Big success for Big Society Conference in Pendle!

The Pendle Partnership event, organised by Pendle Community Network and Pendle Council, gave community-based organisations from Pendle and the wider Pennine Lancashire district, the opportunity to learn more about the big changes that are coming with the impact of the Comprehensive Spending Review.

Those who attended were given a better understanding of current government thinking in line with the Comprehensive Spending Review, and heard about the impact that the Big Society might have at neighbourhood level.

Stephen Smith, Manager of Pendle Community Network said: "The Big Society Community Conference was a real opportunity for third sector organisations to consider their future partnership working beyond the tough financial times for the sector that lay ahead."

Angela Ansell, Pendle Council's Principal Policy Officer, added: "The Big Society is something being talked about a lot at the moment, as we await the full impact of the Comprehensive Spending Review, which is a review of government spending that will affect councils.

"We know that government funding is going to be cut and the Big Society is all about looking at ways we can lessen this blow in the community.

"The idea is that people will become more involved with decision making in their area and play their part in influencing change."

The Big Society Conference is one of three conferences that will be held in Pendle in the coming months.

The next one is to take place in late November and will look at the impact of the Comprehensive Spending Review, which Pendle Council will be leading on.

The final conference will be held in mid January and will be a celebration of the work of projects funded through Pendle Council.

It will be at this conference, that it is discussed how communities have moved forward to manage reduced budgets and staffing, and still deliver established programmes.

At the conference on Saturday, there were important opportunities for community-based groups to express their hopes and fears about the impact of Big Society.

County Councillor George Askew said: "I was delighted that this important event all about the Big Society had been organised in Pendle.

"Lots of people are asking what the Big Society is about and what it will mean for them.

"I think this idea gives us an excellent opportunity to get out there and start doing more for each other. The conference, I think, was just the start of an exciting new step in Pendle."

You can find out more about Big Society at the Big Society Network website.

To access the speakers' presentations from Saturday's conference, visit the downloads section of Pendle Community Network's website.

Here, you can also access the Ten BIG questions (and answers) about the Big Society.

If you want to contribute to the debate, there is a community questionnaire that can be completed. A conference report will also be available online soon.

Dates for the conferences in November 2010 and January 2011 will be released soon.

 For more information, contact Laura Brown at PCN on (01282) 619913.