​"Central Consultancy can help you develop a sustainable 'bottom up' approach to community investment that empowers local communities to take control of their future and build strong, healthy and vibrant neighbourhoods. The ABCD approach to community investment seeks to focus on a community’s assets rather than its deficits, whether they be its people, its places, its groups and its organisations.  Instead of identifying what a community is lacking, it looks for its strengths and works alongside local groups and people to build on them.  When we adopt an ABCD approach to community development, we do things WITH the community, rather than TO it."

Laura Jerram
​Community Development  Consultant  ​

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What is Asset Based Community Development?

It’s a bottom up, sustainable and organic approach that:
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• ​Focuses on the people, their passions and their priorities and asks them what they want for where they live.
• Maps out a community’s assets and helps create a network that brings people together around common aims, interests and causes.
• Seeks out community connectors and empowers them to use their natural skills and enthusiasm to reach out and create positive engagement and change.
• Develops relevant and focused life and work skills.
• Views individuals and communities as part of the solution rather than stakeholders to be managed.
• Empowers people to influence the decisions that directly affect them and their communities.
• Strengthens local engagement, community pride, local knowledge and social contacts.

An extensive period of time is spent in identifying the assets of individuals, associations and organisations before they are mobilised to work together. The identified assets from an individual are then matched with people or groups who have an interest or need in that asset. The key is to empower the people of the community by encouraging them to utilise what they already possess. An important part of ABCD is found in the organisations and associations who drive the community development process and leverage additional support.

External organisations such as Housing Associations facilitate and support this process in such a way that fosters greater independence and self -determination, enabling a community to take control of its own local issues and future.

Contact us for an informal chat to find out how Central can help move your project forward
​Tel: 0121 285 6161 or Email: [email protected]