Last week, the Leicestershire Communities Team at Leicestershire County Council hosted the first post-Covid Community Roadshow event in collaboration with Voluntary Action Leicestershire and Oadby and Wigston Borough Council.

Community Roadshows are an opportunity for local businesses, charities, and groups to come together and take part in an asset-based workshop before showcasing their work at a fair open to the public. Due to COVID, our Community Roadshows have been unable to take place since 2019 in which the Leicestershire Communities Team went to Ashby. For our first event back, the team went to Oadby and Wigston to kick the Roadshows off!

At Leicestershire County Council, we promote asset-based community approaches which means that communities focus on their strengths and what they can bring to the table to collaborate for the greater good of their community. This might involve collaborating on projects that bring about social value, being able to pass on key contacts, or help promote opportunities for each other as examples.

At the Oadby and Wigston Community Roadshow, we were thrilled to represent over 25 representatives from local groups who spent the morning coming together and learning more about each other and how they can implement an asset-based approach.

The afternoon saw even more groups attending to hold a stall. We threw open the doors to the public to come in and find out more about the local opportunities available in their area! We had a great afternoon and many of our guests and attendees left with not only new knowledge of opportunities to get involved with, but also lots of free food which was kindly donated by FareShare East Midlands!

Overall, it was a wonderful day enjoyed by everything and we are thrilled that the group are keen to meet again soon! We are now looking to move on to our next area as the Community Roadshow is travelling to its next venue!

Are you interested in the Community Roadshow visiting your local area? If so, get in touch with us at leicestershirecommunities@leics.gov.uk.