News
One of the 3 strategic goals of Better Connect is to Inspire Change. This involves promoting social inclusion as an essential part of creating vibrant, productive and prosperous communities.
We aim to inspire change in 3 ways:
- Sharing participants stories – Through our projects, our partners have supported thousands of participants. We know that behind these big numbers, each person has their own individual story of how they have been supported to transform their lives. We are delighted that some of these people have chosen to share their stories with us. And now, we get to share those stories with you.
- Thinkpieces and blogs – Our staff and partners have a huge amount of knowledge on lots of issues regarding inclusion, diversity, wellbeing and employment. Some of this comes from their work and education and much of it comes from lived experience. We create and share blogs and thinkpieces written by our staff and partners to raise awareness and contribute positively to the conversation about these key issues.
- Representation – We are honoured to represent social inclusion issues and the voluntary and community sector in multiagency groups and policy formation. We do this by listening to our partners and participants and using our platforms to amplify their voices and perspectives. We connect policy makers with people on the ground to ensure that policies and funding have the greatest positive impact in communities.
Join our approved delivery partner list!
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We’re excited to announce that we’re aware of potential opportunities being launched in the New Year, and would like to get as ready for these as possible! In light of this, we’ve created a new process to capture your details, and simplify our tendering process. By completing our ‘approved delivery partner list’, you can
Partnerships in Action – Rural Arts & Thrive Outside
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Impact
Mental Health
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Rise2Thrive
In September, our team spent an inspiring morning capturing some of the support taking place on the Rise2Thrive [R2T] programme with two of our delivery partners, Thirsk based charity Rural Arts, and York based Thrive Outside – a nature-based CIC combining their love of green spaces with outdoor crafts. Part of an ongoing collaboration
Meet our new Board Member – Chris Hailey-Norris!
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Meet the Team
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We are very excited to announce that we have a new Board Member, Chris Hailey-Norris. Chris has worked with Better Connect as a partner for over 15 years, delivering fantastic support to the community of Selby and beyond through programmes such as Action Towards Inclusion, Community Grants and most recently, Rise and Rise2Thrive. Chris
Rise2Thrive – Meet St Giles
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Impact
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Rise2Thrive
We’ve recently launched a new programme for the people of York and North Yorkshire – have you heard? Following the success of our RISE programme, Rise2Thrive (R2T) is the new iteration, with new partners and a mission to support individuals at all stages of their employment journey. 30 partners strong, we’ve collaborated with many of our
Supporting Anchor Organisations to show their Impact
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Community Anchor Support
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Sherburn and Villages Community Trust connects people, community spaces, and services across Sherburn in Elmet and surrounding villages to make an inclusive and vibrant place to live. They are the community anchor organisation in Sherburn in Elmet. Community Anchors are small, hyper-local organisations across North Yorkshire, deeply embedded in local communities. They offer support,
‘’Multiply is maths, but in a real way” – Shopping on a Budget With Coterminous CIC
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Impact
Mental Health
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A couple of weeks ago Christine and Laura visited York Travellers Trust, to sit in on the penultimate session of Coterminous’s ‘Shopping on a Budget’ course. Part of the support on offer through the Multiply programme, Coterminous’s CJ Allison and Harrie Smith (of Transcending Fusion), have been hosting a series of budgeting sessions at the
Upcycling, Furniture Restoration & Community Engagement – Meet Futureworks
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Impact
Mental Health
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Rise2Thrive
Our Impact team recently spent the day in Scarborough visiting Futureworks, before heading down to Mindful Photography UK’s exhibition at The Street. Having worked with us over many years and multiple programmes, it’s clear the positive impact that Futureworks have on the Scarborough community, and it’s a pleasure to have the team as part of
Meet Our Programme Finance and Data Manager – Jacky
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Careers
Internal
Meet the Team
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As part of our ‘Meet The Team’ series, over the next few weeks we’ll be focusing on our Finance Department. We’ll celebrate their roles, responsibilities, and relationships with numbers – from crunching the all important data, to processing claims and financial forecasting (we couldn’t resist the Multiply twist!) Today, we’re hearing from our Programme
Meet Our Finance Director – Julie B
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Careers
Internal
Meet the Team
multiply
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As part of our ‘Meet The Team’ series, over the next few weeks we’ll be focusing on our Finance Department. We’ll celebrate their roles, responsibilities, and relationships with numbers – from crunching the all important data, to processing claims and financial forecasting (we couldn’t resist the Multiply twist!) Today, we’re hearing from our
Reflections & New Connections – Orb’s Ways to Wellbeing Group
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Impact
Mental Health
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Rise2Thrive
Wellbeing Resources
A couple of weeks ago, our impact team had the opportunity to sit in on a session with Orb Community Arts (one of our brilliant R2T and Multiply partners) and to speak with some of their service users about a course they’d taken part in with the arts-based charity. Meeting Gemma and Barbara amidst
Meeting Leyburn Community Arts
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Community Anchor Support
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Leyburn is known for its picturesque market town charm, stunning countryside views, and its location as the gateway to the Yorkshire Dales National Park. It is also the home to a fabulous organisation ‘Leyburn Community Arts & Community Centre’ who we had the pleasure of visiting last week and meeting with two of their
Mindful Photography UK – New Rise2Thrive Partner
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Rise2Thrive
We’ve recently launched a new programme for the people of York and North Yorkshire – have you heard? Following the success of our RISE programme, Rise2Thrive (R2T) is the new iteration, with new partners and a mission to support individuals at all stages of their employment journey to boot. 33 partners strong, we’ve collaborated