The Oxfordshire Communities of Practice (CoPs) are here to support anyone working or volunteering with adults who draw on social care and support, in any way, shape or form.

We welcome people working in the community at grassroots level across all sectors. You might be a volunteer or staff member in a voluntary, charity or faith group, a member of staff in a housing association, or a social prescriber in a charity or GP surgery. You might be a community connector for your district council, or a social worker or care co-ordinator in adult social care. Perhaps you volunteer at a day centre, work for an advice charity, or run a food project. You might work with older people, adults with learning disabilities, over-18s with physical and/or mental health challenges, or adults who just need a little extra support and advice. Whatever your role, we’d love you to join us to learn, connect, share and problem-solve.

Our members tell us that they find CoP meetings helpful because they offer a chance to connect with others with similar challenges, hear about what is happening locally, and spread the word about their own work and events.

It’s nice to put names to faces from emails … and to understand what’s out there … it’s great to know what’s available, and who’s who, and who’s doing what where.
Carers Adviser, Carers Oxfordshire

Our Autumn Calendar

Our latest round of meetings kicked off last week, with online sessions for our Oxford City and Banbury and north Cherwell groups on Making Event Contact Count training and the amazing support offered by Dementia Oxfordshire. There’ll be similar sessions for some of our other groups later this month. We’re also looking forward to hearing from Achieve Oxfordshire and NHS Health Checks about how they support Oxfordshire residents to live healthier lives, and from the No Limits programme about support for people aiming to get back into work, training or education. We’re even hoping to get together in person for our November meetings in Bicester and Banbury – details to be confirmed.

Next month we’ll be hosting an in-person workshop in Oxford, Introduction to Trauma Informed Practice, with the leading trainer, writer and consultant Lisa Cherry. We’re really excited about this workshop, which will be of interest to anyone who wants to understand more about how taking a trauma-informed approach can help us better support people. No prior knowledge is required.

It’s just nice to come along and gather all this information and take it back to the team …  I find it really interesting and helpful.

Care Co-ordinator, Oxfordshire County Council

Join us

If you’re interested in joining us for a meeting to try it out, signing up to your local CoP group, and/or attending the Introduction to Trauma Informed Practice workshop, please contact Clare, our Partnerships and Projects Officer, on clare.woodcock@ocva.org.uk.

The Communities of Practice are funded by Oxfordshire County Council as part of the Oxfordshire Way. Our six place-based groups meet every other month, usually online with the occasional face-to-face meeting. We have a speaker or theme for each meeting, and we also offer training and information sessions which are open to all six groups.