].

To learn more about GivingTuesday’s Starling Collective, visit www.givingtuesday.org/starling.